The ABCs of Christianity

By Bill Etem

Does the Roman Catholic Church lead people to perdition? Is Rome a false church? One can just as well ask: do the Mormons lead people to perdition? Does the Church of England? Which Christian churches are false churches which lead people to perdition?

2 Thess 1. 8 mentions hellfire for those who don't know God and who don't obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recall also John 14. 23-26 and John 15. 6. The Christian scriptures say God, the Creator of the Universe, is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Muslims say it is blasphemy to worship Jesus as God, the Divine Son. But if Jesus is God, the Divine Son, then it is blasphemy to refuse to worship Jesus.

You'll find the proof below that the Roman Catholic Church teaches the heresy that the false god of Islam, Allah, is God. Therefore Rome leads people to perdition, again recall 2 Thess 1. 8. See also Galatians 1. 8-12.

'Vatican Council and Papal Statements on Islam Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 16, November 21, 1964 "But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place among whom are the Muslims: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate 3, October 28, 1965 "The Catholic Church...has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth (Cf. St. Gregory VII, Letter III, 21 to Anazir [Al-Nasir], King of Mauretania PL, 148.451A.), who has spoken to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself... Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam 107, August 6, 1964.

"Then [we refer] to the adorers of God according to the conception of monotheism, the Muslim religion especially, deserving of our admiration for all that is true and good in their worship of God.... Paul VI, address to the Islamic communities of Uganda, August 1, 1969 "In our prayers, we always remember the peoples of Africa. The common belief in the Almighty professed by millions calls down upon this continent the graces of his Providence and love, most of all, peace and unity among all its sons. We feel sure that as representatives of Islam, you join in our prayers to the Almighty, that he may grant all African believers the desire for pardon and reconciliation so often commended in the Gospels and in the Qur'an... John Paul II, address to a symposium on "Holiness in Christianity and in Islam," Rome, May 9, 1985 "All true holiness comes from God, who is called 'The Holy One' in the sacred books of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Your holy Qur'an calls God 'Al-Quddus,' as in the verse: 'He is God, besides whom there is no other, the Sovereign, the Holy, the (source of) Peace' (Qur'an 59, 23).

Bible-Based Christianity teaches that Islam is a heresy, and teaches that Allah is a false god.

Islam is a false religion and so it leads people to perdition not to Heaven. There's nothing complicated here.

You have the pope quoting the Qur'an as if it is a trustworthy religious document. If it is trustworthy then you can trust it when it says all who reject Allah and Islam will burn in Hell.

The Roman Catholic Church is a false church: it leads people away from Heaven and to eternal perdition. There's nothing complicated about 2 Thess 1. 8, Galatians 1. 8-12, John 15. 6, John 14. 23-26, John 1. 1-14, 1 Timothy 3. 16, Colossians 2. 8-10 etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bill Etem
• Release date: Dec 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311636980

Bill Etem

Bill EE-tem. Born in Minneapolis, 1.2.60. Now living in St. Paul. Had lots of jobs: High School math teacher, football coach, track coach, legal coding / data entry, production, bar bouncer etc., etc. Bounced around some myself. Lived in Mexico for 20 months, in Oaxaca. Lived in Los Angeles for a few years. Traveled for 4 months round Europe after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1983, B.A. in Mathematics. My religious books are all about searching for the True Church. The descriptions and contents of my 10 You Tube playlists also deal with that theme. If a Church leads people to Heaven then that Church is the Bride of Christ, the True Church, the Church Christ founded on a rock, Matthew 16. 13-19. If a church is lost in heresy and drags people down to eternal perdition then that church is a false church. The Christian scriptures are clear there is only one True Church, only one Bride of Christ. And yet there are thousands of separate churches / thousands of unique denominations in the world. This a big glaring problem. John 6. 53-55 tells us one must celebrate Holy Communion to attain Heaven and escape perdition. 1 Corinthians 11. 27-29 says you drink damnation into your soul if you celebrate Holy Communion in an unworthy manner. I've spent roughly 7 thousand hours working on my You Tube playlists, so be sure to scrutinize those when you get a chance.  These You Tube videos explain how we got no end of Christians who violate 1 Corinthians 11. 27-29.  They drink damnation into their souls by sharing the bread and the wine with people who push evil, Anti-Christian things. https://youtube.com/@billetem5868 [e-mail]

Book preview

The ABCs of Christianity

Published by Bill Etem at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Bill Etem

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover Art by rebecacovers at www.fiverr.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Christianity is True and yet Christians are Delusional

Chapter 2. Foolishness and American Civil War 2.0

Chapter 3. The Evidence for Christianity.

