America In Prophecy

By Ashley Cunningham

America In Prophecy 1
 America in Prophecy
Part 1
We Have No King But Caesar
By Ashley Cunningham
We have no king but Caesar, cried the angry
Jewish leaders in response to Pilates question,
...shall I crucify your king? Yet no amount of
reasoning would persuade the religious leaders to
spare the Son of God. What led the Jewish leader-
ship to so fully reject the Son of God? What
would lead them to accept Caesar as their king
when they passionately hated the Romans who
occupied Israel.
In our study of this second part of our series
we will take a brief look into the mindset of the
Jewish leaders and why they rejected Christ and
ultimately crucified Him. History has a strange
way of repeating itself. Can we learn the impor-
tant lessons from the past as we face the future?
The Jewish Religion In 27AD
When Herod first came to power in 37 BC,
one of his first acts as king was to separate the
office of the High Priest from civil government.
He did so by appointing a man of his own choos-
ing to the office of High Priest. This practice was
continued, after his death, by the Roman gover-
nors. The control of this sacred office by the civil
authorities was a curse to the priesthood, for now
men vied for the office who had only political and
financial gain in mind, while ignoring the claims
of God!
Herod gained still another foot hold over the
spiritual life of the people, when in 19 BC he made
plans to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. The old
temple was dismantled and the new one was built.
It was a massive task involving tens of thousands
of workmen over a 46 year period. When it was
finished, the temple mount was 1000 cubits long
(1500 feet) by 670 cubits wide (1000 feet), the
size of 20 football fields. The ancient historian,
Josephus, was so impressed that he wrote, the
temple "...caused an amazement to the spectators,
by reason of the grandeur of the whole." 1
After the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish
leaders thought to safeguard the nation from fal-
ling into idol worship and apostasy. They believed
2 America In Prophecy
that by enacting religious laws they could protect
the Law of God and this in turn would protect
Jewish society and their religion. They also hoped
this would bring them into favor with God and
restore the former glory of Israel.
However, this was not the case. Instead of
fostering religious devotion and worship to God,
it had the opposite effect. The Jewish religion be-
came a system of rites and traditions. True piety
and godliness were supplanted with man made
laws, which superceded the Ten Commandments.
Love, the key principle of the law was lost sight
of, and selfishness, greed, and bigotry controlled
the hard hearted people.
The various sacrifices and services that the
Lord had instituted at Sinai, to point to the Mes-
siah, became a corrupt system of salvation by
works. As the Jews lost their spiritual hold on
God, they clung to the ceremonial rites for their
merit of Gods favor and blessings. They meas-
ured their holiness by how many religious rites
they preformed, by following the multitude of
rabbicable requirements, and by their own social
standing in Jewish society. A prime example of
this is found in the gospel of Luke, in the parable
of the prayer of the Pharisee and the Publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of
all that I possess. Luke 18:11,12.
This is the terrible condition that Christ had to
deal with when He began His public ministry in
the fall of 27 AD. Most of the Jewish leaders and
people were so devoid of the principles of God
and His spirit, that in many ways they were in a
worse condition than the heathen Romans whom
they hated and despised!
As a nation they wanted the former glory and
power of Israel, without the repentance and obedi-
ence that had brought ancient Israel Gods bless-
ings. Yet in His great mercy, the Father sent
Christ to the Jewish people to reveal, through His
life and teachings, the truth and love of God. This
cut against the errors and superstitions of the rab-
bis and priests. It was a challenge to their author-
ity. They could not allow this young Galilean up-
start to come among the people and upset their
system of religion. They could not endure the
popular support that His teachings and miraculous
acts of mercy had with the people. The Jewish
leadership came to the conclusion that in order to
save their positions, their religion, and their nation
they had to rid themselves of Christ. The one who
was the only reason for their existence!
It is very interesting that they turned to the
very authority whom they hated in order to
achieve their goals the Roman government.
They had strayed so far from God that they had
become like their enemy, the Romans. On that
fateful day, in the spring of AD 31, when the Jew-
ish leadership cried for the blood of Christ, they
were rejecting the Lord of Israel, and in doing so
they sacrificed their own national existence by
swearing allegiance to Caesar!
Religion And The Founding Of America
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found
thy works perfect before God. Remember there-
fore how thou hast received and heard, and hold
fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not
know what hour I will come upon thee. Revela-
tion 3:2,3.
For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the
condition of the reformed churches, who are come
to a period in religion, and will go at present no
farther than the instruments of their reformation.
The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond
what Luther saw; . . . and the Calvinists, you see,
stick fast where they were left by that great man
of God, who yet saw not all things. This is a mis-
ery much to be lamented; for though they were
burning and shining lights in their time, yet they
penetrated not into the whole counsel of God, but
were they now living, would be as willing to em-
brace further light as that which they first re-
ceived. 2
The role of religion in the affairs of the Ameri-
can government go back to the days of the first
pilgrim settlers in New England. After years of
religious persecution in England these faithful
souls took a perilous voyage to the shores of
America and established the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. Here they purposed to establish a type of
theocracy that was to be controlled by the Puritan
Church. In their pursuit to keep the communities
free from sin and the vices of the old world, they
incorporated their religious beliefs into the laws
of their civil government. They had very strict
laws which governed the keeping of Sunday.
These laws were rigidly enforced by civil offi-
cials. In Massachusetts these laws were called the
Blue Laws after the color that represented the
America In Prophecy
Law of God.
The Pilgrims did not understand the great prin-
ciples of religious liberty as espoused by the Bible
they claimed to follow. They still carried the old
world doctrine of the divine right of the church to
control conscience, and the Puritan church used
civil magistrates to enforce the punishment of her-
esy. For many decades after the founding of the
Bay Colony, it was only church members that
had any voice in the affairs of civil government.
This position was soon challenged by Roger
Williams, who emigrated to the Massachusetts
Bay Colony in 1631. Soon after landing in Bos-
ton, he received a warm welcome by Massachu-
setts governor, John Winthrop. In a few years he
received a position as an assistant pastor in the
town of Salem. However, he held very radical re-
ligious beliefs on the separation of church and
state (a radical view for his time). He denied the
validity of the Massachusetts charter and chal-
lenged the Puritans to acknowledge that they had
separated from the Church of England. He be-
lieved that religious freedom should extend to all
people regardless of their religious beliefs and
practices.
He claimed that, "The public or the magistrates
may decide, what is due from man to man; but
when they attempt to prescribe a man's duties to
God, they are out of place, and there can be no
safety; for it is clear that if the magistrates has the
power, he may decree one set of opinions or be-
liefs today and another tomorrow; as has been
done in England by different kings and queens,
and by different popes and councils in the Roman
Church; so that belief would become a heap of
confusion." 3
He was banished from the Massachusetts Bay
Colony in the winter of 1635. While he suffered
from hunger and cold, God preserved this faithful
preacher and he founded the colony of Rhode
Island the following year. In 1664 Williams se-
cured a charter for Providence Plantation, which
became a haven for peoples of all faiths seeking
religious freedom. His concepts of religious lib-
erty bore fruit, for they became the cornerstone of
American freedom, found in the Declaration of
Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
As the decades passed, the American colonies
prospered. Tens of thousands came to the Ameri-
can shores seeking freedom from despotic kings,
the ecclesiastical oppression of the church, or eco-
nomic want. It was the land of new beginnings
and opportunities. The soil was rich, the virgin
3
forests were ripe with massive timber and wild
game, the rivers, lakes and coastal waters, were
teeming with fish. The land was a haven for all
classes of people. From Maine to the Carolinas
the early colonies grew as villages, towns, and
cities flourished with trade and commerce.
The hand of God was upon America, yet the
colonists had forgotten the warning by John Rob-
inson in his farewell address to their Pilgrim fa-
thers years before. The churches of America had
lost their religious zeal. Worldly gain and afflu-
ence brought selfishness, coldness, and formalism
into the churches, as it had in Europe and Britain.
The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination had
eaten the spirituality out of the established
churches of America and Britain. Many who em-
braced this doctrine believed that the elect
could not fall from grace no matter what they did,
and the lost could not come into divine favor,
even if they wanted to. This led to a decline in the
morals of society, for the responsibility of ones
salvation lay solely in the hands of an arbitrary
God.
This state of spiritual decline continued into
the 1730s, until the Lord raised up men on both
sides of the Atlantic to lead in a revival known as
the First Great Awakening. Among the Presby-
terians in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey, this revival was lead out by William Tennent
and his four sons, all ministers. In New England
this revival quickly spread among the Baptist and
Congregationalist (or Puritan) churches. Jonathan
Edwards, the fiery Puritan pastor from Northamp-
ton, Massachusetts was one of the many preachers
that led out in New England.
On the other side of the Atlantic in Britain,
the two Wesley brothers, John and Charles, along
with George Whitefield, were moved to reform
and bring revival to the Church of England.
These godly men preached the gospel of Christ in
its purity. They revived the doctrine of justifica-
tion through faith in Christ alone. Thousands were
drawn to the truth and took their stand for Christ.
They traveled to America on several occasions
and large audiences flocked to hear them. Within
the colonial mainstream churches there came a
split, many rejoiced as they found a personal Sav-
iour and Lord. Others who were content with their
cold formal condition rejected the revival move-
ment that swept across Europe and America.
Those who followed the teachings of the Wesleys
and Whitefield started the Methodist church,
named after their method of bible study.
4 America In Prophecy
The Great Awakening And
The American Revolution
The Great Awakening had a profound effect
upon colonial America and the founding of the
United States. Several factors came into play in
the 1700s that attributed to the founding of this
country. First, is the great vastness of its land and
resources. This enabled the common man to own
his own farm which gave him a lot of control over
his own life. Unlike Europe and Britain where the
land was in the control of the wealthy aristocracy.
Secondly, by owning land a man could have eco-
nomic freedom. This gave the common man a
sense of self-worth and self-reliance, which pro-
moted the concept that all men were created equal
under God. The American colonists were ripe for
the truths presented in the Great Awakening re-
vival that swept across this land. As tens of thou-
sands of souls embraced the gospel message, hun-
dreds of Methodist churches sprang up in Amer-
ica and Britain. In colonial America, reform and
revival also took place in the Baptist, Presbyte-
rian, and Congregational churches. This resulted
in tens of thousands embracing the hope of a per-
sonal Saviour who loved them and gave them
grace for daily living.
Another important concept that helped in the
founding of this country was a Puritan belief that
America was the New Israel, the promised land.
The Puritans believed that they had a divine des-
tiny in America and this idea is still alive in
America today, nearly four centuries later. These
religious views helped to shape the minds of the
colonial patriots in the 1770s, when King George
III tried to add more taxes and suppress freedom
in the American colonies. He was accused by the
American press of trying to impose Anglican
bishops on the colonies. To the Congregationalist/
Puritan mind this was a serious breach of freedom
by the British King. This aroused the fears that
Americans would be persecuted for their religious
convictions. This further poisoned relations be-
tween Britain and the colonies. The colonists soon
saw these injustices on the part of the British King
as a righteous cause, and with great religious fer-
vor and zeal they rose up to expel the last rem-
nants of old world feudalism. For the New Eng-
land Puritan it was not hard to throw off the yoke
of the British monarchy, for their ancestors had
led England in a civil war in the 1640s and had
deposed and executed King Charles I. When the
Puritans lost power in 1660s, thousands of them
fled England and came to America seeking asy-
lum from both the Church of England and the
Crown.
At the outset of the American Revolution many
ministers served the American cause in various
capacities: as military chaplains, as penmen for
committees of correspondence, as members of
state legislatures, constitutional conventions and
the national Congress. Some even took up arms,
leading Continental troops in battle. One such ex-
ample of a "fighting parson" was Peter Muhlen-
berg. At the conclusion of a sermon in January
1776 to his congregation in Woodstock, Virginia,
he threw off his clerical robes to reveal the uni-
form of a Virginia militia officer. He served with
distinction throughout the war, and even com-
manded a brigade that successfully stormed the
British lines at Yorktown. 4
During the Revolutionary War, many of the
clergy preached that the war against Britain was
approved by God. As early as 1750, Jonathan
Mayhew preached an important sermon which
was very influential in American colonies.
Mayhew taught that resistance to a tyrant was a
"glorious" Christian duty and Christians were not
obliged to suffer under an oppressive ruler, as
some Anglicans argued. One pastor, Abraham
Keteltas of Newburyport taught the American ef-
fort as "the cause of truth, against error and false-
hood . . .the cause of pure and undefiled religion,
against bigotry, superstition, and human inven-
tion . . .in short, it is the cause of heaven against
hellof the kind Parent of the Universe against
the prince of darkness, and the destroyer of the
human race. 5
The Revolution split some denominations, no-
tably the Church of England, whose ministers
were bound by oath to support the
King, and the Quakers, who were traditionally
pacifists. Many, both ministers and colonists re-
mained loyal to Britain and fled to Canada and
England for refuge. Those loyal to England
claimed that the Revolution was, to a considerable
extent, a religious quarrel, caused by Presbyteri-
ans and Congregationalists whose principles of
religion and polity were equally averse to those of
the established Church and Government. 6
The American struggle for freedom resulted in
the grand old documents in which the American
patriots put forth their concepts of freedoms in the
Declaration of Independence and the US Constitu-
tion.
America In Prophecy
America In Prophecy
What have you given us? a woman asked
Ben Franklin toward the close of the Constitu-
tional Convention.
A Republic, he said, if you can keep it!
The rise of this nation in history is no coinci-
dence. In the book of Revelation, the Lord fore-
told, through the prophet John, of the rise of our
great nation.
To understand what Christ revealed to John
about America in prophecy we need to begin with
the great controversy outlined in Revelation
chapter 12, between Christ and Satan. This chap-
ter gives us the order of historical events of Bible
prophecy. The chapter opens up with the dragon
attempting to destroy the Child, which is Christ, at
His birth. The prophetic symbols are self explana-
tory in the chapter. The dragon, in the primary
sense, is Satan. He is the one that went to war in
the heavenly courts before the world was created
and led over a third of the angels into rebellion
against their Creator. (See vs. 4-9) In a secondary
sense the dragon also represents the pagan Roman
Empire. It was through Rome and her subordinate
leaders that Satan inspired to destroy the Christ
child and finally carried out the crucifixion of the
Son of God in the spring of AD 31. It was through
pagan Rome that tens of thousands of faithful
Christians were destroyed in the following three
centuries.
In Revelation 13, John starts out in the begin-
ning of the chapter describing the rise of a beast
out of the sea. This is the same little horn
power as seen by Daniel centuries earlier in vi-
sion. (See Daniel 7:7) In Johns vision the
leopard beast rises up out of the sea like the
four beasts in the beginning of Daniel 7. This
shows that the leopard beast of Revelation 13
has risen out of the existing ...peoples, and mul-
titudes, and nations, and tongues.., (Revelation
17:15) of Bible prophecy.
Then John writes ...and the dragon (Satan;
see Revelation 12:9), gave him his power, and his
seat, and great authority. Revelation 13:2. What
power did the dragon/Satan control to destroy
Gods people in chapter 12? It was the Roman
Empire, the seat of its authority was in the city of
Rome, its power and authority was through the
Caesar, who was both head of civil government
and the pagan religion. It was the Papacy that
came into both political and religious power in the
city of Rome among the newly formed nations
5
that made up Western Europe in 538 AD.
The prophet witnesses this great papal power
for he sees that ...there was given unto him a
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies;
and power was given unto him to continue forty
and two months.( v. 5) These 42 months are
1260 symbolic day\years as also found in Daniel
7:25, beginning in 538 AD and ending in 1798
when Pope Pius VI was taken captive by the
French. John writes of this event saying, And I
saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death. (v.3) Yet as John is watching this pro-
phetic drama he sees that ...his deadly wound
was healed: and all the world wondered after the
beast. And they worshipped the dragon which
gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who
is able to make war with him? vs. 3,4.
And I beheld another beast coming up out of
the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb. v.
11. This new beast comes into power in a land
that was not part of Biblical history as the
leopard beast or the beast of Daniel seven.
Therefore, it could not arise out of Europe, but in
a new land, a relatively peaceful land, a new con-
tinent. This new nation will begin as a lamb
like beast, not attempting to conquer other nations
as all the other beast/kingdoms before it. It must
come into power during the existence of the pa-
pacy, before the deadly wound was healed.
What nation did the prophet see rising in power
while at the same time the Papacy was declining
in power and authority in 1798? The United States
of America.
This land has been the haven and symbol of
religious and political freedom for millions of
people from all over the world. The two founding
principles, Protestantism and Republicanism has
made this nation a source of prosperity and free-
dom. The founding fathers established their gov-
ernment upon the foundation of civil and religious
liberty. These great men expressed their views in
the Declaration of Independence, which states the
great truth that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable Rights, among which are: Life, Lib-
erty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Constitution is the great protector of the
people, it guarantees in the most explicit language
freedom of conscience: Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Consti-
tution insures the rights of its citizens of self-
6 America In Prophecy
government, representation by elected officials
and No religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office of public trust under the
United States. America emerged as the cradle of
civil and religious freedom.
The Second Great Wakening
In its early years America was greatly blessed
by God. Within the first seventy five years our
young nation expanded westward, gaining triple
the territory that it started with after the Revolu-
tionary War. The country was blessed with pros-
perity as farming, mining, commerce, and indus-
try expanded. Americans were blessed with wis-
dom and skill as they invented and developed
steamboats and railroads and a host of machines
and equipment to help on the farm, the home or in
business. But all this expansion and prosperity led
the American people to forget the God that had
blessed them so abundantly. By the 1830s the
Protestant churches were again adrift in worldli-
ness and carnal slumber as they had been a 100
years before.
This time the Lord raised up William Miller, a
man in the new world, to give a startling message
that would shake the Protestant churches to their
very foundations. In the early 1830s the Lord
called Miller to give the second advent message to
the world. Like many men that the Lord has cho-
sen, Miller was a humble man, a farmer in the
eastern part of New York state.
He spent years studying the books of Daniel
and Revelation. With intense interest he found
that many of the prophecies had been literally ful-
filled in the history of past ages. The great chain
of truth opened before his mind and he was able
to trace down the great lines of prophetic history
to his time.
As he came to the 2300 prophetic day proph-
ecy of Daniel 8:14, he applied the day for a year
principle and discovered that it would extend far
beyond the close of the Jewish dispensation,
therefore it could not refer to the Jewish temple.
The Sanctuary doctrine, which unfolds the high
priestly ministration of Christ in the Heavenly
Sanctuary, had been lost for centuries. It was
generally accepted in the Christian age that the
church on earth is the sanctuary. This was the
view that Miller held also. He thus concluded that
the cleansing of the sanctuary, foretold in Daniel
8:14, was symbolic of the purification of the earth
by fire at the second coming of Christ. He then
reasoned from this prophecy that the time of
Christs second advent could be established.
Miller now continued the examination of the
prophecies with deeper earnestness. He would
spend whole days deep in study and sometimes
far into the night, in search of these stupendous
truths that had become his all-absorbing interest.
As he searched for a beginning date for the 2300
days, he came to the ninth chapter of Daniel and
discovered from his study of verses 22-27 and
Ezra chapter seven that the beginning date of 457
BC for the seventy weeks, was also the same
for the 2300 days. He also found that the present
condition of the world fit the prophetic descrip-
tions of the last days. Thus he came to the solemn
conclusion that the world had about reached the
limits of probation, and the Lord was about to re-
turn a second time before the mid 1840s.
Miller obeyed his call to the ministry and trav-
eled throughout the towns and cities of New Eng-
land and New York. By 1840 the Second Advent
message was causing a real revival among the
churches, and many ministers from various de-
nominations were also working with Miller. Over
the course of time, the preaching of Miller and his
associates led thousands of souls to Christ, and
they eagerly looked forward to His soon return.
The Advent message was also taking hold in
many countries around the world. Reports were
coming in from the British Isles, Europe, Asia,
and South America, of tens of thousands of peo-
ple anxiously looking forward to Christs soon
return.
Unfortunately, the majority of the Protestant
ministers and people rejected the message from
heaven that Miller and his associates were faith-
fully preaching. They ridiculed and denounced the
advent message as fanatical and delusional.
Within the Protestant churches many faithful
souls, who embraced the Advent hope, were dis-
fellowshipped from their churches. The Protestant
churches that rejected the Advent message and
