Revelation 13:1 "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."
Revelation 13:5-6 "5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."
This power would speak great (blasphemous) words against God. But what does it mean to blaspheme God? Is it simply to take God’s name in vain as many people think, or is it something greater? Jesus Himself was accused of blasphemy by the Jewish leaders:
John 10:33 "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."
John 5:18 "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."
You may answer the question yourself after reading the following quotations from the Roman Catholic church itself:
"The pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God ... The pope alone is deservedly called by the name most holy because he alone is the vicar of Christ..." Lucius Ferraris, in his Prompta Bibliotheca
"The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God. and the vicar of God." Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary
"All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter 17
"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous"
"The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth ... by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth." Quoted in the New York Catechism
So blasphemy is when a man claims to be God, which as we have seen is what the Papacy claims of itself. The Pope claims to be Christ’s representative on earth, he claims to be the mediator between God and man, and yet the Bible says:
1 John 2:1 "... And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
Christ Himself is our mediator in heaven, we do not need any earthly mediator.
Apart from the Pope claiming to be God, the Papacy is also guilty of another form of blasphemy:
Luke 5:21 "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
Mark 2:7 "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?"
So blasphemy is also when a man claims to have the power to forgive sins. Jesus did not blaspheme, because as the Son of God He has the power to forgive sins. The Papacy does blaspheme God by claiming that her priests have the power to forgive sins, when in fact God alone can forgive sins.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We can go directly to God to confess our sins and have our sins forgiven, we do not need to go through any earthly priest or mediator.
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