Chapter 4. Climate Change

Chapter 5. More Christianity

Chapter 6. Enoch Powell and Thomas Sowell

Chapter 7. Zionism

Chapter 8. Hellfire

Chapter 9. The Cross and the True Faith

Chapter 10. The Roman Catholic Crucifix

Chapter 11. Abortion.

Chapter 12. Lea and Gibbon

Chapter 13. The Roman Catholic Church Drags People Down to Eternal Perdition?

The ABCs of Christianity

Chapter 1. Christianity is True and yet Christians are Delusional

Lots of critics of Christianity try to prove that Christians are delusional for believing that Christianity is the True Faith which leads people to Heaven. These critics say Christianity is a myth, a falsehood, a superstition, and therefore they say it is irrational to be a Christian.

For evidence favoring Christianity see Chapter 3 of this book and see also my You Tube playlist Bible-Based Christianity, the link to this playlist is in my Smashwords / Draft2Digital bio page.

Christianity is True yet Christians are delusional!

Why are Christians delusional? Let's review the logic.

If Christianity is true, if Jesus is God, the Divine Son, as we Christians profess - Matthew. 1. 23, John 1. 1-14, Col 2. 8-10, 1 Tim 3. 16, Psalm 2, Isaiah 9. 6 etc., then you want to find the True Church, recall John 14. 23-26 and Matthew 16. 13-19, recall Acts 26. 12-18, Galatians 1. 8-12, Ephesians 4. 4 etc.

Why do you want to find the True Church?

John 6. 53-55 says in so many words that you must partake of Holy Communion to attain Heaven and escape perdition. So, you want to celebrate Holy Communion in the True Church which leads people to Heaven and not in some false church lost in heresy which leads people to perdition.

1 Corinthians 11. 27-29 says you drink damnation into your soul if you celebrate Holy Communion in an unworthy manner. So, again, you want to find the True Church because the True Church will not drag you down to eternal perdition, because the True Church is not lost in heresy, and she doesn’t violate 1 Corinthians 11. 27-29.

Of course every Christian church claims it leads people to Heaven. No Christian church declares it is a worthless false church which drags people down to eternal perdition!

But there are thousands of separate churches / thousands of unique denominations. What are the chances that every church and every denomination in the world is none other than God’s True Church, the Church which Christ founded on a rock?

Let’s review the logic which says it is irrational to promote more than one church / one denomination.

A Russian Orthodox minister goes to a park and starts evangelizing to people, starts preaching the sermon that says the Russian Orthodox Church is God's True Church which leads people to Heaven, and all other churches are false churches lost in heresy, and so they drag people down to eternal perdition. He meets Roman Catholics and Lutherans and Baptists and others who challenge his preaching. So, not liking the animosity he gets from these Christians, he capitulates under the pressure. And so he changes his tune, and begins to preach a new sermon, one which says the Russian Orthodox Church, along with the Roman Catholic Church, and the ELCA, and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the Southern Baptists, and the Presbyterians, and the Methodists, and the Mormons, and the Pentecostals, are all part of God's True Church, and all these churches lead people to Heaven.

Either the Russian Orthodox Church leads people to Heaven or else it doesn't. The Russian Orthodox Church is either God's True Church which leads people to Heaven, or else it is not God's True Church, not the Church which Christ founded on a rock. If the Russian Orthodox Church doesn't lead people to Heaven, if it leads people to perdition, if it is lost in heresy, then renounce the Russian Orthodox Church and keeping looking for the True Church.