persecuted faithful believers within their com-
munion, fell into apostasy like the papacy had
hundreds of years before.
The appointed day, October 22, 1844, that
Miller and his fellow ministers had proclaimed
that Christ would come, came and nothing hap-
pened. The world and the fallen churches rejoiced
and ridiculed the Advent believers for their appar-
ent false hope. Yet God did not leave His faithful
children to wallow in uncertainly and despair. In-
stead, He sent them glorious heavenly light to
America In Prophecy
open their understanding of the great change in
the ministry of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
The Lord showed them that they had arrived at
the right date, but they had come to the wrong
conclusion as to what would happen on that day.
It was Gods purpose to bring to the worlds at-
tention the important closing work of judgement
and atonement that Christ was now doing in the
Heavenly Sanctuary. Those who accepted the Ad-
vent message and the work of Christ in the Most
Holy Place, received even greater light from
heaven.
The fallen Protestant churches lost the favor
and spiritual light that God would have sent them,
had they welcomed Christs soon return and re-
pented of their sins. Instead they went into apos-
tasy and spiritual darkness. It is interesting to
note, that the Protestant churches which had come
out of Rome, hundreds of years before, still kept
some of the same false doctrines of Rome, such as
Sunday sacredness and the belief in immortality
of the soul.
Those who rejected Christ and held onto their
false doctrines, were left in darkness and they be-
came the fallen daughters of "Babylon" as repre-
sented by the Papal church in Revelation 17. The
name Babylon means confusion. These churches,
who rejected Christ and His messages, are con-
fused about Biblical truth. They teach that the
Law of God, the Ten Commandants, have been
done away with at the cross. That the death of
Christ has not only paid the penalty of our sins,
but also abolished the law that He had to die for in
order to redeem us. In abolishing the law of God,
the Protestant churches have taken one step fur-
ther than the Papacy. For Rome only attempted to
change parts of Gods law, not abolish it as the
Protestants did.
By rejecting the Law of God, it is impossible
to advance in the light in regards to sanctification,
therefore one has to believe in justification alone
for salvation. By rejecting the law of God, the
sanctifying power of Gods grace is flustered,
which results in Christians who have no power
over sin or temptation. The power of the gospel is
completely derailed and the name of Christ is dis-
honored by professed believers. Without the sanc-
tifying work of Christ in the soul, a person is not
fit for the heavenly courts.
This rejection of light also opened the door to
formalism and a social religion that took over the
7
main line churches in America and Europe after
the 1840s. In lamenting the spiritual decline
among the Protestant churches during the winter
of 1844, Charles G Finney, a Professor at Oberlin
College said; We have had the fact before our
minds, that, in general, the Protestant churches of
our country, as such, were either apathetic or hos-
tile to nearly all the moral reforms of the age.
There are partial exceptions, yet not enough to
render the fact otherwise than general. We have
also another corroborated fact: the almost univer-
sal absence of revival influence in the churches.
The spiritual apathy is almost all-pervading, and
is fearfully deep; so the religious press of the
whole land testifies. . . . Very extensively, church
members are becoming devotees of fashion, join-
ing hands with the ungodly in parties of pleasure,
in dancing, in festivities, etc. . . . But we need not
expand this painful subject. Suffice it that the evi-
dence thickens and rolls heavily upon us, to show
that the churches generally are becoming sadly
degenerate. They have gone very far from the
Lord, and He has withdrawn Himself from them.
7
It was formalism, apathy, and hypocrisy that
destroyed the spiritual life of the Jewish religion
prior to the first advent of Christ. This has been an
effective tool of Satan throughout all ages, and
has proved highly effective in benumbing the
spiritual perceptions of the Protestant churches.
Other doctrinal errors gained influence in Prot-
estantism such as: the secret rapture and the tem-
poral millennium, which replaced the literal bibli-
cal doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ.
Spiritualism began to make inroads into the
churches, and by 1900 Pentecostalism emerged
with its deceptive claims of having the baptism of
the Holy Spirit, by speaking in tongues, and heal-
ing the sick. We will study this subject further in
part three of this series.
The Aims Of The Papacy
Authors note: It is important to understand
that in writing this article I have no preju-
dice against the individual people of the Ro-
man Catholic Church. It is the papal system
with its hierarchical control and false doc-
trines that presents a danger to Protestant-
ism, this country, and its people. This con-
cern has led me to write and document the
8 America In Prophecy
following material as a warning to all who
read it.
The Protestant churches are in great dark-
ness, or they would discern the signs of the
times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in
her plans and modes of operation. She is
employing every device to extend her influ-
ence and increase her power in preparation
for a fierce and determined conflict to re-
gain control of the world, to re-establish
persecution, and to undo all that Protestant-
ism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground
in our country upon every side. Look at the
number of her churches and chapels. Look
at her colleges and seminaries, so widely
patronized by Protestants. These things
should awaken the anxiety of all who prize
the pure principles of the gospel.8
This above quote was penned in the mid
1800s by a prominent Christian writer. This
statement reveals deep insights into the aims of
the Papacy to regain her lost power over the reli-
gious and political systems of the world.
In order to understand the mind set of the Pa-
pacy one must look at its doctrine stated in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church and papal de-
crees. The Roman Church states that apostolic
session from Apostle Peter has been given to the
Roman Catholic Church through the Bishop
(Pope) of Rome. The Papacy claims that its
power and authority originates from God.
The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named
Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the
keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of
the whole flock. "The office of binding and loos-
ing which was given to Peter was also assigned to
the college of apostles united to its head." This
pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles
belongs to the Church's very foundation and is
continued by the bishops under the primacy of
the Pope. 9 Emphasis supplied.
Apostolic session is not Gods way of leading
His faithful people, we must worship God in
...spirit and in truth. John 4:24. The Papacy
claims to trace a line of apostolic session back to
the Apostle Peter, but do they teach and practice
the pure doctrine that the apostles taught and prac-
ticed? No, they dont! The Papacy teaches a false
gospel. The Roman Church believes that salvation
was purchased by Christ and then given to the Pa-
pacy to be administered by its priests in its many
sacraments.
[The Church] has received the keys of the
Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be
forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy
Spirit's action. In this Church, the soul dead
through sin comes back to life in order to live
with Christ, whose grace has saved us. 10 Empha-
sis supplied.
Much more could be said about the Mass,
the praying to dead Saints and a dead Mary,
the mother of Jesus for mediation between them
and God, Sunday sacredness, the immortality of
the soul and a host of other false doctrines that the
Roman Church teaches the world. Please study
these things out for yourself.
We also need to understand that the Papacy is a
dictatorship and the church is a totalitarian sys-
tem.
The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's suc-
cessor, "is the perpetual and visible source and
foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of
the whole company of the faithful." "For the Ro-
man Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of
Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has
full, supreme, and universal power over the
whole Church, a power which he can always
exercise unhindered.11 Emphasis supplied.
The next point we need to understand is that
the Papacy has invented itself with infallibility, a
quality that we can only ascribe to God! Thus the
Papacy views itself as the highest moral and
spiritual representative of God upon earth. The
Papacy also believes that it has power over civil
issues that it deems as moral principles. There-
fore, the Papacy claims the prerogative as Vicar
of Christ that it has the right to involve itself in
the moral/political issues of civil governments.
This puts the Papacy at odds with Governments
that do not favor or agree with the Churchs doc-
trine or its political agendas.
"The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of
bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his
office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all
the faithfulwho confirms his brethren in the
faithhe proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine
pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility
promised to the Church is also present in the body
of bishops when, together with Peter's successor,
they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above
all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church
through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doc-
America In Prophecy
trine "for belief as being divinely revealed," and
as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be
adhered to with the obedience of faith." This in-
fallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine
Revelation itself.12
1. From God has the duty been assigned to
the Church not only to interpose resistance,
if at any time the State rule should run
counter to religion, but, further, to make a
strong endeavor that the power of the Gos-
pel may pervade the law and institutions of
the nations. And inasmuch as the destiny of
the State depends mainly on the disposition
of those who are at the head of affairs, it
follows that the Church cannot give coun-
tenance or favor to those whom she knows
to be imbued with a spirit of hostility to
her; who refuse openly to respect her
rights; who make it their aim and purpose
to tear asunder the alliance that should, by
the very nature of things, connect the inter-
ests of religion with those of the State. On
the contrary, she is (as she is bound to be)
the upholder of those who are themselves
imbued with the right way of thinking as to
the relations between Church and State,
and who strive to make them work in per-
fect accord for the common good. These
precepts contain the abiding principle by
which every Catholic should shape his con-
duct in regard to public life. In short, where
the Church does not forbid taking part in
public affairs, it is fit and proper to give
support to men of acknowledged worth,
and who pledge themselves to deserve well
in the Catholic cause, and on no account
may it be allowed to prefer to them any
such individuals as are hostile to religion.
13
Finally, we need to understand that the Papacy
is at odds with the American concept of Freedom
of Religion, except when it benefits the Catholic
Church. The Papacy takes issue with the Ameri-
can concept of the separation of church and
state, or in the Papal eyes, the separation of the
Catholic Church from the American state.
Over one hundred and fifty years ago Pope
Pius IX stated in his Encyclical Letter of August
15, 1854: The absurd and erroneous doctrines or
ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a
most pestilential error a pest, of all others, most
9
to be dreaded in a state. The same pope, in his
Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathema-
tized those who assert the liberty of conscience
and of religious worship,' also 'all such as main-
tain that the church may not employ force.' 14
In the book, Keys Of This Blood, Malachi Mar-
tin reveals the same reasoning from Pope John II.
Religious groups that have ...sprang up within
Western democracies; and the vast majority of
them are homegrown products of the United
States. They have been formed in the very womb
of Western democratic principles about the rights
of man and the dignity of the individual, And with
few exceptions, they accept the latter-day Ameri-
can interpretation of the "wall" that separates
church and state.
It sets them apart from the Holy Father, be-
cause democratic principles cannot take prece-
dence over divine revelation. No one can be
forced to believe in Heaven or Hell, or to choose
the one over the other. Nevertheless, it is axio-
matic for John Paul that no one has the right
democratic or otherwise to a moral wrong; and no
religion based on divine revelation has a moral
right to teach such a moral wrong or abide by
it.15 It must be understood that, in the mind of
the Papacy, anything that falls outside the
Traditions and Dogmas are considered error
or sin. The above statement is not only dealing
with common issues, such as abortion, which is
morally wrong, but anything that conflicts with
the Pope's political, social, or religious views.
The aim of the Papacy is to regain its control
over the moral, religious, social, and political life
of the world. The Catholic Church sees herself as
being the only true church, the only one that has
all the truth, power, and authority from God. In
the end, the departure of Protestants from the
word of God and the moral failure of American
society will be the Papacys greatest argument
that only the Catholic Church will stand the moral
and spiritual test of time. She will argue that the
moral downfall of Western society is due to the
excessive and uncontrolled freedoms of liberty
and conscience, that have given rise to abortion,
gay rights, and the evil influence of the entertain-
ment industry.
As we continue to look at the fall of Protestant-
ism and the rise of Catholicism in America, we
will see a gradual shift in the trends of Western
politics, religion, and society. In the end, it will be
10 America In Prophecy
declared that Protestantism has failed, and the
world will turn to the Papacy for moral, social,
and political leadership in order to achieve world
peace and bring about needed reforms in the mor-
als of society.
God's word has given warning of the impend-
ing danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protes-
tant world will learn what the purposes of Rome
really are, only when it is too late to escape the
snare. She is silently growing into power. Her
doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative
halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men.
She is piling up her lofty and massive structures
in the secret recesses of which her former perse-
cutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspect-
edly she is strengthening her forces to further her
own ends when the time shall come for her to
strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and
this is already being given her. We shall soon see
and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman ele-
ment is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word
of God will thereby incur reproach and persecu-
tion.16
Rise Of Catholicism In America
As a result of the apostasy of the Protestant
Churches, the Papacy was able to make deep in-
roads into America. Until the 1830s America had
been predominately a Protestant country, one of
the few in the world. At the time of the American
Revolution less than one percent of the population
in the 13 colonies were Roman Catholic. This
started to change with the many waves of immi-
grants from the 1830s up to the present time. No-
tice that in, ...1820, 8000 immigrants arrived
from Europe, 23,000 came in 1830. 84,000 in
1840 and 370,000 in 1850, until in 1854 the num-
ber reached 425,000. In the decade 1850-1860,
2,700,000 immigrants, mostly Irish, Germans, and
English, entered the United States. 17
As these immigrants left their countries for so-
cial and economic reasons, they saw great oppor-
tunities in America. The Irish Catholics moved
primarily into the cities of the northern states
while the Germans moved to the vast plains of the
Midwest.18 It is interesting that in the states
where the Protestant Churches had rejected the
Advent message a great influx of Catholicism
took place.
This great immigration of Catholics into
American society was a cause of alarm for many
Protestant Americans. As they witnessed Catho-
lic churches, convents, and parochial schools mul-
tiplying, Protestants at times reacted in very vio-
lent ways. In fact by 1845 a secret society (The
Supreme Order Of The Star-Spangled Banner),
made up of old stock Protestant Americans was
formed to keep Catholics out of public office.19
Many of the Irish Catholics that settled in the
large cities joined the Democratic party, which
was pro-slavery and known as the working mans
party. This of course embittered the Protestant
Republicans of the North and drove a deeper
wedge between them. This Anti-Catholic senti-
ment was so powerful that by the mid 1850s the
Star-Spangled Banner secret society became a po-
litical movement called the Know Nothings. Its
many politically activate secret society members
were able to influence the elections in many of the
Northern and Mid-Atlantic states. In Massachu-
setts they were able to elect the entire state gov-
ernment and legislature.20 By the end of the dec-
ade the antislavery debate had somewhat over
shadowed the Catholic concerns of Protestants
and the issue was put on the back burner to sim-
mer for awhile.
During this time the public school systems
were under the control of Protestant teachers.
They taught American children principles based
upon the Bible, liberty, equality, and Protestant-
ism. This atmosphere was not conducive for the
Catholic parents to rear their children as Catho-
lics. Along with the animosity that existed be-
tween the Protestants and the Catholics, the latter
elected to set up a large parochial school system
in America. After the civil war, the Catholics lob-
bied the government for state support for their
schools this was blocked by the Republicans in
Congress, who were Protestant. Senator James
Blaine, a Republican from Maine, introduced a
bill to amend the US Constitution to prohibit the
use of state funding for religious schools. (The
Senator often referred to the Democrats as a party
of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.) The pro-
posed constitutional amendment passed in the
House of Representatives, but failed to gain the
full two-thirds vote to pass in the Senate.21
The civil war was another turning point for this
nations religious denominations. Many of the
large Protestant denominations split over the slav-
ery issue along the Mason Dixon line between the
America In Prophecy
North and the South. The many revivals of the
1830s and 1840s had resulted in the formation
of antislavery societies in the North. Many north-
ern preachers were very vocal in their opposition
to the sin of the southern slave holders. Some
preachers and lay people were very active as
abolitionists or even assisted runaway slaves in
their escape for freedom from the South. During
debate over the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which al-
lowed the extension of slavery into new territo-
ries, Congress was presented with a petition from
3,000 New England ministers who opposed the
bill.22 Their southern evangelical counterparts
wrestled portions of scriptures out of context to
justify their position on slavery. When the war
broke, ministers in both the North and South were
very vocal in their pulpits, calling upon God to
bless their righteous cause.
It is interesting to note that the Roman Catholic
Church in America survived the civil war in tact
and united. One reason is that it looked to the Pa-
pacy for its guidance. Another reason is that
Catholics saw the civil war as being a Protestant
war. Many Catholics believed that it was insti-
gated by northern abolitionists, who were anti-
Catholic as well. They feared that to strengthen
abolitionists would only lead to their own demise.
The Papacy favored the break up of the United
States, for this would weaken Americas power in
both South and North America. The Monroe Doc-
trine, which forbade the intervention of European
powers in both North and South America, was a
thorn in the flesh for the Papacy who had been
able to control Latin America through the Catho-
lic governments of Spain and Portugal. The Pa-
pacy acted cautiously in its support of the South
in the civil war. In fact Pope Pius IX sent a letter
to Jefferson Davis president of the Confederate
States which states:
ILLUSTRIOUS AND HONORABLE PRESIDENT.
Salutations:
We have just received with all suitable welcome the
persons sent by you to place in our hands your letter,
dated the 23rd of September last. Not slight was the
pleasure we experienced when we learned, from those
persons and the letter, with what feelings of joy and
gratitude, you were animated, illustrious and honorable
President, as soon as you were informed of our letters
to our venerable brother, John, Archbishop of New
York, and John Archbishop of New Orleans, dated the
11
18th of October of last year, and in which we have with
all our strength exerted and exhorted those venerable
brothers that in their episcopal piety and solicitude, they
should endeavor, with the most ardent zeal, and in our
name to bring about the end of that fatal civil war which
has broken out in those countries in order that the
American people may obtain peace and concord and
dwell charitably together. It is particularly agreeable to
us that you illustrious and honorable President, and
your people, were animated with the same desires of
peace and tranquillity which we have in our letters in-
culcated upon our venerable brothers. May it please
God at the same time to make the other peoples of
America and their rulers, reflecting seriously how terri-
ble is civil war, and what calamities it engenders, listen
to inspirations of a calmer spirit and adopt resolutely
the part of peace.
As to us, we shall never cease to address the most
fervent prayers to Almighty God, requesting him to in-
spire in the whole people a spirit of peace and charity
and to free them from the great evils which now afflict
them. We pray at the same time to merciful God to be-
stow upon you the light of his grace, and cause you to
be attached to us by a perfect union.
Given at St. Peter, Rome, December 1. 1861.
(Signed) Pius IXth. 23
The Southern cause made serious overtures to the
Papacy and other European nations for interven-
tion in America in favor of the South. The French
intervention of Mexico in 1861 and the setting up
of Archduke
Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico was as
close as Europe came in assisting the South. The
US Congress vigorously protested the French set-
ting up a monarchy in Mexico, which could have
aided the South in the civil war conflict. In the
mind of Congress, this was a breach of the Mon-
roe Doctrine which the war torn Federal govern-
ment had to tolerate until after the civil war.
The hopes of the South came to an end with
the surrender of General Robert Lee to General
Grant on April 9, 1865. The Northern cause had
been victorious, but at such a high cost. Between
the two sides, America lost over 610,000 fathers,
brothers, and friends in this terrible war. Saddest
of all, less than a week after the fall of the South,
President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth
in a conspiracy of Southern rebels and *American
Catholics to take down the Federal government.
Protestants & Social Religion
1850-1960
After the mid 1840s until present, the Protes-
tant churches of America and Europe have slipped
into formalism. The have become social relig-
ions, Having a form of godliness, but denying
the power there of. 2 Timothy 3:5.
As a result the Protestant religions became
more involved in moral/political issues of the day
in order to bring about good changes in the lives
of people. As the spiritual connection of the
churches grow weak, ministers and people will
turn to the government in order to bring about
change in the laws of the land.
We have already briefly discussed the involve-
ment of the churches in the civil war, how the
northern Protestant churches pushed hard for the
South to free the slaves. It must be pointed out
that the institution of slavery is very evil. Yet it is
the gospel of Christ that will transform lives to
conform to the principles of the Law of God and
bring about permanent change in society. This is
the power that Protestant America had lost, and
ever since the Protestant churches have had to
seek the aid of the government in order to make
moral reforms in America. In many ways the
Protestant churches fell into the same trap as did
the Pharisees in the time of Christ. They also re-
lied upon man made laws to control the morals of
Jewish society. It was their way of dealing with

