Persecutors of the Church of Christ, mostly Catholics, told me that the Church of Christ is not really a religion, but rather a group posing as a religion of Christ with the goal of making money by collecting money from its members.
However, when I joined the Church and actively participated in its activities, I learned that this church (Church of Christ) is really the Church founded by Christ and is always doing everything possible to bring its members to the state worthy of receiving the Salvation promised on the day of judgment.
And after learning the truth recorded in the Bible, I realized that the religion of most of the persecutors of the Church of Christ, that is, the Roman Catholic Church, is actually the one that makes money from their religious businesses that they are not taught by Christ and His apostles. One of these businesses is the “Merchandise of the Soul” of the Roman Catholic Church, which is based on its invented doctrine of Purgatory.
We know that the doctrine of Purgatory is not a biblical dotrine as revealed by Allan Sckreck in his book, “Catholic and Christian”, p. 195:
“Scripture and Christian tradition undoubtedly affirm that heaven and hell exist, but what about that mysterious ‘third state’ that Catholics and some other Christians call ‘Purgatory’? The term itself is not found in the Bible, but in the same way he said of other important Christian doctrines, such as the terms ‘Trinity’ and ‘Incarnation’.
Since it is not found in the Bible, neither Christ nor the Apostles taught this doctrine. So who introduced this doctrine to the Church? According to Paul Witcomb, this doctrine was received from the early Roman Catholic Church Fathers:
“… The early Church Fathers considered the doctrine of Purgatory as one of the basic principles of the Christian Faith. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest doctors of the Church, said that the doctrine of Purgatory ‘has been received from the Fathers and is observed by the Universal Church. ‘It is true that the word’ Purgatory ‘does not appear in the Bible … “(The Catholic Church has the answer, pp. 32-33)
However, it did not immediately become an official doctrine. It was first proclaimed in 1438. That was hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years after the death of the Apostles. And then after several years it was confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church as revealed by Loraine Boettner:
“The doctrine was proclaimed an article of faith in 1438 by the Council of Florence and later confirmed by the Council of Trent in 1548.” (Roman Catholicism, p. 229)
Learning this truth made me ask this: Why did the Roman Catholic Church invent the doctrine of Purgatory? Is it for the good of the souls of men or for the treasure of the Roman Catholic Church? And another author of the book answered this question:
Now the real reason the Roman Catholic Church borrowed the imaginary purification system from the pagans was based entirely on a mercenary scheme to make money that would (and did) enrich the Church. This was one of the things that infuriated Martin Luther to the end, about to nail his famous ’95 Theses’ on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. ” (My Deliverance from the Heresies of Rome, by Harry Hampel, p. 83)
The real reason is to make money. The doctrine of Purgatory is only for the treasury of the Roman Catholic Church.
Of course, Purgatory itself could not bring money to the Church. It is done by uniting the doctrine of Purgatory with another invented doctrine of “Indulgence”, which is defined as:
“The practice whereby a person could pay money to the church or do a good deed and obtain remission of temporary punishment due to sin. After the Protestant Reformation, cash no longer became an acceptable way to obtain an indulgence. ” (sacredtolerance.org)
And what does the Bible call this type of business? The book of Revelation of the apostle John calls it the “Commodity of the soul of man”:
11 And the merchants of the earth will mourn and mourn over her, because no one buys her merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of citron wood, all kinds of ivory objects, all kinds of objects of precious wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, aromatic oil and incense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men (Revelation 18: 11-13, NKJV)
It’s no wonder the Roman Catholic Church sells souls. The Bible knows.