But if the Russian Orthodox Church does lead people to Heaven, if it is God's True Church, then one is taking a foolish risk if one promotes churches other than the Russian Orthodox Church. What if these other churches are false churches? What if they drag people down to eternal perdition? If you promote a false church, if you tell people that church X will lead them to Heaven, when in fact church X will drag them down to eternal perdition, then you are a heretic, and so you are on the road to perdition, assuming you never repent but continue to be a heretic. A heretic, by the way, is someone who, wittingly or unwittingly, leads people away from Heaven and to perdition

So, if you have found God's True Church which leads people to Heaven, then you should promote only that Church. It would be taking a foolish risk to promote multiple churches, when any one or all of those other churches might be churches which are lost in heresy, might be false churches which lead people to perdition. Yes, you will experience animosity from people in false churches if you tell them the truth, if you tell them their church drags people down to eternal perdition. They are convinced their church leads people to Heaven. But they are delusional. 2 Thess 2 deals not only with the Antichrist but also with strong delusion.

If the Roman Catholic Church is God's True Church which leads people to Heaven, then obey Rome in all things. If you always obey Rome / God's True Church then you will always be led to Heaven. But if you rebel against Rome / God's True Church then it stands to reason you can expect to be damned to the lake of fire at the Last Judgment, recall Revelation 20. 12-15. The Dogma of Papal Infallibility states one is anathema if one rejects that Dogma. If you rebel against God's True Church by rejecting one of her official doctrines then why wouldn't you be anathema?

And of course if Rome is not God's True Church, if Rome is lost in heresy, if Rome is a false church which leads people to perdition, then you'll just have to keep looking for God's True Church which leads people to Heaven.

Why might a church cease to lead people to Heaven and instead lead people to eternal perdition? A church might lead people into lies. Revelation 21. 8 says all liars go to the lake of fire. Gal. 1. 8-12 indicates you're damned if you alter St. Paul's doctrines which he learned directly from Christ. As we’ve seen above, 1 Cor 11. 27-29 says you drink damnation into your soul if you celebrate Holy Communion in an unworthy manner. So, if you drink damnation into your soul if you celebrate Holy Communion with pro-choicers, or with pro-gay marriage people, or with Sabbath violators...If you drink damnation into your soul if you celebrate Holy Communion with people who make no secret that they support Anti-Christian things, then don't celebrate Holy Communion with people who make no secret that they support Anti-Christian things! Which Christians support Anti-Christian things? I have lots of You Tube videos which deal with this question! To give you a brief paraphrase…

If Christianity is true, as we Christians insist, and if you're guilty of aiding and abetting thievery, then you go to perdition, assuming you never repent. Truth be told, all compulsory taxation is theft and is Anti-Christian. A non-compulsory sales tax on various items might be OK. Who told you that it is OK and just and not Anti-Christian to use cops and guns and prisons and tax laws to take money away from people who have honestly earned that money? The guy who told you that is crazy! Acts 5. 4 explains how people on the road to Heaven manage their finances. The True Church acts like a bank. Acts 5. 4 says Christians are to liquidate their assets, then turn over every last cent to the True Church (you suffer death from the Holy Spirit if you don't turn it all over to the True Church!) but this money does not then belong to the bishops of the True Church. The individual Christian retains control over this money, because it's his money. So, the True Church acts like a bank.

But Christians fell away from the True Faith many centuries ago and have ever since been ruled by evil kings, evil nobles, evil priests, evil Republics... It's exhausting to enumerate all the ways that politicians of our era throw themselves into Hell by pushing Anti-Christian things. There are the evil pro-choice abortion laws, the evil Covid lockdown mandates, evil vaccine mandates, evil laws which sanction sacrilegious gay marriage ceremonies, evil Climate laws and policies which kill millions of poor people round the world every year, evil transgender laws, evil compulsory taxation, imagine taxing people and making them fund evil public schools which ban prayer and the Bible etc., etc. The True Church-State doesn't torture people on the rack if they wave a gay rainbow flag, but it also doesn't support sodomy, sacrilege etc. The gay rain bow flag is an example of sacrilege. The rainbow is the sacred symbol of the Noahic Covenant. When you say that the rainbow is the symbol of gay pride then you commit sacrilege, a sin which leads offenders straight to perdition Try to remember that the gay rainbow flag, the symbol of pride in sodomy and gay liberation, is a sacrilege, because the rainbow is the sacred sign of the Noahic Covenant.