* Note: The plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Vice President- Andrew Johnston, Secretary of State- William Seward,
and General Ulysses S. Grant was planned at the boarding-home of Mrs. Surratt. This is where John W. Booth met along
with co-conspirators John Surratt, Lewis Powell (also called Lewis Paine or Payne), George Atzerodt, David Herold, Samuel
Arnold, and Michael O'Laughlen. There were also Roman Catholic priests and Jesuits involved in the plot. Most of the con-
spirators were Roman Catholic with strong sympathetic ties to the Confederate South. Catholic priests from St. Joesph Min-
nesota, knew of the assassination plot to kill Lincoln many hours, if not a day, before the event happened. John Surratt was
helped to escape by American and Canadian Catholic priests and he ended up in the Vatican guard.
Sources:
Charles Chiniquy, 50 Years In The Church Of Rome, pages 303-317
Brigadier-General T. M. Harris A History of the Great Conspiracy (http://www.reformation.org/surratt.html)

12 America In Prophecy
the overwhelming evils that were coming in
amongst them from both Roman and Greek influ-
ences.
During the religious revivals that took place
during the first and second religious awakenings,
entire towns were being reformed. This concept is
completely foreign to us today, yet it happened
often before the 1850s. If we could measure the
morality of this country in comparison to two
hundred years ago, we would see a huge slide
downward!
The causes that Protestant churches embraced
were necessary and good reforms for society. The
rights and freedoms of women, children and
workers, are all important, as well as the civil
rights of minority groups in America, like the
civil rights movement of the African Americans
in the 1960s. The churches and ministers who
embraced these causes did so in the face of over-
whelming odds, against deep seated prejudice,
violence, and the financial power of big business.
We can see the shift in the way Protestant
churches dealt with social/moral issues by looking
at the temperance movement of the 1800s. Prot-
estant churches began crusades against alcohol
drinking in the early 1800s. Led by Protestant
ministers and laity they formed thousands of local
temperance organizations all over the country.
The ...abstinence pledge had been introduced by
churches as early as 1800. The earliest temper-
ance organizations seem to have been those
founded at Saratoga, New York, in 1808 and in
Massachusetts in 1813. The movement spread
rapidly under the influence of the churches; by
1833 there were 6,000 local societies in several of
the states. 24
The temperance movement struck a blow at the
beer and liquor drinking people of America along
with the new Irish and German immigrates. The
emphasis of the churches at first were of encour-
aging individuals to refrain from drinking alcohol,
but after the 1850s a change in strategy took
place among the churches, now they turned to the
state to enforce their moral causes.
The idea of banning alcohol altogether had
simmered for decades before it took root nation-
ally. Neal Dow achieved the first breakthrough by
securing the famous Maine Law of 1851, which
made the making and selling of alcohol illegal in
that state.
The roots of the movement can be traced to
Ohio in 1887, when faculty at Oberlin College
joined with local ministers to fight for state legis-
America In Prophecy
lation granting a local option to ban the saloon.
Oberlin, which admitted African Americans and
women in the 1840s, had been a reform center for
antislavery agitation and women's suffrage. It
soon became a nerve center for a growing national
movement against the saloon. After a vigorous
lobbying campaign, local option legislation
passed in Ohio and local governments throughout
the state began closing down saloons.
In 1895, inspired by this success, Rev. Howard
Hyde Russell founded the Anti-Saloon League.
Because of its close ties to Protestant churches,
which served as the precinct bases for local or-
ganization, the League became a formidable na-
tional force, able to field 20,000 speakers nation-
wide for the cause.""
What made the Anti-Saloon League successful
was its relentless pressure and clear strategic cal-
culations. Knowing that state legislatures would
resist, league leaders realized they would win only
through ceaseless education, lobbying, and elec-
tioneering. The organization overcame the multi-
tude of divisions within Protestantism with a sim-
ple message of democratic appeal: Fight for the
right of local communities to regulate or close
down saloons. League organizers compromised
when necessary, formed alliances, flooded waver-
ing legislators with mail, and played hardball with
opponents. Where they could expand on Protes-
tant fears of Catholic immigrants, they would.
Where they could form alliances with Catholics,
they would. State after state fell into line.
The strategy of beginning a political effort in
states before acting nationally worked beautifully.
In 1900, five states were dry and four held down
the amount of drinking by enacting high license
fees from sellers. The others had local option, but
wet areas still predominated in many of them. The
Anti-Saloon League increasingly began to avoid
state legislatures, which were often responsive to
beer and alcohol interests. They moved instead to
get voters to decide about alcohol policy directly
through state referenda. State after state enacted
prohibition in this manner. Swept by a mood of
optimism, the League finally turned to the federal
government, where Congress passed the Eight-
eenth Amendment to the Constitution banning the
production and sale of intoxicating beverages.
Only the heavily Catholic states of Connecticut
and Rhode Island refused to ratify the amend-
ment. Prohibition became the law of the land. 25
Unfortunately, prohibition was a short lived
reform from 1920 until 1933 when it was re-
13
pealed. The climate of morality and spirituality
was changing in America, and not for the better!
During this time America was involved in two
World Wars, a major depression and many other
events that helped to shape the spiritual, political,
and social climate of this country.
By the mid 1800s, the social/political concepts
of communism and socialism were starting to re-
shape the thinking of liberal Americans. In 1859,
biologist, Charles Darwin, shocked the religious
world with his book The Origin of Species, which
put forth the theory of evolution. Darwins theory
of evolution helped to advance the concepts of
atheism and secular humanism. It may be said that
evolution is the religion of atheists.
Darwins theory has done more to destroy the
fabric of American society than was first realized.
Evolution took a very serious toll on the public
schools and in the colleges and universities across
America after the famous Scopes trials in Dayton,
Tennessee in the summer of 1925.
The concepts of atheism and secular hu-
manism war against such Biblical truths as the
origin of humanity, that God is our Creator, and
of our fallen natures that as sinners we are in need
of salvation through Jesus Christ. Humanism
Footnotes
1 Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, Book XV, p 11)
2 D. Neal, History of the Puritans, vol. 1, p. 269.
3 Ellen G White, Great Controversy, p. 294, Pacific Press, Moun-
tain View, California.
4 http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel03.html
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ellen G White, Great Controversy, p. 377, Pacific Press, Moun-
tain View, California.
8 Ellen G White, The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4, p. 381, Review
and Herald Publishing Association, Hagerstown MD.
9 Catechism of the Catholic Church, United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Catechism 881
10 ibid. Catechism 882
11 ibid. Catechism 981
12 ibid. Catechism 891
13 Pope Leo XIII Encyclical on Christians as Citixens (Sapientiae
Christianae) (Source:http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/
encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_10011890_sapientiae -
christianae_en.html)
14 Ellen G White, Great Controversy, p. 564-5, Pacific Press,
14 America In Prophecy
teaches that the human race can better itself
through education. This one belief has so perme-
ated the liberal churches of today that it has de-
stroyed the faith of millions of Protestants. It fur-
ther divided the Protestant world in different fac-
tions in the twentieth century. Before long liberal
theories permeated the old main line churches of
America. By the 1950s the Protestant churches
had divided into three groups:
1. Modernists the liberal main line Protes-
tant churches that do not take the Bible literally
any more. They do not believe in the Genesis
account of the creation of Adam and Eve.
2. Evangelicals Protestants who are actively
seeking to proselytize people of other beliefs or
non- Christians. They can be modernists or fun-
damentalists in their beliefs.
3. Fundamentalists claim they take a literal
interpretation of Scriptures. They are conserva-
tive in their lifestyles and are concerned with the
moral state of people and society.
Mountain View, California.
15 Malachi Martin, Keys Of This Blood, New York, Simon And
Schuster p. 286, 287.
16 Ellen G White, Great Controversy, p. 581, Pacific Press, Moun-
tain View, California.
17 Emerson David Fite, History of the United States p. 338, (New
York. Henry Holt and Company).
18 Homer C. Hockett, Political and Social Growth of the American
People, p. 673, (New York. The Macmillan Company).
19 Ibid. p. 690.
20 Ibid. p. 673-674
21 Robert Booth Fowler, Allen D. Hertzke, Laura R. Olson, Religion
and Politics in America Faith, Culture, & Strategic Choices, p.14,
(Boulder Colorado, Westview Press).
22 Ibid. p. 19.
23 Confederate Veteran, Vol. VII, No. 8 Nashville, Tenn., August,
1899. ( Also see: Charles Chiniquy, 50 Years In The Church Of
Rome, pages 303-317)
24 http://women.eb.com/women/articles/temperance_movement.html
25 Robert Booth Fowler, Allen D. Hertzke, Laura R. Olson, Religion
and Politics in America Faith, Culture, & Strategic Choices, p.21,
(Boulder Colorado, Westview Press).