Things are not all that complicated! Christianity is true. The gay lifestyle leads people to perdition. And of course lots of people who call themselves Christians are bad Christians who are on the road to perdition. Making vulgar slurs against gays is Anti-Christian. Try to remember James 1. 26. If you don’t bridle your tongue then your religion is useless. If your religion is useless then it won’t get you to Heaven and it won’t enable you to escape perdition. Try to remember what is written in 1 Corinthians 6. 9-10. Actually there are lots and lots of scriptures a Christian must remember: John 14. 23-26, Matthew 25. 31-46, Acts 26. 12-18, Galatians 1. 8-12. One is always hearing Christians say at funerals that the deceased is now in Heaven. When you say that you alter the words of the Book of Revelation. The ending words of the Book of Revelation mention curses on those who alter the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation says that the dead sleep until the Last Judgment. This Last Judgment is in the future. It comes after the Great Tribulation, after the Second Coming of Christ, after the millennium.

Why are Christians delusional?

For lots of reasons! For example, if indeed Christianity is true, then it is crazy to be governed by secular governments. And lots of Christians are irrational, for not understanding that it is irrational to be governed by secular governments.

If Christianity is true, then we ought to be governed by the True Church which leads people to Heaven. If you have a secular government which rebels against God and God's True Church, then that secular government leads people to eternal perdition. Why would anyone in his right mind want to be governed by a government which leads people to eternal perdition? For example, we just reviewed the matter of the sacrilegious gay rainbow flag. Can we find any secular governments that push the gay rainbow flag on people, such as little kids in the public schools? Yes, who wants to be governed by a government which drags people down to eternal perdition? You want to be be governed by God's True Church which leads people to Heaven! If you obey the True Church, if you don't rebel against the True Church, then you will attain Heaven and you will escape Hell.

And which Church is God’s True Church? Things get a little complicated now. But you don't search for the True Church among those churches which celebrate Holy Communion with people who push Anti-Christian things: pro-choicers, pro-gay marriage people, Sabbath violators, liars of all descriptions, Anti-Christian woke activists etc., etc.

What about this idea, in regards to the Sabbath? There's no working, and no buying or selling, from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Violate the Sabbath and you are excommunicated. Celebrating Holy Communion with people who make no secret they are Sabbath violators puts you on the road to eternal perdition, 1 Cor 11. 27-29. Christ and the apostles observed the Sabbath from evening to evening, from the beginning to end of the 7th day.

But Christians aren't inspired to change their ways concerning the Sabbath, because they believe there is no reason to change. If a Christian is convinced he is in a church which leads people to Heaven, then he is convinced his church doesn't need to make any changes.

But if you are in a false church, in a church lost in heresy, in a church which leads people to perdition, then your church must change. But the typical Christian is convinced his church leads people to Heaven, therefore he is convinced his church doesn't need to change!

But if he is delusional...

The scriptures say there is one True Church, one Bride of Christ, not multiple Brides. But there are thousands of separate churches, thousands of separate denominations in the world. How rational are Christians when Christians have divided Christianity into thousands of separate denominations, when the scriptures are clear there is only one True Church?

The typical Non-Christian has 3 big complaints against Christianity, 1) He doesn’t like that Christianity teaches that all those who reject Christ, all those who refuse to worship Jesus as God, the Divine Son, get tossed into a lake of fire, see Revelation 20. 12-15, John 15. 6, 2 Thess 1. 7-9, John 14. 23-26, Matthew 25. 31-46 etc. 2) He says there is no evidence for Christianity: he says there is no reason for a sane and intelligent Non-Christian to convert to Christianity, 3) He judges Christianity by the actions of Christians. If Christians are judged to be evil by a Non-Christian, then that Non-Christian will be inclined to judge Christianity to be a false religion.