America in Prophecy
Part 2
Selling Out The
Protestant Reformation
By Ashley Cunningham
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis
write... I know thy works, that thou hast a name
that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and
strengthen the things which remain, that are
ready to die: for I have not found thy works per-
fect before God. Revelation 3:1,2.
In the previous issue we studied the history of
how America became a haven for religious lib-
erty. God richly blessed this nation for its will-
ingness to uphold these grand principles. The
Lord especially gave America great light concern-
ing the three angels messages found in Revela-
tion 14:6-12, to warn its people of the deceptions
of Satan, to teach them the principles of right-
eousness, and to prepare them for Christs second
coming.
This special light started to shine in the 1830s
upon the Protestant churches in America to see if
they would awake from their carnal slumber and
backslidden ways and return to the Lord. The ma-
jority of Protestant churches rejected the first an-
gels message, a warning so important that this
message is represented by an angel flying ...in
the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and
give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 14:6,7. This multi-part message went
forth with great power in the mid 1840s.
From the fall of Adam until today, the ever-
lasting gospel is the gospel of Christ which is
..the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth. Romans 1:16. To fear God
means to ...keep his commandments: for this is
the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13. We
give glory to Him when the character of Christ
is revealed in our lives, by faith, through partak-
America In Prophecy
ing of His divine nature. The apostle Paul wrote
that the glory of God is: Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Colossians 1:27.
Even though the everlasting gospel has been
preached since the fall of Adam, each generation
has had a distinctive message. The proclamation
of the hour of His judgement is come which
began in the 1830s was an announcement that the
judgement in heaven was about to begin in the
mid 1840s. A careful study of the prophecies of
Daniel reveal a major change in the work and
ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary was
about to begin. This final phase of Christs work
must precede His second coming, for when He
comes He will reward the faithful with eternal
life, and a home with God forever. The call to
worship Him, is a call to worship the Creator on
His holy Sabbath day, the seventh day (Saturday).
The fall of the Roman church in the third century
covered the light of the Sabbath for centuries.
Now God was calling His true people back to the
worship of God on the memorial to creation the
Sabbath.
As a result of the popular Protestant churches
rejecting this heaven sent message they lost the
wonderful light that Christ longed to give them
and they fell, entering into spiritual darkness.
During the summer of 1844 the second angels
message applied to these churches. Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made
all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication. Revelation 14:8. Babylon is a symbol
for confusion. (See Genesis 11:9) In rejecting the
precious light from heaven, the Protestant
churches became confused. When these churches
fell from favor with God, they became the fallen
daughters of Babylon the Great, which is the Ro-
man Church. As we continue our study of history,
we will see very clearly that this is exactly what
took place with Protestantism as we enter the
twentieth century.
As a result of rejecting the first two messages
they have also rejected the proclamation of the
third angels message as well. (We will discuss
the third angels message in detail at the conclu-
sion of this series of articles.) Since the mid 1800s
the Protestant churches have embraced many
more doctrinal errors which has plunged them
into greater darkness and apostasy, where they
remain today. This has opened the door for Satan
to attack them through the inroads of Catholicism,
spiritualism, humanism and atheism. They re-
jected the light and power from heaven that would
have saved them from this fall. They made the
15
same mistake as the Jewish leaders in the time of
Christ, they trusted in their own wisdom instead
of the word of God. They valued the praise of
men rather than the glory of Christ.
From Protestant to Evangelical
On December 5, 1912, the Second Quadrennial
Meeting of the Federal Council of Churches in
America met in Chicago, Illinois. This assembly
of three hundred and nineteen ministers from
thirty-one Protestant denominations met at the
Hotel La Salle. The denominations represented in
the Federal Council of Churches had a total mem-
bership of more than seventeen million.
Part of their agenda was to drop the word
Protestant from their executive committee re-
port, for they feared that this would make it more
difficult for them to work with other Christian
groups. They also stated at the beginning of their
meetings that: "United Protestantism is not to be
construed as a demonstration against the Roman
Catholic Church." 1
What a shift in the thinking of Protestant
America from the days of Luther, Calvin, and
Knox, just to name a few of the great leaders in
the Reformation nearly four hundred years before.
They would have been appalled if they could have
witnessed the hard fought Reformation renounced
by professing Protestant ministers who now saw
that battle stained title as a hindrance to the gos-
pel. But this was just the beginning of many com-
promises and rejections of the principles of Prot-
estantism that has spiritually shipwrecked so
many denominations over the past 150 years.
In its place the professed churches of Christ
have replaced the honored title of Protestant with
the term Evangelical. For the most part the only
time we hear the word Protestant today is in refer-
ence to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
No longer does one bring up their children to
abhor popery and the false doctrines and practices
of Rome. Now when the Pope comes to Evangeli-
cal America, he comes receiving the highest hon-
ors from the President, elected government offi-
cials, and the clergy from the Evangelical
churches of the United States. How did this all
change? And where is it heading?
Hands Across The Gulf
The Papacy & Ecumenicalism
For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong
16 America In Prophecy
hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in
the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A con-
federacy, to all them to whom this people shall
say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor
be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself;
and let him be your fear, and let him be your
dread. Isaiah 8:11-13.
A letter written on February 2, 1912, by a
Catholic leader in The Catholic Missionary Un-
ion, reveals the intent and purposes of the Catho-
lic Church in America.
How near at hand do you think is the time when
America will be dominantly Catholic? Things move on
with rapid strides these days, and recent creation of
three American Cardinals had brought the Church once
more to the forefront. The dominant note in the address
of the Holy Father as well as in the replies of the Cardi-
nals in the hope of wonderful progress among English
speaking peoples. They have all spoken of the era of
convert making. All this indicates a marvelous advance
along the lines whereon the Missionaries of the Apos-
tolic Mission House have been working these twenty
years.
We must labor to gain the confidence, love and
respect of the American people. This once gained, the
Catholic church in her way to claim American hearts,
may carry a thousand dogmas on her back. 2
Around the turn of the twentieth century the
winds of ecumenicalism were starting to blow.
There was a change of strategy, which was seen
in the tone and language of the papacy. As early
as 1894, Pope Leo XIII encouraged an attitude of
friendship and respect of the Eastern Orthodox
Churches. He graciously stated in his encyclical,
Praeclara Gratulationis; We cast an affectionate
look upon the east . . . the Eastern Churches, so
illustrious in the ancient faith and glorious past . .
. the distance separating us is not so great . . ..
These expressions had rarely been seen in any
previous papal documents. 3
Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) in his encyclical,
Nostis Qua, continued to advance the same ecu-
menical spirit as he confesses that the barriers to
reunion and unity have not always been the fault
of the Eastern Orthodox Christians. For the first
time in official church documents, Pius wrote,
Catholics also have sometimes failed in justly
evaluating the truth or, on account of insufficient
knowledge, in showing a fraternal spirit. Do we
know all that is valuable, good, and Christian in
the fragments of ancient Catholic truth? Detached
fragments of a gold-bearing rock also contain the
precious ore. . ..
Pope Leo XIII also addressed many letters to
Protestant Christians in which he avoided the in-
sulting vocabulary of the past. He never referred
to them as heretics . . .of the Scottish Christians
he says, Many of these separated Christians love
the name of Christ from their heart, endeavor to
obey his rule of life, and by imitation seek to fol-
low his holy example . . . .Leo XIII's desire for
unity included Protestants. He was a key player in
several movements of prayer for unity, and he
sought formulas of unity which would be agree-
able to both Catholics and Protestants.
In official Church documents, the development
of the "modern" ecumenical outlook in regard to
Protestants is notable in the thought of Pope Pius
XII. In his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus
(1939) a new motif is emphasized:
We cannot pass over in silence the profound
impression of heartfelt gratitude made on us by
the good wishes of those who, though not belong-
ing to the visible body of the Catholic Church,
have given noble and sincere expression to their
appreciation of all that unites them to us, in love
for the person of Christ or in belief in God.
The Deadly Wound Healed
And I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was
healed: and all the world wondered after the
beast. Revelation 13:3.
In our last article we discussed how in 1798,
soon after the French Revolution, the papacy was
dealt a deadly blow or wound. Napoleon sent
General Berthier to take Pope Pius VI captive and
strip the papacy of her power and authority. For
1260 years the papacy had exercised her control
over the nations of the earth. It is interesting to
note that the French, who many centuries before
had helped the papacy in its rise to power, was the
one who inflicted the deadly wound!
This was not to remain for long, the prophet
John saw that the deadly wound was healed.
The first steps toward the healing of the papacy
happened on February 11, 1929 when the Italian
government recognized the sovereign status of the
Vatican through a concordant with the Italian dic-
tator, Mussolini. This act gave full civil authority
and nation status to the papacy. Thus the heal-
ing of the deadly wound was well on its way. One
by one the nations of the world sent and received
ambassadors from the Vatican. In the next article
we will see how the Vatican has played an instru-
America In Prophecy
mental role in world politics.
Vatican II
Reaching The Minds And Hearts Of Men
The ecumenical spirit that began at the turn of the
century came into prominence at the beginning of
the reign of Pope John XXIII. In January of 1959,
he announced his intention to the world wide
Catholic leadership of a Second Vatican Council.
Vatican II opened on October 11th, 1962, with
more than twenty-five hundred church leaders at
the opening mass. It was the largest gathering of
the Church leadership in the history of the Roman
Church. As the Vatican Council began, Pope
John entreated the Fathers, to show a spirit of
mercy and understanding as they went about
their work, so that the Church can present itself
to the world of today, and can reach into the
minds and hearts of men.4 (Emphasis Sup-
plied).
Vatican II dealt with many church issues, but
the Catholic church never made any doctrinal
change. What the council did accomplish was to
reach out to the other religions with a deceptive
olive branch, with kind words and a spirit of com-
promise to entice them to come back to mother.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it
teaches that in order to achieve unity with other
churches they must have ...a conversion of heart
as the faithful try to live holier lives according to
the Gospel, and pray for spiritual ecumenism.
They are to have a fraternal knowledge of
each other, and ecumenical formation of the
faithful and especially of priests. They are to
dialogue among theologians and meetings
among Christians of the different churches and
communities and collaboration among Chris-
tians in various areas of service to mankind.
Human service is the idiomatic phrase.
Concern for achieving unity "involves the
whole Church, faithful and clergy alike." But we
must realize "that this holy objectivethe recon-
ciliation of all Christians in the unity of the one
and only Church of Christ. 5 (Emphasis
Supplied).
While the papacy was holding out the right
hand of friendship to professed Protestants, it still
retained the shackles of Roman error and tradition
behind its back with the left hand. Ecumenical
drunken Evangelicals and other religions were
17
falling for the Catholic line, as they had in the
past. Rome never changes, her strategies will, but
in the end all churches will bow in homage to her.
The papacy has no problem with ecumenicalism,
for it is the other religions that make the compro-
mises. The Church demands that its Catholic peo-
ple stay true to its teachings; In the cause of ecu-
menicalism, the Catholic must always remain true
to the faith that he has received. 6
While the ecumenical spirit was being encour-
aged at the Vatican, Fulton J. Sheen, a priest, edu-
cator, and Catholic evangelist here in America,
was foremost in breaking down the wall of preju-
dice between Catholics and Protestants. In 1930
Sheen became the feature speaker on the NBC
radio broadcast, The Catholic Hour (1930-
1952). He spoke at the first religious service that
was televised on Easter Sunday in 1940. Later on
he went on to host Life is Worth Living, on the
ABC-TV Network. By the 1950s, Fulton Sheen
was the best known Catholic priest in America,
helping to move the Catholic Church into main-
stream American society. His work as an evangel-
ist for the church was very successful, for he was
a very articulate speaker and knew how to reach
out to both Catholic and Protestant audiences. In
Washington and New York City his courses drew
people from all walks of life and notably Henry
Ford II, congressman Clarie Booth Luce and pro-
communist journalist Louis Budenz. 7
In the mid 1940s, Fulton Sheen was traveling
on a train from Washington to New York. Aboard
the train that night was a young preacher Billy
Graham. Graham describes his first meeting with
Sheen in his autobiography, Just As I Am. Graham
was just drifting off to sleep when Sheen
knocked on the sleeping compartment and asked
to come in for a chat and a prayer. We talked
about our ministries and our common commit-
ment to evangelism, and I told him how grateful I
was for his ministry and his focus on Christ.... We
talked further and we prayed; and by the time he
left, I felt as if I had known him all my life. 8
Billy Graham was befriended by one of the
most influential Catholic leaders in America, Ful-
ton Sheen. When Sheen died in December 1979,
Graham testified that he had "known him as a
friend for over 35 years." 9
About the time of his meeting with Fulton
Sheen, Graham was just beginning his ministry.
18 America In Prophecy
World War II was coming to an end and Evan-
gelical Christianity was starting to come out of the
closet after years of internal direction. It was a
time of national adjustment, tens of thousands of
men were returning home after the war to pick up
their lives again. Many young people were hurting
from the devastation of the war and were looking
for healing and direction for their lives, and Billy
Graham had a message for them. He was the
leading evangelist for the ministry, Youth For
Christ, between the years of 1946-49. He was
highly successful in attracting thousands of youth
to his crusades. His formula was simple, he under-
stood the inner hunger of the human heart for the
answers to life's many and perplexing problems.
Secondly, he could articulate the solution from the
Bible which would touch the heart of the listener.
The meeting with Fulton Sheen, left a deep im-
pression upon Graham, for he had caught the
spirit of ecumenicalism. Six years later in 1950,
Boston's Archbishop Richard Cushing again ex-
tended the hand of ecumenical friendship. In an
interview in 1991, Graham spoke of this experi-
ence during his 1950 crusade in New England.
Another significant thing happened in the
early 1950s in Boston. Cardinal Cushing, in his
magazine, The Pilot, put BRAVO BILL on the
front cover. That made news all over the country.
He and I became close, wonderful friends. That
was my first real coming to grips with the whole
Protestant/Catholic situation. I began to realize
that there were Christians everywhere. They
might be called modernists, Catholics, or what-
ever, but they were Christians10
Graham later wrote of this experience in New
England in 1950, stating; At that time Protestant-
ism in New England was weak, due in part to the
theological differences within some denomina-
tions, the influence of Unitarian ideas in other de-
nominations, and the strength of the Roman
Catholic Church. In spite of all that, a number of
Roman Catholic priests and Unitarian clergy, to-
gether with some of their parishioners, came to
the meetings along with those from Evangelical
churches. With my limited Evangelical back-
ground, this was a further expansion of my own
ecumenical outlook. I now began to make friends
among people from many different backgrounds
and to develop a spiritual love for their clergy. 11
Billy Graham was ahead of his time in his ecu-
menical outreach to modernist, Catholics, and
Jews. By 1952 he was working with most of the
major religious denominations in his crusades.
Graham was interviewed by reporter William
McElwain, of the Pittsburgh SunTelegraph, he
wrote; Graham stressed that his crusade in Pitts-
burgh would be interdenominational. Graham
said, Many of the people who have reached a
decision on Christ at our meetings have joined
the Catholic Church and, have received com-
mendations from Catholic publications for the
revived interest in their church following one of
our campaigns. This happened both in Boston and
Washington. After all, one of our prime purposes
is to help the churches in a community.12
(Emphasis Supplied).
In 1957 in an interview with a reporter of the
San Francisco News, Graham was asked if any of
the converts at his crusades were sent to a Catho-
lic church, he replied ...anyone who makes a de-
cision at our meetings is seen later and referred to
a local clergyman, Protestant, Catholic, or Jew-
ish.13 (Emphasis Supplied).
By the 1960s Graham was openly working
with Catholic priests and bishops in his crusades
around the world. In 1962 Grahams Evangelistic
Association edited thirty pages from the Halley
Bible Commentary dealing with the long centuries
of Papal Inquisitions.
Graham was also the first Protestant minister to
speak at a Catholic institution. In 1963 he spoke at
Belmont Abby College in North Carolina, and
four years later he was awarded an honorary de-
gree from Belmont. Grahams preaching was so
well received at Belmont, that Father Cuthbert
Allen wrote the following words of praise; I am
the one who, being acquainted with Billy Graham,
invited him to speak to the Fathers, the Nuns, stu-
dents, and invited guests, and I am pleased to re-
ply to your inquiries.
Billy Graham gave an inspiring and a theologi-
cally sound address that may have been given by
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen or any other Catholic
preacher. I have followed Billy Graham's career
and I must emphasize that he has been more
Catholic than other wise, and I say this not in a
partisan manner but as a matter of fact.
Knowing the tremendous influence of Billy
Graham among Protestants and now the realiza-
tion and acknowledgment among Catholics of his
devout and sincere appeal to the teachings of
Christ ... I would state that he could bring
America In Prophecy
Catholics and Protestants together in a healthy
ecumenical spirit.
I was the first Catholic to invite Billy Graham;
I know he will speak at three other Catholic uni-
versities next month; I believe he will be invited
to more Catholic colleges in the future than Prot-
estant colleges. So I am well pleased, then, to an-
swer your question: Billy Graham is preaching a
moral and evangelical theology most accept-
able to Catholics.14 (Emphasis Supplied).
Graham continued throughout the 1960s and
into the next three decades building bridges be-
tween Protestants and Catholics. He has made a
very large impact in the Evangelical world, he
was the most influential preacher in America in
this past century. He has been the foremost Evan-
gelical leader, in the spirit of ecumenicalism, to
stretch his hand of friendship across the gulf and
grasp the hand of Catholicism.
When Pope John Paul II came to America in
1979 Graham stated, The visit of Pope John Paul
II to the United States is an event of great signifi-
cance not only for Roman Catholics, but for all
Americans as well as the world. In the short time
he has been the Pope, John Paul II has become
the moral leader of the world. My prayers and
the prayers of countless other Protestants will be
with him as he makes his journey."15 (Emphasis
Supplied).
In an interview with The Saturday Evening
Post, Graham said; "Since his election, Pope John
Paul II has emerged as the greatest religious
leader of the modern world, and one of the great-
est moral and spiritual leaders of this century...
The Pope came [to America] as a statesman and a
pastor, but I believe he also sees himself coming
as an evangelist, forthrightly urging those who
have perhaps given little thought to spiritual mat-
ters to realize the truth of the Christian message
and commit their lives to Christ... The Pope
sought to speak to the spiritual hunger of our age
in the same way Christians throughout the centu-
ries have spoken to the spiritual yearnings of
every age by pointing people to Christ... Also,
in countless ways many evangelical Protestants
and Roman Catholics are discovering they share a
common bond through their mutual commitment
to the Christian faith. "16 (Emphasis Supplied).
The question needs to be raised, why did cer-
tain Catholic leaders in America reach out to Gra-
19
ham when he was still a young, u n n o t i c e d
preacher? Why did two powerful Catholic pub-
lishers, William Randolph Hearst, of the vast
Hearst newspaper empire and Henry Luce, head
of Time magazine, promote Graham extensively
in the beginning of his ministry?17
Could it be that the Catholic hierarchy had
plans for Graham from the time he was in col-
lege? Some of these questions may remain unan-
swered until the Lord comes.
Billy Graham was also the leader in establish-
ing a ministry outside any particular church or-
ganization. Many preachers were to follow in his
steps as hundreds of para-church ministries sprang
up in the next fifty years.
The Rise Of The Christian Right
Grahams influence was also felt in the youth
ministry of Bill Bright. He was one of the found-
ing members and on Brights board of trustees. In
1951 Bill Bright, a former food salesman, formed
the Campus Crusade for Christ at the campus of
UCLA in Berkley, California. He believed that
anything could be marketed, even religion, if it
were packaged in the right way. Bright developed
the concept of the Christian cell based upon the
concept of the triangle and spiritual multiplica-
tion.
In 1967 Bill Bright launched Revolution Now,
another campus program aimed at thwarting the
anti-war movement against the Vietnam war and
political unrest on the colleges campus. Bright
was entering a very gray area as a Christian
evangelist. We will see later how this opened the
door for the political right and the Christian right
to merge in the 1970s.
In the 1960s while Billy Graham and Bill
Bright were reaching hundreds of thousands of
Protestants and Catholics in their evangelistic
campaigns, Pat Robertson, was setting up a televi-
sion station in Tidewater, Virginia. This was the
beginning of The Christian Broadcasting Network
or CBN. In 1963 after struggling for two years,
Robertson came up with the idea of the 700 Club
as a way to finance his struggling TV station. In
the next two decades, especially into the 1980s,
Robertsons CBN was to play a major role in the
rise of the Christian right in America.
The Rise Of Conservative
Politics in America 1960
The root difference between the Conserva-
20 America In Prophecy
tives and the Liberals of today is that Conserva-
tives take account of the whole man, while the
Liberals tend to look only at the material side of
man's nature. The Conservative believes that man
is, in part, an economic, an animal creature; but
that he is also a spiritual creature with spiritual
needs and spiritual desires. What is more, these
needs and desires reflect the superior side of
man's nature, and thus take precedence over his
economic wants. Conservatism therefore looks
upon the enhancement of man's spiritual na-
ture as the primary concern of political phi-
losophy. Liberals, on the other hand,in the
name of a concern for "human beings" regard
the satisfaction of economic wants as the domi-
nant mission of society. They are, moreover, in a
hurry. So that their characteristic approach is to
harness the society's political and economic forces
into a collective effort to compel "progress." In
this approach, I believe they fight against Nature.
18
(Emphasis Supplied)
Conservatism therefore looks upon the en-
hancement of man's spiritual nature as the pri-
mary concern of political philosophy. This state-
ment, by Senator Barry Goldwater, best sums up
the goal of the political and religious right in
America today. As we look at the history of the
last 40 years we will see the direction that this po-
litical/religious power is headed in the future.
The 1960s was a very turbulent time in Ameri-
can society. It was a decade of many important
historical events, a decade that forever changed
America! It was a time I well remember as a boy
growing up. I began grade school in 1960 and was
in high school by the close of the decade.
John F. Kennedy was the young Democratic
President, he was enthusiastic, energetic, and ide-
alistic. He was full of ideas and wanted to take the
nation to its highest potential. In many social,
technical, and political areas Kennedy started to
make changes that would have far reaching results
for years to come. The space race to land an
American on the moon, the civil rights movement,
more Federal aid for social programs and the war
in Vietnam, were all part of the Kennedy legacy.
It was a decade of massive social changes and
violent upheavals. This nation witnessed the as-
sassination of both John and Robert Kennedy
along with civil rights leader, Martin Luther King.
We saw civil rights marches and race riots that
left large sections of Americas cities in ruin. The
war in Vietnam was a result of Americans fear of
the spread of communism throughout the world.
This war sparked a fierce debate among Ameri-
cans over the necessity of involving the country in
senseless war. A large anti-war movement re-
sulted in peace rallies, marches, college campus
sit-ins, and, at times, riots.
There were other social changes that shaped
the minds of Americans as well as people in many
other developed nations. Television had a very
large cultural affect upon Americans. For the first
time in history they could view the war in Viet-
nam on the six o'clock news, or watch astronauts
walk on the moon. TV also provided an avenue
for the movie studios in Hollywood to unleash a
barrage of entertainment that had a demoralizing
affect upon children, youth and adults. Rock and
roll music, along with drugs, alcohol and tobacco
also led to the downfall of America's health and
morality. By the end of the decade the divorce
rate was up, drug and alcohol consumption rose
and sexual promiscuity increased, leading to bro-
ken homes and the overall destruction of the
moral fabric of society!
The Rise Of the Political Right
In the 1950s, conservatives were concerned as
they saw the beginning of these social evils and a
result of the agenda of secular humanism
movement of past decades. Conservatives from
business, industry, academics, law, politics and
religion were alarmed by the direction which soci-
ety was headed in. In the 1950s, one of the first
political/religious organizations to gain any na-
tional attention was the Christian Anti-Communist
Crusade (CACC). The conservative religious val-
ues of its members drove them to political in-
volvement. They were particularly determined
to defeat what they perceived to be atheistic and
socialistic communism at home and abroad. In
the 1950s, media, intellectual, and political elites
routinely treated the CACC as a radical fringe
group. But in hindsight we can see that it was an
early sign of the widespread, angry, conservative
religious politics that came into prominence in the
1990s.19 They never achieved the prominence or
support of the political/Christian right of the
1980s and 90s.
During the 1950s, American conservatives
found a champion in William F. Buckley, a Ro-
man Catholic and a member of the Knights of
Malta. He was the son of a Catholic oilman who
championed conservative causes and raised his
family to do likewise, Buckley spent his early
America In Prophecy
childhood in France and England, attended a pri-
vate boarding school in upstate New York and
graduated from Yale in 1950. In 1955 he founded
National Review to provide a forum for conserva-
tive thought. Firing Line followed in 1966,
proving that conservatives can be witty, too.20
In September of 1960, William F. Buckley, Jr.
gathered about 90 young people at his country
estate in Sharon, Connecticut. Here under Buck-
leys guidance they laid the groundwork for a new
national conservative youth organization, they
named it Young Americans for Free-
dom, (YAF). During the three day conference
they drafted the Sharon Statement, which is their
organizations statement of principles. They also
started the conservative magazine New Guard, as
the official paper to propagate their message to
the American public. Many political conservative
leaders within the Republican party today, started
as members in YAF.
In 1963, YAF spearheads the campaign of
Barry Goldwater for president. Goldwater's run
for the White House catalyzed YAF more than
any other event in its history. A highlight of
YAFs movement to make Goldwater the Repub-
lican nominee is an astonishing rally in New
York's Madison Square Garden where 18,500
conservatives gather to show their support for
Senator Goldwater. Lee Edwards, former New
Guard editor, said Barry Goldwater made YAF,
but YAF also made Barry Goldwater. 21
The 1964 Republican presidential campaign of
Barry Goldwater was a turning point for the con-
servative movement. After the defeat of Senator
Goldwater, three young men; Paul Weyrich, How-
ard Phillips, and Richard Viguerie who had
worked for his election campaign became key
leaders in the New Right. What they lacked in
the 1960s was a popular base of political support
that they needed to carry out their conservative
agenda. They turned to various small regional
groups during the remainder of the decade, but
were not real successful.
In the mid-sixties, Richard Viguerie started a
political direct-mail fundraising business. He
started with 12,000 names from Goldwater's cam-
paign donor list, which he hand-copied. He be-
came a master at using conservative political is-
sues to stir-up support, and by the 1970s he had a
highly successful business.
In 1968, the Nixon Administration acknowl-
edged the merging New Right with the political
appointment of Howard Phillips, as Director of
21
the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. Presi-
dent Nixon had promised Phillips that he would
support him in downsizing or eliminating many of
the Great Society programs of the Kennedy and
Johnson administrations. He resigned his office in
1973 in protest, after years of watching President
Nixon renege on his commitments. In 1974, Phil-
lips went on to establish a conservative think-
tank, which we will discuss in another article.
The Merger of The Political and
Religious Right 1970
During the early 1970s, the leaders of the
New Right had to distance themselves from
the problematic right wing conservative issues
of the past. Those who advocated anti-Jewish
bias, overt white supremacy, or the conspirato-
rial isolationist ideas of the John Birch Society,
were swept aside by the merging leaders of the
New Right, as they labored to transform the
conservative right in America. They had wit-
nessed the Republican party distancing itself
from these old right wing conservatives, and in
order to gain popular support they realized they
had to deal with issues that would attract Ameri-
cans from both parties. One issue that had been
around for decades and had been a hobby-horse
for the political right, especially in the 1950s,
was communism. Socialism, communism, and
humanism were all perceived as real threats to
American values and freedom. The cold war
against communism was the result of its rapid
spread around the world. This resulted in a mas-
sive arms race, which was very costly not only
to America and our pro-western allies, but to the
Soviet Union as well.
Another area in which things were changing
in America was in the public schools. In the
1960s, the Supreme Court declared that both
prayer and Bible reading were unconstitutional
in public schools. The liberal humanistic estab-
lishment had gained control of Americas
courts, schools, colleges and government. Con-
servative thinkers were at their wits end as they
saw the moral fabric of society tore to shreds.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Courts
decision in Roe v. Wade, made the abortion de-
cision the new hot button issue for the politi-
cal and Christian right. The abortion decision
has done more to bring together conservative
groups than any other issue of our day.
22 America In Prophecy
The Catholic church was the first institution
to tackle the problem. It has always been the
policy of the Catholic church to get involved in
politics for it has never believed in the separa-
tion of church and state. In May 1973, the US
Catholic Bishops formed the National Right to
Life Committee to counter the immoral prob-
lem of abortion. Two years later, on November
20, 1975, the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops in America, released the Bishops Pas-
toral Plan to deal with the abortion issue. This
plan states that all Catholics, both clergy and
laity, attack the abortion issue in the following
ways:
a) Passage of a constitutional amendment
providing protection for the unborn child to the
maximum degree possible.
b) Passage of federal and state laws and
adoption of administrative policies that will
restrict the practice of abortion as much as pos-
sible.
c) Continual research into and refinement
and precise interpretation of Roe v. Wade and
subsequent court decisions.
d) Support for legislation that provides al-
ternatives to abortion.
Accomplishment of this aspect of the
Bishops Pastoral Plan will undoubtedly require
well planned and coordinated political action by
citizens at the national, state, and local levels. 22
It was soon after the release of the Bishops
Pastoral Plan that Catholic lay people got in-
volved in the pro-life movement. Men like Paul
Weyrich, Howard Phillips, and Richard
Viguerie, who we have already mentioned as
leaders in the New Right from the mid 60s;
were joined by Paul and Judy Brown who
formed the American Life Lobby, and others that
were against abortion.
About a year after the Supreme Court deci-
sion on Roe v. Wade, Bill Bright got into the
fight. In 1974, alarmed by what was happening
to the moral landscape of America, Bill Bright
and Congressman John Conlan (R-AZ) held a
special board meeting of the Third Century
Press. This was the publishing ministry for the
Campus Crusade for Christ (CCFC) organiza-
tion. Bright discussed launching a new cam-
paign to help elect the right kind of Chris-
tians to political office. Present at the meeting
were over twenty evangelical businessmen and
political right conservatives such as; Richard
DeVos (Amway Corp), Art De Moss, Arlis
Priest, S. Elliott Belcher, Allan Morris, and syn-
dicated columnist, Rus Walton. During the
meeting they discussed strategy for electing con-
servative evangelical leadership to political of-
fice for the saving of America. Bright was con-
cerned that America would lose its freedom
within two years if the nation did not turn
around spiritually.23
He launched Here's Life, America as a CCFC
campaign along with Christian Embassy a multi-
denominational ministry established in Wash-
ington DC in 1975 to reach out and give spiri-
tual council to government leaders.24
Evangelicals heavily supported the 1976 elec-
tion of Jimmy Carter to the White House. They
thought because he was a born-again Christian
he would be their man. But Carter was a grave
disappointment to the political and Christian
right. Though he professed to be a born-again
Christian he was to willing to compromise on
abortion and other issues of importance. The
New Right was also highly critical of Carters
failure to appoint conservative Christians to high
ranking positions in his administration.25
The New Right spent the rest of Carters
term organizing discontent among conservative
voters. Paul Weyrich, Howard Phillips, Richard
Viguerie and Terry Dolan, became the most
widely recognized movers and shakers within
the New Right. Richard Viguerie said their
mission was to revamp the conservative move-
ment to do battle with liberals who had been
strengthened by the gains made in the 1960s.
In a sense, what happened, people like Paul
Weyrich, Howard Phillips, Terry Dolan, and
others in a sense one day we kind of stood
shoulder to shoulder to get our courage up and
walked to the front of the airplane, and we were
going to ask to have some input in the way the
plane was being run and so we opened up the
door and, lo and behold, what did we find? No
one flying the conservative plane so to speak. So
we all sat down, put our coffee cups down and
our legal pads and began to have some input, I
think, into the political direction of the country.
By the late 1970s, a powerful anti-abortion
movement had emerged, largely through the ef-
forts of the Catholic church, with a boost from
Paul Weyrich who helped Paul and Judy Brown
organize the American Life Lobby. In 1978,
evangelical activists helped to remove two lib-
eral senators from office, Dick Clark of Iowa
and Thomas McIntyre of New Hampshire. 26
America In Prophecy
The Wizards of the New Right
The union of the Evangelicals and Catholics
in America since the 1960s opened the door for
the religious conservatives to join forces and
wage war against the moral ill of American soci-
ety. By the late 1970s, conservative religious
and political leaders were headed in the same
direction.
Contrary to common perception, Jerry Fal-
well did not originate the idea of the "Moral Ma-
jority." Falwell's New Right biographer Dinesh
D'Souza tells the official story: in May 1979,
Robert Billings of the National Christian Action
Coalition invited Falwell to a meeting with Phil-
lips, Viguerie, Weyrich and Ed McAteer who by
then had set up the Religious Roundtable. The
four told Falwell of their shared opposition to
legalized abortion and pornography, and their
intention to influence the 1980 GOP platform.
Weyrich proposed that if the Republican Party
could be persuaded to take a firm stance against
abortion, that would split the strong Catholic
voting block within the Democratic Party. The
New Right leaders wanted Falwell to spearhead
a visibly Christian organization that would apply
pressure to the GOP. Weyrich proposed that the
name have something to do with a "moral ma-
jority." Within days, the New Right leaders held
Falwell's hand while he put together a board of
directors which included Charles Stanley of First
Baptist Church of Atlanta, Greg Dixon of Indi-
anapolis' Baptist Temple, Rev. Tim LaHaye
from San Diego, California and James Kennedy
of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida.
Ronald Godwin was hired as vice president and
Robert Billings became executive director. 27
America stood at a crossroads as conservative
Evangelicals started to flex their political/
religious muscles. Within a year the political
landscape of America was starting to change. In
our next article we will discover that the path the
Evangelicals were walking down in 1979 would
have far reaching results, not only in America,
but around the world.
Religious Crossroads
In the year 312 AD, the Roman Empire was
in chaos, racked by years of civil war. The
young general Flavius Valerius Constantinus,
(the future emperor Constantine) had seized his
fathers position and office upon his death. His
legions were in control of Britain and Gaul
23
(France). One of his first acts in office was to end
the ongoing persecution of the Christians in his
territory which had been revived during the dia-
bolical reign of Diocletian.
At this time Constantine was in a life and
death contest with three other rivals to take con-
trol of the powerful and coveted position of Em-
peror. He was the weakest of the three contend-
ers, but after forging an alliance with the Chris-
tian church that all changed.
Early on Constantine was sharp enough to re-
alize that he wasnt going to destroy the Christian
church. He could see from the history of the past
three centuries the resiliency of the church. He
came to have a healthy respect for the moral
Christian values as a stabilizing element in Ro-
man society. He also recognized the highly or-
ganized church structure as an excellent political
ally, if he could win them to his cause, for he be-
lieved that it would help him hold the Empire
together.
His goals were soon realized, for within ten
years the entire Roman Empire was under his
control. He had became the champion for the
Christian church, but what a terrible cost to both
the professed church of Christ and the Empire.
Soon after taking control of the Empire, Constan-
tine appointed a number of Christian bishops to
the office of governor in their perspective re-
gions. He also had Christians on his imperial
staff as advisors and administrators. The mixing
of church and state under the reign of Constan-
tine had many serious negative consequences.
For the Christian church the alliance was
spiritually disastrous. Soon after this relationship
began Constantine started to meddle into church
affairs and doctrine. Before the century finished,
the professed Christian church had become the
state church. The popularity of the state church
soon brought millions of pagans into its fellow-
ship who were not converted to Christ. As a re-
sult they brought their pagan beliefs and gods
with them. This corrupted the Christian church
and destroyed the moral and spiritual life of the
people. The Church/state relationship prepared
the way for the papacy to be setup. A religious/
political power that persecuted Gods people for
obeying the Scriptures instead of the Pope.
The Roman Empire alliance with the church
destroyed the purity of the Christian church caus-
ing the light of the gospel to be hid. Thus de-
stroying the only moral force in the Empire and
24 America In Prophecy
causing the Roman society to weaken and decay.
There are many parallels between the Roman
Empire and what has taken place in America in
the past forty years. In our previous article we
discussed the rise of America in Bible prophecy.
The prophet John saw the United States come on
the stage of history, for in vision he beheld
...another beast coming up out of the earth; and
he had two horns like a lamb. Revelation
13:11. This new beast/nation comes into power
in a land that was not part of Biblical history, as
the many kingdoms in the past had been. There-
fore, it could not arise out of Europe or Asia, but
in a new land, a relatively peaceful land, a new
continent. This new nation would begin as a
lamb like beast, not attempting to conquer
other nations as all the other beast/nations had in
prophecy.
Notice the rest of the verse, this lamb-like
beast ...spake as a dragon. In our past study
we discovered that the Dragon was the Devil or
Satan. How could America speak like the Devil?
Notice what John said next. And he exerciseth
all the power of the first beast before him, and
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound
was healed. v. 12. What was the first beast be-
fore him? From our previous study it was the
papacy that came to power after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire. Notice that the prophet
John saw that America would follow in the steps
of the papacy, and in the end it would cause or
enact laws to worship the papacy. Could this
really happen in free America?
We have already studied the healing of the
deadly wound received in 1798. We have dis-
cussed the change of attitude in America between
the Evangelicals and the Catholics, even to the
point of cooperation in moral and political issues
by the 1970s. What will it take for America to
exerciseth all the power of the first beast? The
religious and political leaders of America will
have to form a union in order to institute laws
which will bring about the moral changes they
believe are necessary. This is only the beginning
of Americas role in exercising all the power of
the first beast. In the end, American religious
and political leaders will follow in the steps of
Constantine and the Roman church as was done
centuries before. It will be this state/church union
 that will bring about oppressive laws that will
honor the papacy by Sunday legislation.