As regards to issue 1 above, you have to be careful how you interpret the hellfire scriptures. Perhaps God will take many people whose names are not written in the Book of Life, many people who are damned, and will take them out of the hellfire and will give them more comfortable places in eternal perdition. The scriptures are clear that once you are damned, once you are tossed into the lake of fire, you never attain Heaven. But might it be an evil corruption of Christianity to insist that God will never take any of the damned out of the flames?

As to issue 2 above, the insistence that there is no evidence for Christianity, well this is simply blind ignorance. See Chapter 3 in this volume for a sampling of the evidence for Christianity.

With issue 3, it is not too difficult to grasp the concept that a religion might be true even if the adherents of that religion are no good. And of course merely because you can find sweet-natured and benevolent Christians, Muslims, Hindus etc., none of this proves their religions are true.

Christianity has prophecies saying Christians will corrupt Christianity. We’ll review these in Chapter 3. At the heart of Christianity we have the following reasoning. Christ told us at the Last Supper that Christianity is the New Covenant, the New Law prophesied in Jeremiah 31. 31-34 that will amend the Old Law, the Mosaic Law. Jeremiah 31. 31-34 tells us that the New Law will be written on the hearts of God’s people. And even the least of God’s people will have this New Law written on their hearts. This tells Christians that Christianity must be rather simple. If even the least of God’s people can understand the New Law, if even little kids and retarded people can understand Christianity, then Christianity can’t be all that complex.

Ezekiel 20. 25 tells us that God was angry with the children of Israel because of their rebellions and so He gave them bad laws. The Old Law is all about slaughtering animals, shedding blood or birds and beasts, for the atonement of sin. There are both good laws and bad laws in the Mosaic Law. For example the 10 Commandments are good laws and are eternally enforced, though some Christians insist they are not obligated to keep the Sabbath Day holy. The scriptures say the Old Law is an eternal law, but Christians take this to mean that some of it is eternally enforced, and all of it is eternally remembered, but not all of it is eternally enforced. The bad laws in the Old Law are not eternally enforced. For instance, under the Old Law the adulteress was to be stoned to death, but under the New Law Jesus commanded that she not be stoned.

If you examine the annals of history you might swiftly conclude that lots of people under the sign of the cross did not have any Divine Law written on their hearts. Jesus listed foolishness as one of the deadly sins in Mark 7. 22. So, a True Christian, as opposed to a false Christian, is not foolish. But in order to not be foolish you have to be educated by a very competent school. It might have to be a superhuman school. It might have to be God’s True Church. Look at the issue of Climate Change. There are people with high IQs on both sides of this issue. But perhaps there are lots of foolish people in this fight over Climate Change. All of politics, all of the fight between Republicans and Democrats, between Tories and Labour, is essentially a big argument over what is foolishness and what isn’t foolishness. Christians are supposed to be led away from all manner of foolishness by the True Church, the Church which Christ founded on a rock, see Matthew 16. 13-19. We’ll look at the arguments over the True Church later. But we certainly can’t examine, in a single volume, all the ways that the politicians of the world are foolish.

So, if even little kids and retarded people, if even the least of God’s people can have the Divine Law inscribed on their hearts, this implies that even little kids and retarded people can be instructed on how to avoid every form of foolishness. Again, Christianity says a True Church exists, and this True Church – which is the assembly of the saints - will to lead people away from all forms of foolishness. And of course this leads to no end of accusations that since various Christian churches are worthless at leading people out of foolishness, therefore they are false churches and are not God’s True Church, but let’s review various Christian churches in later chapters and not right here.

Christianity insists that, in the future, everyone will be supplied with irrefutable evidence that Christianity is true. And one needn’t wait for the Second Coming of Christ to arrive to see this irrefutable evidence. 2 Thess 2 says the Antichrist will be revealed prior to the Second Coming. And Revelation 14. 6-11 tell us that 3 angels from Heaven will show up, sooner or later. Revelation 18 is all about the Great Tribulation. This is a prophecy on the topic of economic collapse. The merchants of the earth are accused of sorcery and accused of leading the nations astray.