Footnotes
1 A.T. Jones, Lessons From The Reformation p.1.
2A private letter written in February 2, 1912, by A.P. Doyle, secretary/treasure of The Catholic Missionary Union, Washingtom D.C.
3 http://ic.net/~erasmus.
4 http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/v1.html.
5 Catechism of the Catholic Church, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catechism 821 & 822.
6 http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/v1.html.
7 http://www.homestead.com/americansaints/files/Sheen.htm.
8 Billy Graham, Just As I Am, p. 692 San Francisco, Harper Collins.
9 Religious News Service, Dec. 11, 1979.
10 Bookstore Journal, Nov. 1991.
11 Billy Graham, Just As I Am, p.167.
12 Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph, Sept. 6, 1952.
13 Nov. 11, 1957, San Francisco News.
14 Letter of May 19, 1965, from Cuthbert E. Alien to Mr. Julius C. Taylor, reprinted in The Christian News, October 1, 1984.
15 Religious New Service, Nov, 27 1979; quoted in New Neutralism II, p. 40.
16 The Saturday Evening Post, Jan.-Feb. 1980.
17 Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare p.10; Boston Ma. South End Press.
18 Barry Goldwater, The Conscience Of A Conservative; http://www.barrygoldwater.org/foreward.htm.
19 Robert Booth Fowler, Allen D. Hertzke, Laura R. Olson, Religion and Politics in America Faith, Culture, & Strategic Choices, p.141;

Boulder Colorado, Westview Press.

20 http://www.conservativechronicle.com/columnists/buckley.htm.
21 http://www.yaf.com/history.shtml.
22 Gregory Baum, The Catholic quest for Catholic Unity, Glen Rock, NJ: Deus Books / Paulist Press, 1962, 41-42.
23 Jim Wallis and Wes Michaelson, "The Plan to Save America: A Disclosure of an Alarming Political Initiative by the Evangelical Far

Right," Sojourners, Apr 1976.

24 http://www.christianembassy.com/mission.html.
25 Robert Booth Fowler, Allen D. Hertzke, Laura R. Olson, Religion and Politics in America Faith, Culture, & Strategic Choices, p.142;

Boulder Colorado, Westview Press.

26 Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare p.56; Boston Ma. South End Press.
27 Ibid. p. 60.