We should have billions of Non-Christians converting to Christianity when various Christian prophesies come to pass, because, when they do come to pass, they will more or less prove with 100% certainty that Christianity is the True Faith. Apropos these 3 angels from heaven mentioned in Revelation 14. 6-11, the 1st explains the Gospel to the world. The 2nd says Babylon has fallen and the 3rd announces the punishment for those who worship the image of the beast and who have the mark of the beast on their forehead or right hand. So, when Babylon has fallen, for all to see – presumably Babylon is every nation ruled by evil / anti-Christian doctrines and actions – then this will be a powerful inducement for people to convert to Christianity, the religion which gave us the prophesy saying Babylon has fallen. Similarly, when the Antichrist shows up – the man of sin / son of perdition mentioned in 2 Thess 2 is commonly called The Antichrist – and 2 Thess 2 says the man of sin / son of perdition arrives before the 2nd Coming of Christ - then we have another fulfilled Christian prophesy, so, again, Non-Christians will be supplied with powerful evidence saying Christianity is the True Faith. Daniel 12. 1 says the Jews will be delivered when the archangel Michael shows up. Christians insist the Jews can’t be delivered if they reject Jesus, and so Christians say the Jews will be delivered when the archangel Michael converts them to Christianity. One theory says the Antichrist will convert the Jews to an evil version of Christianity and then months or years will elapse before Michael shows up to convert them to the True Version of Christianity. Another theory says no, no, the Jews won’t be converted by the Antichrist to an evil version of Christianity.

Naturally you don’t want to get angels from hell confused with angels from heaven. Suppose an angel shows up and suppose this angel says you must convert to Roman Catholicism, suppose this angel insists Rome is God’s True Church, and suppose the angel is saying you will burn in hell if you don’t convert to Roman Catholicism. Then you get to decide if this angel is an angel from heaven or an angel from hell.

Or suppose an angel shows up and he says you must place yourself under the authority of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church in order to escape hellfire, because Vladimir Putin, provided he doesn’t rebel against the Russian Orthodox Church, is the true leader on earth of God’s True Church. Then you get to decide if this is an angel from hell or an angel from heaven.

Or suppose an angel shows up and suppose he says some other church, call it church X is God’s True Church, and says you must obey this church X in order to escape hellfire. Then you get to decide if he is an angel from heaven or an angel from hell.

You can’t determine if an angel is an angel from Hell or an angel from Heaven unless you have already determined with 100% accuracy how to find God’s True Church, the Church which Christ founded on a rock, Matthew 16. 13-19.

Chapter 2. Foolishness and American Civil War 2.0

Again, Jesus listed foolishness as one of the deadly sins in Mark 7. 22. And we reviewed in the previous chapter how it is that Christians are supposed to have a Divine Law written on our hearts, and a True Church is supposed to exist, and this True Church, and the Divine Law written on our hearts, will lead True Christians away from all foolishness and away from all other deadly sins

I have a playlist on You Tube called `The NBA on NBC to Catching Fire – Poison Fog’. 5,000 videos. One section deals with the 2020 election in the USA. Lots of pop culture clips too. The main theme of the playlist says political parties lead people to perdition, because they push things which are anti-Christian, they push doctrines and ideas which are contrary to the Gospel and the True Church. Recall 2 Thess 1. 8, fire for those who do not know God and who do not do not obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity has lots of these sorts of scriptures. John 15. 6 says you are like a pile of sticks which are gathered up and tossed into the flames if you do not abide in Jesus. Malachi 4. 1 says the Day is coming, burning like an oven…Matthew 25. 31-46, Revelation 20. 12-15 etc all deal with hellfire. Malachi 3. 5 and Malachi 4. 1 are from the Old Testament. Not everything from the Old Testament is brought into the New Covenant, aka Christianity, but not everything from the Old Testament is excluded from Christianity either. We’ll have to try to interpret Malachi 3. 5 and Malachi 4. 1 in a way which is not foolish. Is there a way a nation can keep murderers and