America In Prophecy 25
 America In Prophecy
nominations, they are all propagating the wonders
of the dark power from beneath.
Spiritualism is a religion, it is a counterfeit
Part 3 to the worship of God. A very simple definition
for Spiritualism is; life without God, and worship
without God. In reality this is impossible, but mil-
lions are taken in by the Devils cheap deceptions.
The Third Force Spiritualism So they have developed a complete world where
the presence of God is not only unwelcome, but
By Ashley Cunningham His law and Word are set aside. The power of
God is replaced with the power of magic, witches,
It was a sunny summer afternoon, as I walked
demons, and cosmic force.
into a South Portland bookstore. I had been there
In many of our articles, over the past few
many times before and this afternoon I was there
years, we have discussed the fall of Satan and his
to do some research on the article that you are
rebellion against God, his Creator. (See Isaiah
now reading. I noticed, as I entered the store, that
14:12-24; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Revelation 12:3-17).
many things had changed in the past few months.
It is very important to understand the issues that
I had to ask at the front desk where the religious
are involved in this great controversy between
section was now located and a friendly sales per-
Satan and the government of God. There are two
son took me to the back of the store to its new lo-
key points that we will discuss briefly, for they
cation. While on my way there I noticed a large
play a major role in the fall of Protestantism and
group of parents standing behind their children
last day events.
who were seated on the floor in the childrens sec-
First of all, Lucifer/Satan indulged in the desire
tion. They were listening intently to a story that
for self-exaltation. He coveted the power and po-
was being read by a young employee of the book-
sition that belonged only to God. When the error
store.
of his ways was pointed out to him, he rejected
Soon I was involved in my research, trying to
the counsel and will of God. In doing so the Spirit
block out most of the noise around me, including
of God could not abide in his heart. He finally
the story. About ten to fifteen minutes later I
came to a point where he would not submit to the
heard the excited voices of children wanting to
will of God. Scripture records, Thine heart was
answer the various questions put to them by the
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast cor-
young reader. A few more minutes went by and
rupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.
still the young voices vied with each other to an-
Ezekiel 28:17. Lucifer had stood in the presence
swer her questions. By this time my curiosity had
of the Eternal Father, where the bright beams of
gotten the best of me, so I meandered over to the
Gods glory had shined upon him. He was given
childrens section to see what all the excitement
great power and responsibility within the govern-
was about. I didnt need much time to size up
ment of God, and his influence was felt through-
what was going on. Apparently, the story had
out the entire universe. The scriptures record,
come from a chapter in the latest Harry Potter
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the
book. I stood there for a few minutes, watching in
sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. v 12.
amazement, as the group of 6 to 10 year-olds rap-
Though he was honored by God, and blessed with
idly answered every question about the story. I
great wisdom and privilege, Lucifer was still a
was surprised to find out how much these young
created being. Therefore, it was imperative that he
children knew about witchcraft and magic.
submit to the will, the word, and the law of God.
Today, our world is awashed in spiritual-
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend
ism. Most of us come in contact with some form
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of spiritualism every day. The entertainment
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the con-
world has subtly interwoven its deceptive beliefs
gregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend
into movies, TV shows, books, and songs. Even in
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the
the medical, and especially in the natural healing
most High. Isaiah 14:13,14.
field, the use of spiritualistic power is rampant.
The second great issue was over the law of
From the occult, to the spiritualist, to the New
God. In order to justify his own thinking, Lucifer
Age movement, and even in major religious de-
reasoned that the law of God was not necessary
26 America In Prophecy
for the heavenly angels and himself to obey. He
claimed that the angels could live a holy life apart
from God and be guided by their own wisdom in
their relationships with each other. He further
maintained that service to God's government re-
stricted their freedoms and angels should be able
to do as they pleased. He reasoned that it was not
necessary for intelligent beings like themselves to
live by these restrictive laws. By the multitude of
thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned. Ezekiel
28:16.
As the spirit of discontent continued to ripen in
the heart of Lucifer, he started to spread his nox-
ious ideas with those whom he could influence.
With these spiritualistic teachings, Lucifer de-
ceived countless angels that trusted in him and in
his exalted position as the anointed cherub.
Instead of seeking to promote the best interest of
the heavenly government before the other angels,
he worked to secure their affections and loyalty
for his own selfish end. Taking advantage of their
trust, Lucifer artfully instilled his own distrust
and discontentment into the minds of the heav-
enly angels under his command. Thou hast de-
filed thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine in-
iquities, by the inquities of thy traffick. v 18.
Lucifer was attempting to bring corruption into
the administration of God. This is the highest
form of treason one can commit against God! Self
-seeking while in sacred office is an offense to
God, for it is contrary to the principles of love
that His government is founded upon.
Thus a war broke out in Heaven between the
forces of Christ and Satan. The Scriptures teach
that ...there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him. Revelation
12:7-9.
After losing the war in Heaven, the Devil took
his rebellion to planet Earth. Here he has been
much more successful then he was in Heaven. His
deceptive power has grown with each passing
generation. His clever sophistries outwitting the
wisdom of men. After Adams fall, the only way
the human race could overcome the artful tempta-
tions of the evil one, was by the power of God.
In the Garden of Eden, Satan deceived Eve
America In Prophecy
with a lie: Ye shall not surely die. For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing
good and evil. Genesis 3:4-5. Today, he carries
on his warfare against God with his two great lies:
The immortality of the soul, Ye shall not surely
die, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and
evil. Thus setting up the wisdom of man over the
Word of God. For nearly six thousand years these
basic beliefs have become the foundation upon
which all spiritualists, new-agers, occultists, and
every form of false religion are based upon.
Modern Spiritualism
Modern spiritualism began in the spring of
1848 in Hydesville, New York with the Fox sis-
ters. It all began as a childish prank, by 15 year-
old Margaret and 12 year-old Katie Fox. On the
evening of March 31, the two girls told their
mother of the loud rappings in their room. Their
mother entered their darkened room to investi-
gate, the youngest sister Katie called out, Mr.
Splitfoot (Satan), do as I do, as she clapped her
hands several times. Immediately the same num-
ber of rappings would be heard. Their frightened
mother fell for the gag, she then asked for the
ages of her six children. Methodically the rap-
pings began as the age of each child was counted
off correctly. Within days the news got out that
the spirits of the dead were communicating with
the girls. People flocked to their cabin in deep in-
terest and they came away believing that the spir-
its of their dead relatives were trying to reach
them.1
These strange rappings that were, at first,
faked by the young Fox sisters opened wide the
doors of the bottomless pit. It unleashed the
power of demons to deceive and destroy the souls
of tens of thousands. Soon people all over the
country were experiencing contact with the spir-
its, and this time, in many cases, it was real. By
the early 1850s over a million people in America
and Europe had embraced Spiritualism and its
deceptive concepts.
Today, only a few thousand people claim to be
spiritualists, but in reality there are millions who
have embraced their beliefs. These spiritualistic
beliefs permeate our secular and religious society,
spreading the lies of Satan into every corner of
the world. Spiritualism has opened the door to the
modern day clairvoyants, psychics, astrologers,
palm readers, new agers and the list goes on.
27
 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto
them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards
that peep, and that mutter: should not a people
seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them. Isaiah 8:19.
The New Age Movement & The Occult
The New Age movement is a more sophisti-
cated and modern form of Spiritualism. Their be-
liefs are based upon the books of Alice Bailey,
who was once a Christian and the wife of an Epis-
copal priest. She came under the influence of her
friends who belonged to the Theosophical Soci-
ety, which believes in the far eastern theories of
pantheism, reincarnation, and spirit-mediums. Be-
ginning in 1919 until 1949, Alice Bailey wrote
twenty-five books on metaphysical knowledge
which has provided much of the spiritualistic doc-
trine and practices used by the New Age move-
ment. Mrs. Bailey claimed to have received all of
this knowledge through many telepathic commu-
nications with a Tibetan abbot, Djwhal Khul, who
claims to have lived over 360 years ago.
This spirit of demons claims to have reached
immortality by the means of a ceremony in the
cosmos called the fifth initiation. This higher
realm of existence he called the ascension, or
mastership and he claimed that it allows one to
become a christ. He asserts that through the
process of meditation and strict spiritual practices,
and through the assistance of heavenly beings, he
has so evolved his consciousness as to have
reached a state of immortality in his current
physical body. Hence his claimed ability to have
lived for almost four centuries.2
A number of years ago while I was conduct-
ing a Lifestyle Seminar in southern Maine I ran
into some of these New Age teachings. In one of
our first meetings, a young woman approached
me after class. She was a home health care nurse,
and she believed in using natural methods of heal-
ing. At first this was very encouraging to me. We
discussed the methods that God approved of, then
she told me that she was helping people to heal by
using human energy fields. She continued to
explain that we all have electrical\magnetic en-
ergy fields that surround us and that sickness and
disease are caused by these energy fields being
messed up.
By now I was very uncomfortable with the di-
28 America In Prophecy
rection of this conversation. I felt that this young
lady was sincere in her desire to help those who
were sick and diseased, but she didnt realize the
danger that she was in. She explained briefly that
this method worked by channeling energy
through her body and out of her hands into an-
other persons body to repair the broken energy
fields. This is referred to as hands of light. She
explained that at times she had felt an intense
burst of energy pass through her, which would at
times give her the ability to speak in an unknown
language! You can imagine the sinking feeling
that was going on inside my heart as I listened to
her.
As I listened, I was silently praying, Lord
what do you want me to say to this dear soul?
Should I say anything now? There are times that
instant in prayer is so helpful, especially when we
need the help and guidance from Christ to direct
us in difficult situations. I wasnt impressed to say
anything that night. I realized that I knew so little
about the New Age methods of healing that it
would probably be wise to say nothing for the
time being. I knew that sooner or later I would be
confronted with this issue again. For weeks I
prayed for help and guidance to help this young
woman. Each week she faithfully came to our
seminar, taking notes, listening intently and join-
ing in the class discussion.
Nothing more was said about her use of heal-
ing through hands of light, until the seventh
night. At the end of that nights seminar she again
approached me on the subject of her healing
methods. She handed me a book, Hands of Light
by Barbara Ann Brennan. I had just finished ex-
plaining the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of
Eden, and how the entrance of sin had affected
the course of history for the world. As I looked at
this book I felt that this book was fruit from the
forbidden tree.
The next morning I had the same concern
about reading this book, knowing that I was on
forbidden ground. I went to the Lord in prayer,
seeking for wisdom and guidance to understand
how to approach the young nurse in my class.
While I was studying that morning, the Lord di-
rected me to some material that I was researching
on Spiritualism. All at once, I felt impressed to
pick up the book, and look for the information
that would help me understand their theory of
healing, and the cause of disease. As I looked
down through the table of contents I came across
a chapter entitled The Cause of Illness. I thought
that this chapter could help me understand the
philosophy of what this method of healing was
based on. I was not disappointed. In the second
paragraph, I found a statement that explained it
very clearly. To sum it all up, this method is
based upon the false concept that we have a meta-
physical soul. That we exist beyond the dimen-
sions of time and space. On the next page I
found that this healing method also believes that
God not only dwells in us, but that each cell in
our body is God! This is pantheism. She taught
that the hands of light, harness the cosmic en-
ergy from the spirits around us. I felt very re-
lieved and thankful that the Lord had shown me
so easily and clearly the deceptive errors of this
new age practice. There are thousands of profes-
sional health care and natural practitioners that
are using this science of Spiritualism.
At the next class, I returned the book to the
young nurse, and asked her if my wife, Karen,
and I could get together with her and her husband.
That never happened, they never seemed to have
the time to get together with us.
Since then I have done further research on the
New Age movement and its teachings. One area
that I need to inform and warn our readers about,
especially the youth, is their practice of medita-
tion and channeling. It is very dangerous to play
with the various ways that Satan delights to work
in. One of the mysticisms that they teach is the
concept of getting in touch with your higher self
through meditation and channeling. Meditation
can be done in one of two ways. As a Christian I
spend time in prayerful, thoughtful meditation on
the word of God. This is good and necessary for
any Christian growing in the grace of God. David
said; O how I love thy law! it is my meditation
all the day. Psalms 119:97.
The second form of meditation works by al-
lowing the mind to come under the control of an-
other mind. This is used by New Agers and other
Spiritualistic mediums. This kind of meditation is
an invitation for an evil spirit to take control of
the mind. This type of meditation uses various
ways to open a channel of communication with
the spirit or cosmic world which is all part of
Spiritualism. After an evil spirit takes control of a
person they can experience physical phenomena
within their body. Some will experience an inner
light in their head while they sit in a darkened
room. They will feel that someone else is in con-
trol of their thoughts and speech. They may ex-
press ideas and concepts that are completely for-
America In Prophecy
eign to them, things they have never heard or
learned before. When a New Ager becomes a me-
dium for an ascended master (evil angels) it is
called channeling. They claim that channeling is
how one can harness the cosmic power in the uni-
verse and that it is necessary in order to receive
immortality or the fifth initiation.
The word of God calls this devil possession!
During Christs ministry He came in contact with
demon possession many times. At one point He
was interrupted while teaching in a synagogue by
an evil spirit. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with
thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to
destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy
One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold
thy peace, and come out of him. And when the un-
clean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud
voice, he came out of him. Mark 1:23-26. In this
experience with Christ, the evil spirit spoke
through the possessed man, controlling his speech
and his actions. It was only through the power of
God that this poor wretched man could be re-
leased from the grip of the devil.
The next area we will briefly look at is the
world of the occult. Most Christians recognize
this as straight devil worship, but millions are fas-
cinated with this power from beneath. They are
like children trying to touch a hot wood stove,
almost daring it not to burn them.
I began this article by sharing my experience
of watching children enthralled with the Harry
Potter craze at a book store in South Portland. The
popularity of Harry Potter is part of the resur-
gence of medieval witchcraft and magic in the
western world in the last fifty years. In the 1960s,
TV programs and movies like Dark Shadows, Be-
witched, and I Dream of Jeanie, opened the door
for the occult world to enter mainstream society.
By the 1970s hardcore occult movies were on the
big screen and on TV networks. Stars Wars and
other science fiction movies were blending far
eastern and occult concepts with their fictional
stories. Millions were caught up with these Holly-
wood sagas, and within a short time they had cult
followings. Today, millions believe in the super-
natural and they have a strong desire to live in
such a world. The Devil is preparing the vast ma-
jority of mankind to receive him in any way they
can so that he can deceive them. When the stage
is finally set, he will not disappoint his deluded
followers.
29
 Angel of Light
For such are false apostles, deceitful work-
ers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is trans-
formed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as
the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:13-
15.
Satan loves to cloak his deceptions in a dis-
guise. He comes to the ignorant and unsuspecting
Christian as an angel of light to deceive them. He
deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden with a talking
serpent. He came to Christ as an angel of light in
the wilderness of temptation. Those who place
supernatural experiences above the word of God
are an easy prey for him.
Now we will take an in-depth look at one of
the greatest movements in Christianity in the past
century that is used by the evil one to misrepre-
sent the work and power of the Holy Spirit. This
movement is called Pentecostalism.
One of the key figures of Pentecostalism is
Charles F. Parkham, a former Methodist preacher.
For years, he had been searching for the key that
would unlock the power of the Holy Spirit as in
the time of the days of the apostles. He along with
many other Methodist and Baptist ministers were
part of the Holiness movement during the latter
part of the nineteenth century. They had inherited
the idea from John Wesley that a Christian could
receive entire sanctification, or Christian perfec-
tion through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Wesley had written a tract in 1766, called A Plain
Account of Christian Perfection, that outlined the
roll of sanctification in the believers life.
Unfortunately, the Protestant churches had re-
jected the ministry of Christ when He entered the
final phase of His work in 1844. This was a work
of judgement, cleansing, and the final atonement
for sinners in the second compartment of the
heavenly sanctuary. The command given to the
entire world in the first angels message of Reve-
lation 14:7, is to Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and
worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and the fountains of waters.
This message was rejected by the Protestant
churches in the 1840s, and as a result they also
rejected the second and third angels messages as
well. If they had received these messages in their
fullness, they would have entered into the experi-
30 America In Prophecy
ence that John Wesley had taught. The call for
complete sanctification and to separate from all
sin through the power of Christ, is the center
theme of the three angels messages. We enter
into this experience when we repent of all sin and
renounce our opposition to the law of God and
receive power from Christ to live a victorious life.
When Jesus rules in our hearts the power of God
will be seen through the fruits of the Spirit being
manifested in our lives.
Charles Parkham recognized that the power of
God was lacking in the churches of Protestantism.
He was not satisfied with his own spiritual experi-
ence in these churches. In 1900 he had established
a Bible school in an abandoned mansion in
Topeka, Kansas as a spiritual discovery center.
Here Parkham along with 40 students spent hours
studying the scriptures looking for the evidences
and a connection that resulted in the early Chris-
tian church receiving the spiritual gifts from the
Spirit of God.
By late December, Parkham who was sched-
uled to embark on a three-day trip, admonished
his students before leaving to Study every ac-
count in Acts where the baptism of the Spirit was
received, and find out whether there was a com-
mon denominator. He returned three days later
and found his students full of excitement. They
told Parkham that they had discovered on five
occasions where the Holy Ghost was received, it
was followed by the phenomena of speaking in
tongues. Could this perhaps be what we're looking
for? they asked. They showed him the references
in the book of Acts where the Spirit blessed the
early church with the gift of tongues. At daybreak
on New Years Eve, 1900 they started a day of
special prayer for the outpouring of the Spirits
gift of tongues. All day long they prayed, but in
vain. Around seven oclock Agnes Ozman re-
called some important facts from her prior study.
She went to pastor Parkham and explained to him,
that prayer along with the laying on of hands had
resulted in the baptism of the Holy Spirit in differ-
ent events in the book of Acts.
Would you pray for me this way? asked the
excited Agnes.
Parkham hesitated just long enough to utter a
short prayer about the rightness of what they were
doing. Then, gently he placed his two hands on
Miss Ozman's head. Immediately, quietly, there
came from her lips a flow of syllables which nei-
ther of them could understand.3
This power swept through the school and be-
fore the first week of January 1901 was over,
about half of Parkhams students had spoken in
tongues as well as himself. This is a very impor-
tant date in Pentecostal history. Within the next
ten years, this movement was to spread around the
world. In the years following the Topeka, Kansas
event, Parkham taught that the gift of tongues was
the critical evidence of "the baptism of the Spirit."
He proclaimed that only those who had received
the gift of tongues had the full gospel, which
was needed for salvation.
At first he met with skepticism and fierce pub-
lic opposition to his teachings. Both ministers and
laity mocked him and his message. Towards the
end of 1903, Parkham held a revival at Galena,
Kansas. It was here that his message finally took
hold and within a few years he had more than
25,000 followers in his new movement.
In 1905, Parkham moved his Bible school to
Texas and also began publishing a paper called
The Apostolic Faith. Here another important
chapter in Pentecostalism began. Parkham had
great influence on a southern black Holiness
preacher, William J. Seymour. In April 1906,
Seymour took a position at a small church in Los
Angeles, which after once hearing him preach on
speaking in tongues, they barred him from their
church.
A few days later Seymour, and a few of his
new friends were having a home meeting when
they started to speak in tongues. The noise and
commotion brought neighbors from all over and
Seymour had to preach to a large audience who
had gathered in the street. This gained a lot of
public notoriety for they made the Wednesday,
April 18, 1906, edition of the Los Angeles Daily
Times. The following is the headline title and sub-
title that was published on the front page.
. . . WEIRD BABEL OF TONGUES . . .
NEW SECT OF FANATICS IS BREAK-
ING LOOSE. WILD SCENE LAST
NIGHT ON AZUSA STREET. GURGLE
OF WORDLESS TALK BY A SISTER.
One LA Times reporter claimed that
"colored people and a sprinkling of whites
practice the most fanatical rites, preach the
wildest theories, and work themselves into a
state of mad excitement in their peculiar
zeal."
Before long Seymour started a church on
Azusa Street called the Apostolic Faith Mission.
For the next three years, the Mission conducted
services seven days a week, three times a day. By
America In Prophecy
September of 1906, the mission claimed to have
13,000 people that had received the baptism of the
Spirit.
Seymour and his mission workers started a pa-
per entitled: The Apostolic Faith, that they sent
free of charge. By 1907 they had a world wide
circulation of over 50,000 subscribers. The paper
went far to bring tens of thousands through the
doors of the Azusa Street Mission. They came
from all over the world seeking the tongues ex-
perience. This in turn pushed the spread of Pente-
costalism rapidly throughout the world. Many of
the early leaders of the various Pentecostal de-
nominations of today made their way to the Azusa
Street Mission. Within ten years Pentecostalism
had become a major force in the religious world.
Today, Pentecostalism is the fastest growing
sector of Christianity. It is growing at a rate of
13 million a year, or 35,000 a day. With nearly a
half billion adherents, it is, after Roman Catholi-
cism, the largest Christian tradition.4
The Pentecostal movement, that began over a
century ago, was started on an erroneous founda-
tion. Charles Parkham, and all those who fol-
lowed him, believed that true baptism of the Spirit
depended on receiving the gifts of tongues and
healing. Repentance, receiving the divine nature
of Christ, and overcoming sin, were either put on
the back burner or ignored altogether. The law of
God, which is the transcript of His holy character,
is the standard by which we are judged and this
was set aside or done away with. In its place the
Devil has substituted the spirit of babel and ex-
citement to the deceived, the unwary. Many peo-
ple have been taken in by the excitement and hype
of this type of religion. When pastor Parkham
prayed and laid his hands upon Agnes Ozman, she
received the same power that spiritualists and
New Agers had been experiencing for years.
In his book, Deceived by the New Age, Will
Baron tells of his Pentecostal experience at Peace
Apostolic church in the 1980s. Will Baron was in
the New Age movement for many years before he
experienced speaking in tongues. For many years
he had practiced spiritualistic meditation and
channeling. He was used by various ascended
masters (evil angels) to promote the New Age de-
ceptions that he had fallen into. At one point, His
spirit guide had led him into Christianity, where
he was to infiltrate their churches with New Age
concepts and practices. In order to play this role,
he was baptized at the Peace Apostolic church one
Sunday morning. The following is an abbreviated
31
account of his Pentecostal experience that day.
The church elder began to speak.
"The Bible tells us that if we repent and are
baptized, we will receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. This is promised in Acts chapter two,
verses thirty-eight and thirty-nine."
She looked up at the young woman and me.
'The Bible promises the gift of the Holy Ghost to
those who repent and have been baptized. You
have repented and are baptized. Shortly you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Everyone at
Peace Apostolic who has been baptized and who
wants the gift of the Holy Ghost has received it.
We have never had anyone who has not received
the gift."
The church elder quoted a couple more texts
related to the Holy Ghost and the speaking of
tongues before asking us whether we believed
what we had just read. When we replied Yes, she
stood up and asked us to follow her into the sanc-
tuary. It was deserted except for a small group of
young women standing near the front, who were
identified as assisting ministers.
The two of us were asked to kneel at the altar
rail. The young women surrounded us.
"In order to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,"
the elder instructed, "you have to thank Jesus for
saving you. Say out loud, Thank you, Jesus.' Keep
saying it until the Holy Ghost comes upon you."
Closing my eyes, I folded my hands and qui-
etly said, "Thank you, Jesus, for saving me.
"Louder. And keep saying it," the elder encour-
aged.
"Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. Thank you,
Jesus, for saving me," I repeated.
"Don't stop," interjected one of the young as-
sisting ministers. "Keep repeating, Thank you,
Jesus. Thank you, Jesus."
"Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus," I cried
out.
"Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus."
"Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus."
"Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus." I stalled
to catch my breath.
"Don't stop!" another minister shouted. "Keep
saying it. Aren't you glad Jesus has saved you?
Keep thanking him for it."
I continued to repeat "Thank you, Jesus" sev-
eral times over.
"Louder!" bellowed another assistant. "Shout
at the top of your voice. Tell Jesus how thankful
you are. Come on, keep saying it, Thank you, Je-
sus.' Thank you, Jesus."
32 America In Prophecy
The other candidate and I continued to repeat
the phrases we were instructed to shout.
The young assistants began to act like cheer-
leaders, shouting encouragement and exhorting us
to keep repeating "Thank you, Jesus."
After what seemed like ages, my voice became
hoarse with fatigue. How can this be a "gift" from
God if I must work so hard for it? I wondered.
Immediately I countered this negative thought
with a positive one: While I am here, I should do
everything I can to obey the instructions; I should
give it everything I've got.
"Thank you, Jesus," I immediately shouted in
earnest, repeating it several times.
I recalled the statement made by the church
elder that every candidate at Peace Apostolic had
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I clung to
the belief that if I kept doing as I was told, I
would eventually receive the gift.
After several more minutes of chanting, I had
difficulty speaking, as if my jaw were ready to go
into some kind of spasm.
The elder and assistants became excited and
implored, "Let the words come. Don't resist; just
let them out."
I tried to speak, "Thank you, Jesus," but could-
n't. My lips were quivering in an involuntary
spasm.
The candidate next to me emitted a shrieking,
babbling sound, a bit like Swiss yodeling.
"Keep going. Don't stop," an assistant blurted
as I momentarily lost concentration listening to
the other candidate.
Disciplining myself to continue until I received
the gift, I noticed that the quivering of my throat
soon changed into an utterance in a language I
couldn't identify. Soon it became easy for me to
speak out in this peculiar tongue. I felt as if I were
channeling, just the way I used to do in the
Lighted Way channeling groups but this time I
was channeling in an unknown language. I did not
know what the words meant; the tongue sounded
something like I imagined Russian to sound. 5
I included this story not for its entertainment
value, but to show the dangers of Pentecostalism.
This power to speak in other tongues is of Satan.
He has used this type of deception since the fall of
man in Eden, when he spoke through a common
snake to deceive Eve.
The Baptism of The Holy Spirit
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall re-
ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:37.
It is important to understand the difference be-
tween the true and false spirit. Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world. 1 John 4:1.
The baptism of the Spirit is a gift from God.
This gift cannot not be bought with money, or
good works, for we have no righteousness to com-
mend ourselves to God. We do not receive the
Spirit because of our church membership, nor can
we command God to give us His Spirit. But we
can quietly and humbly ask for power from on
high because of our great need and because He
has promised to honor the prayer of faith. The
promise and gift of the Holy Spirit is conditional
upon true repentance and receiving Christ into the
life. When sinners come to Christ and accept Him
as their personal Saviour they also receive His
life. In receiving His life they renounce all sin and
everything that would separate them from Jesus.
The sinner has a sense of the sacredness of the
law of God, and in contrition and deep repentance
they humbly confess and forsake their sins. It is
then that they are anointed with the Holy Spirit
that they may be one with Christ. The same Spirit
that dwelled in Christ while He lived on earth,
now lives within them, bringing the Spirit of
Christ into their lives. And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Galatians 4:6, also
see Luke 11:13.
The baptism of the Spirit comes in two phases.
First, the Spirit gives us the fruits of the Spirit
(...love joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23.)
through claiming the promises of the Word of
God. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust. 2
Peter 1:4. It is through these great and precious
promises of the Word of God, that the Spirit
gives us power to overcome ALL temptation and
sin. He gives us power to overcome ALL inher-
ited and cultivated habits and tendencies in our
flesh to sin. The Godhead guaranties that if we
receive Christ, and surrender our wills to Him, we
will be overcomers as He was. As we experience
growth in the Christian life, then we will manifest
America In Prophecy
the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. This is how we
become partakers of the divine nature. As a result
our old nature dies, and instead of being critical,
we become gracious, the impatient and overbear-
ing become patient and gentle, every bad habit,
every besetting sin can be overcome through the
power of God. Instead of spiritual failure, we re-
ceive victory in Christ. ...Your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God. 2 Corinthians 2:5.
The second phase of the baptism of the Spirit is
receiving the gifts of the Spirit. As believers ex-
perience the divine nature and the fruits of the
Spirit are manifested in their lives, the Spirit of
God then gives them the gifts of the Spirit to help
them witness to others of the power of God in
their lives. It comes as the Spirit of God sees that
it is necessary in order to advance the work of
God. The gifts of prophecy, teaching, healing,
knowledge, discernment and tongues are tools
that God gives to His faithful people to help and
bless those who need the grace of God in their
lives.
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual
gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. 1 Corin-
thians 14:1. Many are deceived by thinking that
the gifts of the Spirit can be received before the
fruits of the Spirit, but the Scriptures teach that;
For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first
the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in
the ear. Mark 4:28. The fruits of the Spirit are
first fruits of the work of the Holy Spirit in our
lives. They are essential for our salvation. Then
the gifts of the Spirit follow as believers experi-
ence the power of the gospel in their lives.
Professed Christians show that they do not
have the fruits of the Spirit in their lives if they
are committing known sin, or if they show by
their thoughts, words, and actions they are not like
Christ. This is the reason that the Holy Spirit can-
not give the gifts of the Spirit to those who behave
this way. We cannot witness to the power of God,
and the truthfulness of His word, if it has not first
changed us from sinners into the children of God.
We would have nothing to testify or witness of.
Does the Holy Spirit give the gift of tongues
today? The answer is yes, but only when someone
is edified in hearing the gospel in their own lan-
guage. (See 1 Corinthians 14:3-33,40). I have
heard of two or more occasions in the past 10
years when this has happened. God is not in the
business of entertainment, He does not sanction a
salvation show. When the gifts of the Spirit are
33
given to a believer it is because a necessity has had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the
arisen in their ministry for others. Pentecostalism number of his name. Revelation 13:13-17.
teaches that they can work the Spirit of God by
demanding the Spirits power to come upon them
by chanting, or through loud prayers. But in real-
ity it is the Spirit that decides when and how the
gifts are given.
We have been given the promise of the Holy
Spirit on the condition that we accept Christ into
our lives, repenting and forsaking our sins. (See
Acts 2:38,39; 5:31,32) This is the FULL GOS-
PEL! The most important aspect of receiving the
baptism of the Spirit is in receiving power to over-
come all sin in our lives. If we fail to co-operate
with God in this salvational matter then we are
lost!
In the next issue we will see the threefold un-
ion of Spiritualism, Protestantism, and Catholi-
cism form a dangerous political alliance with the
secular power of governments. In the book of
Revelation the prophet John sees in vision this
threefold union under the control of the power
from beneath going forward in these last days to
war against God and His saints. And he doeth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And
deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
means of those miracles which he had power to
do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that
dwell on the earth, that they should make an im-
age to the beast, which had the wound by a sword,
and did live. And he had power to give life unto
the image of the beast, that the image of the beast
should both speak, and cause that as many as
would not worship the image of the beast should
be killed. And he causeth all, both small and
great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that

Footnotes
1 Vance Ferrell Prophet of The End, pages 16,17, Pilgrims Books, Altamont TN.
2 Will Baron, Deceived By The New Age, page 67, Pacific Press Pub. Association, Bosie Idaho.
3 John Sherrill, They Speak With Other Tongues, page 38, (A Spire Book).
4 Christian History, "The Rise of Pentecostalism," issue no. 58, vol. XVII no. 2, page 3.
5 Will Baron, Deceived By The New Age, pages 164-167, Pacific Press Pub. Association, Bosie Idaho.

34 America In Prophecy
 America In Prophecy
Part 4
Hands Across the Gulf
By Ashley Cunningham
For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong
hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in
the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A con-
federacy, to all them to whom this people shall
say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor
be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself;
and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your
dread. Isaiah 8:11-13.
It was December 1936 just before 7:00 AM.
Thirty-one year old David du Plessis was sitting at
his office desk preparing for his work at the Ap-
ostolic Faith Mission in Johannesburg, South Af-
rica. All of a sudden Smith Wigglesworth, an
evangelist from England, burst into his office.
Come out here, he boomed. Pushing David Visser't Hooft the secretary of the World Council
firmly against the wall he prophesied that a re-
vival would come through the old-line denomina-
tions eclipsing anything previously known
throughout history. Many of the leaders would
change from strong opposition to accept the mes-
sage and the blessing of the Pentecostal experi-
ence. David too would have a very prominent part
in this movement providing he remained humble
and faithful. Smith bowed his head, asked God to
prepare David and to keep him in good health,
and he left his office.
Later Smith told David, "It will not begin dur-
ing my lifetime. When I pass away, then you can
begin to think about it." Smith also told David
that he would travel more than most men.1
The Pentecostal movement had grown rapidly
from its early beginnings in 1900. By 1945 the
various Pentecostal denominations had swelled to
over 16 million members and within twenty more
years this number had tripled to over 50 million.
David du Plessis was to play an important role in
the Pentecostal movement from the 1940s until
his death in 1987, but most of his work would be
outside the circles of Pentecostalism.
In 1947 David du Plessis assisted a Swiss pas-
tor named, Leonard Steiner, in organizing the
First World Pentecostal Conference which was
America In Prophecy
held in Zurich, Switzerland. At this conference
David was brought into prominence and he went
on to organize three other World Conferences.
This was the same year that Smith Wigglesworth
passed away.
The following year, while on a ministry visit
to the U.S., David and a colleague had a serious
car accident while in Virginia early one foggy
morning. He spent months in the hospital recuper-
ating, during this time he reflected on the words
of Smith Wigglesworth and the direction of his
ministry. When he finally left the hospital his di-
rection and attitude had changed. In 1949 David
immigrated to America with his family after the
Church of God offered him a teaching position at
Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Three years later he decided it was time to take
the Pentecostal experience to the mainline Protes-
tant and Catholic churches. He left Lee College
and moved to Stamford, Connecticut where he
developed a friendship with Dr. John A. Mackay,
the president of Princeton Theological Seminary.
At the invitation of Mackay, David attended the
World Conference of the International Missionary
Council in Germany (1952) where he addressed
the 210 delegates. While there he met Dr. Willem
of Churches (WCC) and dialoged with over half
of the delegates. He came away from the Council
with the title of Mr. Pentecost.
His meeting with Dr. Hooft proved to be very
helpful to his cause for he was invited to address
the second assembly of the WCC in Evanston,
Illinois in 1954. As a strict Pentecostal he had al-
ways looked at the WCC, as the Scarlet Woman
on the beast of Revelation 17. Now Davids atti-
tude was changing towards the mainline evangeli-
cals. People were listening and asking questions
about the Pentecostal experience. He soon discov-
ered their attitudes were changing towards Pente-
costalism and he was delighted with their accep-
tance of his message. The walls of prejudice from
the past which had separated Pentecostals from
the evangelical churches were collapsing.
He said that from 1900-1908, the historic
Protestant churches fought the Pentecostal revival
and denounced it as from the devil. But by 1950-
1958, the climate had changed and the Protes-
tants attitude had reversed. Du Plessis said that
by 1961, I beheld the results of the change and
can declare the Pentecostal revival within the
churches is gathering force and speed. 2
David du Plessis went on to participate in five
more assemblies of the World Council of
Churches. These councils were very ecumenical
35
in nature and they came up with the following
three points upon which the churches agreed and
shared a common belief.
1. ...concluded that men have an obligation to
recognize the brotherhood amongst denomina-
tions and to recognize all churches alike.
2. ...introduced the idea of worldwide unity to
"claim for Christ the whole world and all aspects
of life,"
3... and to bring to light the idea that the
Kingdom of God was being established upon the
earth. 3
By pen and voice he promoted the WCC's
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, whose
theme was The Unity of the Local Congregation
in the Unity of the Universal Church.
The exhortation for the eighth day of prayer
went like this: As you pray remember that you
are a member of the whole Body of Christ and in
particular reflect on the need FOR MANIFESTA-
TIONS OF UNITY through Church organizations
denominational boards, church synods, confes-
sional alliances, local and national councils of
churches, and especially for the World Council of
Churches. 4
About the same time that David du Plessis
was taking the Pentecostal experience and mes-
sage to the WCC, other Pentecostal leaders were
starting to reach out to the Protestant churches.
Oral Roberts, an evangelist of the Pentecostal Ho-
liness Church, became a popular Pentecostal
preacher in America during the 1950s and 1960s
through his public meetings and television pro-
grams. He reached out to mainstream evangelicals
and even included non-Pentecostals in his minis-
try which helped him rise to prominence in the
Charismatic movement. In 1965 Roberts founded
the Oral Roberts University, a Charismatic, but
nondenominational school. He went even further
in his ecumenical and charismatic endeavors by
joining the United Methodist Church in 1968. 5
Oral Roberts was also very instrumental in en-
couraging and helping Demos Shakarian, a suc-
cessful California farmer and businessman, to
start the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship
International (FGBMFI). The Shakarian family
is no newcomer to the Pentecostal experience.
They proudly point out that one of the first Pente-
costal churches in North America was established
in their California home as a direct result of their
interest in the Azusa Street Mission. Their experi-
ence, however, with the supernatural was evident
long before this, for The Shakarian Story, by Tho-
mas Nickel, (FGBMFI, 1964), reveals that the
36 America In Prophecy
family has been involved in direct revelation, vi-
sion, speaking in tongues, and miraculous heal-
ings for over 100 years, predating their arrival in
America by many years. 6
In 1951 Demos Shakarian, with help from
Oral Roberts, founded the FGBMFI as a non-
denominational ministry to take the Pentecostal
experience to other businessmen in the commu-
nity. Dissatisfied with the spiritual condition of
humanity in general, the FGBMFI has taken it
upon itself to implant within the narrow bounda-
ries of the traditional churches the manifestations
of Pentecostalism; and in order to accomplish this,
the organization sponsors banquets, conventions,
breakfasts and informal gatherings throughout the
world on a local, national, and international level.
Being astute businessmen and full gospel Pente-
costalists, the Shakarians do not leave a stone un-
turned to attain their goal. 7 The most polished
of public relations techniques have been enrolled
to advance the movement. 8
By the mid-1960s, there were 300 chapters
with a total membership of 100,000, and by 1988,
there were more than three thousand chapters in
87 countries. 9
Charismatic Movement 1960 1980
Through the work of David du Plessis, Oral
Roberts, Demos Shakarian, and thousands of
other Pentecostal disciples, doors were opened for
this experience to enter into the evangelical
churches. In October 1959, Denis Bennett, a pas-
tor of St. Marks Episcopal Church in Van Nuys,
California received the Pentecostal experience
when he began to speak in tongues. For months he
kept this to himself. Then on Sunday morning
April 3, 1960 he announced to his 2500 member
congregation that he had received the baptism of
the Holy Spirit the previous year. This caused a
real rift in His church, and as a result Pastor Ben-
nett resigned his position at St. Marks, and trans-
ferred to St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Seattle,
Washington where he actively lead out and be-
came a leader in the Charismatic movement.
This was the beginning of the Charismatic
movement, the second wave of Pentecostalism,
for now this experience had crossed over into the
old main line Protestant churches. In a matter of a
few years thousands of evangelicals were embrac-
ing the Charismatic movement. Instead of leav-
ing their Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Meth-
odist, or Baptist denomination, they used the char-
ismatic experiences as a means of renewal for
themselves personally, their local church, and
their denominational groups.10
The popularity of this movement in the early
1960s had made a powerful impact on the Chris-
tian world of such a magnitude that it did not go
unnoticed in the media. The Charismatic move-
ment was even recognized by leading publications
such as Time and Life.
Time magazine reported, It is the fastest
growing church in the Hemisphere. 11 Life
claimed that the Charismatic movement was
...the Third Force a development as important
as was the birth of Catholicism and Protestant-
ism.12
Vatican II opened the door for Catholics to
embrace the Charismatic movement. It is interest-
ing to note that David du Plessis was the only
Pentecostal invited as an official observer to Vati-
can II. In part three of this series we looked at one
of the main adjectives of Vatican II which was
Reaching The Minds And Hearts Of Men. This
was done through ecumenicalism, ...the recon-
ciliation of all Christians in the unity of the one
and only Church of Christ. 13 There was an-
other important step in this direction. The discus-
sion and acceptance of the renewal of the gifts
(charisms) of the Holy Spirit as had formally been
bestowed upon the Apostles and others in the
early Christian Church at Pentecost. During these
discussions Leo Joseph Cardinal Suenens,
Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, of Belgium, de-
fended the position for the renewal of the gifts
within the church. It was his personal interven-
tion on the floor of Vatican II that helped sway
council opinion to the view that the gifts of the
Holy Spirit are not exclusively experiences of an-
cient Christianity but a continuing force in the
modern church as well. 14 Emphasis supplied.
Before Vatican II was over, the papacy claimed
the gifts of the Spirit for the Catholic church and
her people. It is not only through the sacraments
and Church ministries that the Holy Spirit sancti-
fies and leads the people of God. He distributes
special graces among the faithful of every rank
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every-
one for profit (1Corinthians 12:7). These charis-
matic gifts, whether they be the most outstanding
or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be
received with thanksgiving and consolation, for
they are exceedingly suitable and useful for the
needs of the Church 15
During these meetings Pope John XXIII prayed
for the Vatican Council in the following words:
O Holy Spirit pour forth the fullness of your
gifts Renew your wonders in this day as by a
America In Prophecy
new Pentecost. He didnt have to wait long.
In 1967 the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
movement started among students and faculty of
DuQuesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This event became known as the Duquesne
Weekend. This occurred in February, 1967,
about a year after four DuQuesne University the-
ology professors in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
started praying together to stir up fervor within
their Catholic faith. A small group of individuals
met with these faculty members for a weekend.
One engaged couple had heard of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit, and they desired it, so they asked
the professors to pray with them so that the Spirit
would more fully enter their lives. The party qui-
etly went to an upstairs bedroom, where they
prayed. Soon all felt the Spirit of Christ as the
Spirit was manifested in the gift of tongues in
which the young man and woman praised God.16
While this was going on upstairs, unbeknown
to them, Patti Gallagher, a student at the Univer-
sity went into the second floor chapel. She re-
members, I wasn't going to pray, but just to tell
any students there to come down to the party. But
as I entered into the presence of Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament, I was filled with a sense of
aweAs I knelt there, my body literally trem-
bledI felt really scared and said to myself, Get
out of here quick, because something is going to
happen if you stay in the presence of God In
the next few moments, Patti found herself pros-
trate, flat on her face, before the tabernacle. No
one had touched her, but her shoes had come
offWithin half an hour, 24 students were in the
chapelThey stayed singing and praying from 10
p.m. to 5 a.m. the following morningSome felt
God's love so deeply that they couldn't do any-
thing but weep.Somefelt a tremendous burn-
ing in their hands, or going through their arms like
fire. Others experienced a clicking in their
throats, or a tingling in their tongues. You have to
remember, we didn't know about the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, said Patti. 17
This occurrence at Duquesne University in
1967 is thought to be the beginning of the Catho-
lic Charismatic Movement and the answer to the
prayer of Pope John XXIII who ushered in the
Second Vatican Council, in 1964, with the hope
that the Holy Spirit would create a "New Pente-
cost" and a transformation in the Church. The
event was also seen as giving emphasis to Pope
Paul VI's encouragement to exercise the charisms
as he continually proclaimed the necessity of the
37
Holy Spirit to manifest Christ's presence in the
Church.18
One month later the Charismatic renewal
movement spread to Notre Dame University in
South Bend, Indiana. Ray Bullard a deacon in the
Assemblies of God, and president of the South
Bend, Indiana, chapter of the FGBMFI lead nine
Roman Catholics into the Pentecostal experience.
They were connected with the University, and
they asked him and some of his Charismatic
friends to lay hands on them. Ray Bullard became
known as the ...godfather of the Charismatic
Catholics. 19
By 1990, only 23 years since that weekend in
1967, the Catholic Charismatic renewal move-
ment has grown to include over 70,000,000
Catholics in over 120 nations of the
world. (Reported by Fr. Thomas Foster, S.J., the
United States Bishop's Liaison to the Charismatic
Renewal, Diocese of San Jose, Calif.)20 In 1972
the Catholic Charismatic renewal movement got a
new champion in Leo Joseph Cardinal Suenens,
who had helped pave the way for the movement
during Vatican II. During a visit to the United
States he personally encountered the Charismatic
Renewal. This experience was very appealing to
the conservative Cardinal, for he saw it as way for
the Church to flourish in the new Pentecost
area. He became a powerful spokesman and the
sponsor within the Roman hierarchy, which re-
sulted in breaking down many barriers within the
Catholic church.
In October 1974, Demos Shakarian was in-
vited to the Vatican (an invitation which he ac-
cepted), in order to receive the official thanks of
the Vatican for FGBMFI having reached out to
millions of Roman Catholic laymen. 21
By 1975 the Charismatic renewal movement
had gained a real foothold in Catholicism. At the
urging of some of its key supporters, Pope Paul
VI invited the Charismatic renewal movement to
hold its World Congress at Rome on Pentecost
Sunday during the Holy Year. Pope Paul VI spoke
to a group of 10,000 enthusiastic Charismatics:
Nothing is more necessary to this more and more
secularized world than the witness of the 'spiritual
renewal' that we see the Holy Spirit evoking in the
most diverse regions How then could this
spiritual renewal not be a chance for the
Church and for the world? And how, in this case,
could one not take all the means to insure that it
remains so?22
That same year a Roman Catholic charismatic
meeting was held in Atlantic City. There were
38 America In Prophecy
many non-Catholics that attended this conference
as well. Following a talk by Ruth Stapleton, John
Bertolucci, a priest, led in prayers for the healing
of church divisions. Then the following scene
took place. Protestants were asked to stand and
Catholics who were next to them were asked to
seek forgiveness from their Protestant brothers
and sisters for all the pain and hurt caused by their
church's office over the past 400 years. We Prot-
estants did the same ... This night became, for all
of us, the time when the Lord chose to heal 400
years of hurt, pain and division between the
Catholic and Protestant churches. ... On this night
the Lord forgave the sins of our fathers. We were
made into one family by the gift of the Spirit. The
next day the procession for the Mass was glori-
ous. Three hundred priests entered to 'The King of
Glory' and the celebration became joyous. The
cross bearer entered with an empty wooden cross
a resurrection cross as if to say, 'We love
you, our Pentecostal brothers and sisters; we
thank you for recognizing our obedience to the
authority of our church in the Eucharistic celebra-
tion."23
July 1977 was a very important milestone in
the Charismatic movement, when 50,000 people
gathered at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City
from all three areas of the Pentecostal movement.
(Old Pentecostals, Protestant Charismatics, and
Catholic Charismatics.) This was the largest gath-
ering of Charismatics up to that time who claimed
to be baptized in the Spirit believers. For five
days this conference drew participants from vari-
ous denominations including Roman Catholics,
Episcopalians, Pentecostal Holiness, Lutherans,
Four Square Gospel, Presbyterians, Mennonites,
Assemblies of God, United Methodists, Southern
Baptists and others from various Charismatic re-
newal ministries. They came together in a spirit of
ecumenism and Pentecostalism under the banner
of Unity in the Lordship of Jesus. David Du
Plessis' presentation, All Together: Charismatic
and Ecumenical, captured the essence of the
Conference. 24
About half of the participants were Roman
Catholics. The opening address was given by
Kevin Ranaghan, a charismatic Catholic. He said,
God has dug some canals between the streams.
Tonight they are coming together and will flow
forth from this stadium and this conference and
will burst upon the nation as we go forth a newly-
united people. Other Catholic speakers included
Bishop Charles Helmsing, Ralph Martin, Cardinal
Joseph Suenens, and Fathers Michael Scanlan,
James Bertalucci and Francis McNutt. Charis-
matic leaders in attendance included Vinson Sy-
nan, Bob Mumford, Larry Christenson, J.O. Pat-
terson (Church of God in Christ), and Thomas
Zimmerman (General Superintendent of the As-
semblies of God). One speaker proudly hailed this
conference as the largest and most inclusive ecu-
menical assembly in the history of American
Christianity.25
Hands Across the Gulf
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet. Revelation 16:13.
It is important to stop and take a look at the
Charismatic movement and the union of the three
branches of modern Christianity: Pentecostals,
Charismatic Protestants, and Charismatic Catho-
lics. Throughout the history of the Charismatic
movement we have seen that the Pentecostal ex-
perience and ecumenicalism was the goal of this
movement at the expense of Biblical truth. This
was accomplished through contemporary music,
group prayers, dialog and compromise, seeking a
supernatural experience, etc.
In Part 3 of this series and in this current article
we have looked at the history of the ecumenical
movement which started in the 1950s by key men
such as Fulton Sheen, Billy Graham, Bill Bright,
David Du Plessis, Oral Roberts, and many others.
While some of these men were planting the seeds
of ecumenicalism, others were planting the seeds
of both ecumenicalism and Pentecostalism in the
1950s. These seeds took root and sprang up in the
1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that it started
to bare fruit. Barriers were broken down in the
1950s and 60s, but in the 1970s walls of separa-
tion, isolation, and denomination exclusiveness
came crashing down as thousands of churches
across the world started to worship together.
In 1979, Jeremy Rifkin, wrote the following
statement about the merging of these religious
powers in his book; The Emerging Order. We are
in the early morning hours of a second Protestant
Reformation. . . . While Charismatics are generat-
ing a potential liberating impulse, the more
mainline evangelical movement is beginning to
provide the necessary reformulation of theological
doctrine that is essential for the creation of a new
covenant vision and worldview. . . . If the charis-
matic and evangelical strains of the new Christian
renewal movement come together and unite a lib-
erating energy with a new covenant vision for so-
America In Prophecy
ciety, it is possible that a great religious awaking
will take place, one potentially powerful enough
to incite a second Protestant reformation. . . .
emerging between now and the year A.D. 2000.26
In studying the goals of the ecumenical and
Pentecostal movement it is well to look at another
statement written by a prominent Christian writer
over a hundred years ago. Through the two great
errors, the immortality of the soul, and Sunday
sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his
deceptions. While the former lays the foundation
of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympa-
thy with Rome. The Protestants of the United
States will be foremost in stretching their hands
across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism;
they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with
the Roman power; and under the influence of this
threefold union, this country will follow in the
steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of con-
science.27
In our text from Revelation 16:13 we find these
three great powers coming together in the last
days just before Christs Second Coming. The
dragon represents the power of Satan which he
uses through his spiritualistic experiences. In Part
4 we discussed the history of the Pentecostal
movement and discovered that it is based upon
spiritualistic signs and wonders that are apart from
the plain word of God. As we discussed in Part 4
when the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians
5:22,23) are seen in the life of the true Christian,
then it is a sign that we are connected to Christ
and are a child of God. The gifts of the Spirit
are to help build the Church of Christ and to edify
His people. Jesus warned us to beware of signs
and wonder in the last days, for He said, For
false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and
shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it
were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22. Em-
phasis supplied.
During the ministry of Christ, the Pharisees
often harassed Him. On one such occasion the
Lord and His disciples just landed their boat on
the western shore of the sea of Galilee and a group
of ...Pharisees came forth, and began to question
with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven,
tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit,
and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a
sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be
given unto this generation. ...An evil and adul-
terous generation seeketh after a sign; and there
shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the
prophet Jonas. Mark 8:11-13; Matthew 12:38.
These words apply to us today. Charismatic
39
believers view tongues, signs and wonders as the
ultimate gifts from of the Spirit of God. They be-
lieve that if they have this experience then they
are accepted of God. In reality what we really
need is spiritual renovation from the Holy Spirit
to become the sons and daughters of God. It is
important to add that when we come to Jesus
Christ and ask Him for forgiveness of sin, His
blood covers us and we are accepted by our heav-
enly Father in Christ. But this is only part of
grace. The power to overcome all our inherited
and cultivated sinful natures is the greatest work
that the Holy Spirit performs in our lives. To re-
new the human heart is nothing short of a divine
miracle in the soul. The Lord could work signs
and wonders for us all day long, but His hardest
miracles, the ones that take the most time and pa-
tience, is the miracle of a converted child of God.
A new character shaped after the divine Model,
Jesus Christ, is the greatest testimony to the
power and grace of God.
While the Charismatic world looks at tongues,
signs, and wonders as the greatest gifts that Christ
could bestow upon the Church, Jesus showed by
His life of ministry and teachings that service for
others was the ultimate gift that the Holy Spirit
could bestow upon us. It is this that we need to
seek. This is why Jesus warned us to beware of
false Christs and false prophets that will show
signs and wonders. As He looked down
through the centuries of time into our future, He
recognized these dangers of the last days.
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed America
in Prophecy as we studied Revelation 13. We dis-
covered in verses 1-8 that, the beast power
represents the Papal power of the Roman Catholic
Church. We also found that there are 1260 sym-
bolic days/years (see Daniel 7:25 also), beginning
in 538 AD and ending in 1798 when Pope Pius VI
was taken captive by the French. The apostle John
writes of this event saying, And I saw one of his
heads as it were wounded to death. v.3. Yet as
John is watching this prophetic drama unfold he
sees that ...his deadly wound was healed: and all
the world wondered after the beast. And they wor-
shipped the dragon which gave power unto the
beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying,
Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make
war with him? vs. 3,4.
In that same chapter we also discovered
...another beast coming up out of the earth; and
he had two horns like a lamb. v. 11. Here the
prophet John pictures the rise of America in
prophecy, as it becomes a symbol of religious and
political freedom for millions of people from all
40 America In Prophecy
over the world. This country was founded upon
the two great principles of Protestantism and Re-
publicanism which has made this nation a source
of prosperity and freedom for millions. But notice
a change in the attitude that begins to develop in
America. and he spake like a dragon. And he
exerciseth all the power of the first beast before
him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed. vs. 11,12.
This terrible change takes place sometime after
the papacys deadly wound was healed. This is
an extremely important point to understand. The
first steps in this event happened on February 11,
1929, when the Italian government through its
dictator, Mussolini, recognized the sovereign
status of the Vatican through a concordant with
the papacy. This act gave full civil authority and
nation status to the papacy. Thus the healing of
the deadly wound was well on its way. One by
one the nations of the world has sent and received
ambassadors to the Vatican. Yet the greatest heal-
ing of the deadly wound since 1929 has been
during the current reign of Pope John Paul II. Of
all the popes who has assumed the papal office in
this past century, John Paul has been honored and
extolled by the great political and religious lead-
ers of the world. Regaining the prestige, influ-
ence, and power for the papal office that once
marked its former glory. The time has come when
the words of the apostle John are being fulfilled
right before our very eyes, ...and all the world
wondered after the beast
How could America speak like a dragon?
The United States government will come to a
point when it ...exerciseth all the power of the
first beast before him, and causeth the earth and
them which dwell therein to worship the first
beast, whose deadly wound was healed. vs. 11,12.
The religious freedoms that we have taken for
granted for so many years will become subject to
federal and state law. Those who will not go along
with these laws will suffer the loss of their rights
and be regarded as criminals.
What group of people could influence the civil
powers in America to act this way? To understand
this question we return to our text in Revelation
16:13. We find a third power coming into the
prophetic picture along with dragon and the
beast, the false prophet.
The first two powers are religious in nature,
therefore the third power must be religious also.
This apostate religious power will influence the
American government to exercise all the power
of the first beast (Papal Rome) before him. The
only religious power that can fulfil this prophecy
in America is apostate Protestantism. While
professing to hold the Bible and the Bible only as
their only creed, they have compromised with
Rome and the Charismatic movement, thus up-
holding the doctrine of devils. While it is Roman
Catholicism that comprises Babylon, the fallen
daughters of Babylon are the apostate Protestant
churches (see Revelation 17:5) who have rejected
the plain truths found in Gods word and refuse to
keep His commandants. From our study thus far
and as we continue to look at history and proph-
ecy we will discover that apostate Protestantism
has been working for over 30 years to influence
and control the United States government to legis-
late their laws upon the citizens of America.
Political and Religious Alliances
If we didn't know the Pope agrees with us, we
Catholics in the New Right would have serious
conscience problems. I would never work counter
to the Church's official position.
-Paul Weyrich, founder Moral Majority,
Christian Voice, Religious Roundtable.
In Part 2 we discussed the rise of the Political
and Christian Right in American politics. As the
moral and social ills were eating out the moral
heart of America, conservatives from the Evan-
gelical, Catholic, and Charismatic camps joined
forces to battle with the moral and political issues
of the 1970s. They organized together to elect
conservative candidates for local, state, and fed-
eral office.
By 1979 men like Paul Weyrich, Howard Phil-
lips, Richard Viguerie, Ed McAteer, and Robert
Billings of the National Christian Action Coalition
encouraged and supported Jerry Falwell in the es-
tablishment of the Moral Majority.
Washington For Jesus
To strengthen their ecumenical and political
hold on American politics, Bill Bright, Pat Robert-
son, and many other Christian Right leaders or-
ganized a massive rally in the nations capital. We
remember it as Washington for Jesus. On April
29, 1980 more than 200,000 charismatic and fun-
damentalist Christians held a day-long prayer rally
in Washington, D.C. They chose April 29th, for it
was on that day in 1607 when Puritan settlers
dedicated their future nation to God after erecting
a cross on the shores of America.28
Christian right broadcasters PTL, TEN, and
America In Prophecy
CBN coordinated their networks to provide live
and taped coverage of the rally. Christian leaders
saw the rally as a huge success, it marked the first
time that previously feuding factions of Catholic
Charismatics and Evangelicals came together in
public to show their ecumenical unity to change
America. About six months later Ronald Reagan
was elected president.
Ronald Reagan & The Moral Majority
1980
This idea that government was beholden to the
people, that it had no other source of power is still
the newest, most unique idea in all the long his-
tory of man's relation to man. This is the issue of
this election: Whether we believe in our capacity
for self-government or whether we abandon the
American Revolution and confess that a little in-
tellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our
lives for us better than we can plan them our-
selves. So we have come to a time for choos-
ing. You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
We will preserve for our children this, the last best
hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them
to take the first step into a thousand years of
darkness.29 Emphasis supplied.
In 1970, five FGBMFI members, including
Pat and Shirley Boone, Harold Bredesen, and
George Otis, prayed with then-California Gover-
nor Reagan at his home in Sacramento. Otis, a for-
mer Lear executive, was overcome with the Spirit
and began to speak in the voice of God. He com-
pared Reagan to a king, and prophesied that
Reagan would "reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave-
nue" if he continued to walk in God's way. Appar-
ently Reagan took the prophesy very seriously. 30
I remember the 1980 presidential election of
Ronald Reagan very clearly. It was the first time
that I recall hearing about a new organization
called, The Moral Majority, and how it had played
a significant part in electing Reagan as president.
At the time I had no interest in politics, and I had
no idea of what The Moral Majority was about. I
recall the major TV networks commenting on how
the Christian Right helped put Reagan in the
White House. Little did I realize at the time the
major role that this election would have on world
events!
The work of the religious and political right
paid off. In the 1980 election they had made a sig-
nificant show in the Republican party. Through
the efforts of The Moral Majority and Christian
Voice they issued a first series of moral report
cards on the candidates and their voting records.
41
They organized thousands of grass root supporters
to encourage and influence over two million new
evangelical voters to register and vote that year.
Through TV, radio, magazines, and in the pulpit,
evangelicals rallied around The Moral Majority.
Over 60% of white evangelicals, along with 50%
Catholic voted for Ronald Reagan over Jimmy
Carter. The political/Christian Right had become
a force that the Republican party had to come to
grips with. They also singled out incumbent De-
mocrats for defeat, including Senators Frank
Church (D-ID), George McGovern (D-SD), Birch
Bayh (D-IN), and John Culver (D-IA). These men
were defeated by the Christian Rights power
politics.
Right wing conservatives had high hopes for
Reagan during his first term. They were rewarded
with the appointments of several Christian Right
leaders in the Reagan administration.
1. Morton Blackwell, an aide to Richard
Viguerie, was made the President's religious af-
fairs advisor.
2. C. Everett Koop an anti-abortion activist
was named deputy assistant secretary of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services (later
promoted to Surgeon General).
3. James Watt, of the Assemblies of God, be-
came one of the Reagan administration's biggest
embarrassments. Watt saw his appointment as
Secretary of the Interior as a license to enforce his
bizarre theological views about human
"stewardship" over the rest of nature.
4. Rev. Robert Billings, former executive di-
rector of the Moral Majority, was named a top
official of the Department of Education. Billings
used his bully pulpit to lead the fight against the
IRS proposal to tax religious schools which dis-
criminate on the basis of race. The primary of-
fender in this area was Billings' alma mater, Bob
Jones University.31
The high profile of political/Christian Right
appointees in the Reagan administration was only
a token commitment to the New Rights moral
agenda. The Reagan administration made no seri-
ous efforts to outlaw abortion or work on other
domestic moral issues. By the end of Reagans
first year in office the New Right leaders were
voicing their disappointment in his lack of com-
mitment to there moral values. The only area that
Reagan followed through from his campaign
promises, was to fight godless Communism all
over the world.
In Battle Plan for 1982 The Moral Majority
laid out a campaign against;
42 America In Prophecy
1. Abortion a strategy for passage of a Hu-
man Life statute and/or a Human Life Amend-
ment to the Constitution.
2. To work with Phyllis Schlafly and Eagle Fo-
rum to defeat ERA, and mount an effort to push
for the Family Protection Act.
3. A strategy of defeating homosexual influence
in local, state, and federal government.
4. A conference on the evils of pornography for
government officials.32
The Power of Religious Politics
The Unholy Alliance Reagan and the Vatican
In an April 1982 speech before the National
Catholic Education Association, Reagan made the
incredible statement, I am grateful for your help
in shaping American policy to reflect God's
will....And I will look forward to further guidance
from His Holiness Pope John Paul II during an
audience I will have with him in June.33
Two months later on June 7, 1982 this meeting
took place between President Reagan and Pope
John Paul II at the Vatican Library. Little did the
world realize the importance of this one meeting,
and the powerful forces set in motion to change
the political landscape of Eastern Europe and the
Soviet Union!
In the meeting, Reagan and the Pope agreed
to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the
dissolution of the Communist Empire. Declares
Richard Allen, Reagans first National Security
Adviser: This was one of the great secret alli-
ances of all time.34
It was their hope that this secret alliance
would undermine the political action and power
of the Communist Polish government against the
trade union, Solidarity. Their goal was not only to
free the homeland of the Pope from the tyranny of
Communism, but to bring pressure on all the east-
ern bloc countries under the control of the Soviet
Union.
Years of covert operations followed their meet-
ing, in which the Papacy and America used their
combined resources to bring about the collapse of
communism in Poland, which only took eight
years. But this was just the beginning, for to their
surprise and delight, soon every Eastern European
communist bloc country fell, including the Soviet
Union itself !
In 1935 Josef Stalin, absolute ruler of the So-
viet Union, was given some unsolicited advice.
Make a propitiatory gesture to the Vatican, he was
told. Pushed too far, his country's Catholics might
become counter-revolutionary. Stalin's great mus-
tache amplified his sneer. The Pope. And how
many divisions has he? The answer then was that
he has none. The answer now is that he needs
none. The structures of Communism are crum-
bling to the touch.35
We all remember the events of 1989 under
Perestroika, as the walls of the Communist Bloc
countries began to crumble and fall. It happened
so quickly that many of us were stunned at the
speed with which it all happened. Some news
commentators even used the words of Daniel to
describe the speed of the collapse. Like a whirl-
wind While Gorbachev's hands-off policy was
the immediate cause of the chain reaction of lib-
erty that has swept through Eastern Europe in the
past few months, John Paul deserves much of the
longer-range credit."36
While the Reagan Administration and the Vati-
can were working together on foreign policy to
bring down communism, they were also exploring
the possibly of exchanging ambassadors.
Early in 1983, Ronald Reagan, who had been a
long time friend of Billy Graham since his early
years as a movie actor, approached him for advice
with establishing diplomatic relations with the
Vatican. Before he made that appointment, he
asked my view. I told him I thought it would
probably be a good thing-in spite of a number of
potential problems concerning the separation of
church and state-and wrote an extended confiden-
tial letter outlining my reasons. Among other
things, I told him I did not think it necessarily vio-
lated the separation of church and state.37
Graham had spoken highly of Pope John
Paul II as the greatest moral leader of the world.
His many ties with Catholicism now helped to in-
fluence President Reagan's decision to appoint an
ambassador to the Vatican.
The President asked Graham if he would as-
sist his national security adviser, William Clark, to
make private informal inquiries to discover the
attitude of evangelical leaders on establishing for-
mal diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Graham
then contacted the following Evangelical leaders;
Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Gilbert Beers (then
editor of Christianity Today) David Hubbard (then
president of Fuller Seminary) and Billy Marvin
(Executive Secretary of the NAE). Graham sent a
seven-page letter to Mr. Clark which was obtained
by the Chicago Sun-Times, and quoted Graham as
saying, "If anyone can do it and get away with it,
it is Mr. Reagan."38
America In Prophecy
The Formation of the image to the beast.
Many years ago the FGBMFI hosted a World
Convention of Pentecostals in Orlando, Florida.
During the convention, Father James Bertalucci,
the Catholic keynote speaker, made the following
statement: I want to tell you something, brothers
and sisters. When the sleeping giant of Rome
comes alive, watch out world. . . . especially in a
day and age where we can cooperate and collabo-
rate in winning the world for Jesus Christ."39
James Bertaluccis prediction is coming true
and we are seeing it unfold before our eyes. The
events from the 1960s through the 1980s were
only the beginning of the three worldwide reli-
gious powers coming together to cooperate and
collaborate in winning the world but not for Jesus
Christ as they claim!
The prophet John saw that not only would Prot-
estant America and the Vatican work together to
achieve their political and religious goals among
the nations, but apostate Protestantism would ex-
ercise all the cruel persecuting power that the pa-
pacy had in past ages. The United States would
also cause the people to worship the first beast
the Papacy! How could this happen?
And he doeth great wonders, so that he
maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell
on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the
beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that
they should make an image to the beast, which
had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he
had power to give life unto the image of the
beast, that the image of the beast should both
speak, and cause that as many as would not wor-
ship the image of the beast should be killed.
Revelation 13:13-15. Emphasis supplied.
It is through the rejection of truth and the me-
dium of spiritualism that the Evangelical Churches
are deceived and in turn lose their spiritual dis-
cernment to tell the difference between the mira-
cles of God and the deceptions of Satan. This has
been happening for well over a hundred years.
Nominal Christianity is the order of the day. True
godliness is rarely seen among professed Chris-
tians, and in this state the American Evangelical
Churches have compromised with Rome and
Spiritualism.
This has paved the way for the formation of the
image to the beast. This occurs when the lead-
ing churches of America work in connection with
the government, as did the papacy, to support their
institutions and enforce their laws. In the past the
43
Protestant churches have made inroads into the America will soon speak like a dragon.
politics of the nation, but in 1980 during the presi- We have come to the time when the feared pre-
dential campaign of Ronald Reagan, the Moral diction of Ronald Regan will come true, for the
Majority was one of the deciding factors in his entire world is taking the first step into a thou-
election. Today, the Christian Coalition and sand years of darkness. Emphasis supplied.
many other religious/political organizations that
make up the Religious Right, exert a very
strong and powerful influence on our nations elec-
tions and policies. The Lord has shown us through
His prophet that the day will soon come when the
leading churches of America will control the civil
government to the extent that it will enforce their
religious beliefs upon the people. This is how

Footnotes
1 http://catchlife.org/david_du_plessis.htm
2 Ed Tarkowski, Foundations For Apostasy: 1950-1985, http://users.stargate.net/~ejt/founda1.htm
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 http://www.itib.org/articles/dividing_line/dividing_line_10-2.html.
6 Rene Noorbergen, Charisma of the Spirit, page 36, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View Calf.
7 Ibid.
8 Russel T. Hitt, The New Pentecostalism: An Appraisal, Eternity, July, 1963, page 16.
9 http://www.pastornet.net.au/renewal/journal17/17c%20Riss.htm
10 The Second Wave: The Charismatic Movement/ Neo-Pentecostalism, http://www.fundamentalbiblechurch.org/Foundation/
fbcsomerefl2.htm
11 Time, Nov 2, 1962, page 56.
12 The Third Force of Christendom. Life, June 9, 1958, page 113.
13 Catechism of the Catholic Church, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catechism 821 & 822.
14 Rene Noorbergen, Charisma of the Spirit, page 23, Pacific Press Publishing Assocation, Mountian View Calf.)
15 http://religion-cults.com/spirit/charismatic.htm#History
16 http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/c/charismatics_the.html
17http://www.unitypublishing.com/NewReligiousMovements/CharismaticMovement1.html
18 http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/c/charismatics_the.html
19 Christian News, June 26, 1988.
20 http://religion-cults.com/spirit/charismatic.htm#History:
21 David Cloud, Evangelicals & Rome, p. 260.
22 http://religion-cults.com/spirit/charismatic.htm#History:
23 Thomas Twitchell, That They May Be One, pp. 137-138, Logos, 1978.
24 Ed Tarkowski, Foundations For Apostasy: 1950-1985, http://users.stargate.net/~ejt/founda1.htm
25http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/abrief.htm
26 Jeremy Rifkin & Ted Howard, The Emerging Order, God in the Age of Scarcity, pgs. IX,XXI,XII, GP Putnams Sons, New York.
27 Ellen White, The Great Controversy (1888) pg. 588, Pacific Press, Mountain View, California.
28 Washington For Jesus: Revival Fervor and Political Disclaimers, Christianity Today, May 23, 1980 p 46.
29 Ronald Reagan, A Time for Choosing, 1964 speech at Barry Goldwaters Republican Notation.
30 Larry Kickham, "The Theology of Nuclear War," inset on The Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, Covert Action In-
formation Bulletin, No. 27, Spring 1987.
31 Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare, page 64, Boston Ma. South End Press.
32 John Saloma III, Ominous Politics: The New Conservative Labyrinth, (New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1984 ).
33 Stephen Mumford, American Democracy and the Vatican: Population Growth & National Security, p. 42, Humanist Press, Amherst
NY.
34 Time February 24, 1992, The Holy Alliance, pg. 28.
35 Life, December 1989.
36 Time, December 4, 1989.
37 Billy Graham, Just As I Am, p. 535, San Francisco, Harper Collins
38 "Grahams Help on Vatican Ties," Associated Press, Lake County News Herald, Feb. 9, 1984
39 Ed Tarkowski, Foundations For Apostasy: 1950-1985, http://users.stargate.net/~ejt/founda1.htm

44 America In Prophecy
 http://www.nndb.com/gov/429/000120069/ 03-Oct-1989
01-Mar-1993
US Ambassador to the Thomas Patrick Melady

Vatican 02-Sep-1993
20-Sep-1997
Raymond L. Flynn
US GOVERNMENT OFFICE
16-Dec-1997
01-Mar-2001
19-Aug-184826-Aug-1848 Lindy Boggs
Jacob L. Martin Died at post
13-Sep-2001
19-Nov-1849 31-Jan-2005
27-Nov-1858 Jim Nicholson
Lewis Cass, Jr.
12-Nov-2005
27-Nov-1858 15-Jan-2008
23-May-1861 Francis Rooney
John P. Stockton
14-Feb-2008
06-Jun-1862 present
04-Aug-1862 Mary Ann Glendon
Alexander W. Randall

26-Nov-1862
20-May-1863
Richard Milford Blatchford

08-Jan-1864
17-Aug-1867
Rufus King

23-Dec-1939
18-Jan-1950
Myron C. TaylorPersonal Representative
of the President

29-Dec-1941
08-Jul-1944
Harold H. Tittmann, Jr.Charg d'Affaires

05-Jun-1970
06-Jul-1977
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.Personal Represen-
tative of the President

06-Jul-1977
14-Aug-1978
David Walters Personal Representative of
the President

28-Nov-1978
16-Jan-1981
Robert F. Wagner, Jr.Personal Represen-
tative of the President

11-Feb-1981
18-Jul-1986
William A. Wilson Diplomatic relations
established 10-Jan-1984; Wilson became
Ambassador 9-Apr-1984

08-Jan-1987
28-Jul-1989
Frank Shakespeare

America In Prophecy 45