The Vatican and Islam

The devastating bubonic plague begun in 541 prepared the way for the easy Arab conquests by wiping out millions of Christians in North Africa . . . and Egypt.

Then the Muslims moved in to complete the deadly work of destruction and devastation:

This Scripture is describing the Muslim invasion and destruction of North Africa.

By 300 A.D., North Africa was the most important province of the Roman Empire and was teeming with cities:

By the third century, there were five or six hundred cities. Two hundred of them were in the rich farmlands of northern Tunisia. In places there were no more than six or eight miles apart, and in the valley of the River Bagradas (Medjerda) there was almost a kind of ribbon development along the main road from Carthage to Theveste (Tebessa). (Raven, Rome in Africa, p. 101).

Carthage—the second largest city in the western Roman Empire—was the center of the Roman province of Africa and a major breadbasket of the Empire.

By 300 A.D., Christianity was the dominant religion in North Africa as paganism was just about to be completely overthrown:

By this time Christianity had taken a firm hold in North Africa. The Church had survived persecution under Severus, Decius, and Valerian, and was ceasing to be the religion of a poor minority. In contrast to the emptiness of pagan literature of this period there were the vigorous works of Cyprian, Arnobius, and Lactantius. The Church was making its impact felt on all classes and in the farthest corners of the Roman provinces in Africa. (Frend, The Donatist Church, p. 3).

Naturally, the Roman Emperors were insanely jealous that more and more people were not worshipping them as divinities.

In 303, the last great Empire wide pagan persecution began and North African Christians were ordered to hand over the Scriptures to be burned.

This last pagan persecution was in the planning stage for at least 40 years prior to 300 A.D., as a very friendly ecumenical mood prevailed among the pagans:

In the Roman cities the Emperor's orders appear to have been carried out firmly but not without tact. For the previous forty years Christians and pagans had lived side by side in relative peace. The Church had become almost an established institution. At Cirta (modern Constantine), the capital of the province of Numidia Cirtensis, the magistrate told Bishop Paulus to produce the lectors who were responsible for looking after the Scriptures. The reply was 'Everybody knows them'. At Apthungi (modern Henchir Souar, in Tunisia), the chief magistrate, the Duumvir Alfius Caecilianus, and the bishop Felix appear to have been on friendly terms, and indeed the official did not know of the existence of the Emperor's edict until he was told it by the Christians themselves. (Frend, The Donatist Church, p. 4).

The main target of the pagans was the New Testament . . . and the histories of Christ....All of the great books portraying the Mount of Olives as the site of the Resurrection were systematically destroyed.  

Constantinean "Christianity" began in 313

The last Great Persecution ended when Constantine became Emperor of the West. Together with Emperor Licinius, he issued an edict of toleration called the Edict of Milan.

This edict of toleration did not apply to Christians who would not join his new imperial "Christianity."

This edict excluded many of the North African survivors of the persecution. Those surviving Christians referred to people who handed over the Scriptures as traditores (traitors) and insisted on their rebaptism.

The North African Christians were first condemned a the Council of Arles for rebaptizing those who handed over the Scriptures during the persecution.

Later they were also condemned by Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea.

Donatus Magnus (circa 273-355) was a GREAT Christian leader who ordered the rebaptism of traditores (traitors) who turned over the Holy Scriptures to the pagan magistrates. He was the Saint Martin Luther of North Africa:

Very little is known about this remarkable man, who in Africa came to hold a position not unlike that achieved by his contemporary, Athanasius, in Egypt. In Donatus' case the Catholic damnatio memoriae has been particularly effective. His literary works have not survived, we know little of his background, his personal appearance, his friendships, and his way of life., We do know that he was a great orator and leader of men; wherever he went the enthusiasm was such as to be remembered fifty years after his death. In an age when religious controversy took something of the place occupied by ideological conflict in providing an outlet for popular discontent, Donatus was a dominating figure. (Frend, The Donatist Church, pp. 153-154).

Many of the BISHOPS who attended the Council of Nicea were traditores and Donatus demanded that they be rebaptized before admittance to the Christian Congregation.

Constantine was FURIOUS that anybody would withstand him, and actually contemplated invading North Africa with his legions.

From then on, the Vatican referred to the Christians of North Africa as DONATISTS. We see this again at the time of the Reformation when the Reformed Christians were called LUTHERANS or Protestants instead of Catholic Christians.

Augustine was appointed bishop to destroy the North African Christians!!

Despite the terrible persecution under the Emperors, Christianity rapidly recovered in North Africa, so Augustine was appointed a bishop in Hippo Regius to fight them with pen and ink.

Even though the North African Christians claimed to be the true Catholics, Augustine derisively referred to them as DONATISTS. Augustine had an intense HATRED for those uncompromising Christians who refused to join the Constantinean church:

Now let the proud and swelling necks of the heretics raise themselves, if they dare, against the holy humility of this address. Ye mad Donatists, whom we desire earnestly to return to the peace and unity of the holy Church, that ye may receive health therein, what have ye to say in answer to this? You are wont, indeed, to bring up against us the letters of Cyprian, his opinion, his Council; why do ye claim the authority of Cyprian for your schism, and reject his example when it makes for the peace of the Church? (Augustine, Against the Donatists, Book II, ch. III).

Every trick in the Roman arsenal was used to make the Christians conform but most of the them remained steadfast adherents of Apostolic Christianity.

Despite the multiplicity of words written against them, the Christians still held steadfast to the Scriptures and the Lord kept adding to his African Congregation.

Augustine was the most powerful and influential teacher of the Latin church. He was the originator of the Filioque and most of the false doctrines that emerged from that church can be traced right back to him.

Some of these false doctrines include:

Augustine also laid the groundwork for the use of DISGUISED mercenaries in the age long Vatican war against the saints. Some of these DISGUISED mercenaries include:

Pope Gregory I sought Emperor Mauricius' help against the North African Christians

Despite all the efforts of Augustine, the Christian faith continued to grow and Pope Gregory I was alarmed at its increase.

Here is a quote from The Donatist Church:

By 596 the situation had become even less favourable. A further letter from the pope to Columbus (not Christopher) repeats the story of the spread of Donatism, but in August Gregory wrote to the Emperor Mauricius himself. The Imperial commands against the Donatists were being disregarded 'by carelessness or connivance'. The bribes of the Donatists 'so prevail in the province that the Catholic Faith is publicly put up for sale'. The exarch, far from taking action himself, was complaining of bishops who brought these things to his notice. The emperor's personal assistance was requested, 'to issue strict orders for the punishment of the Donatists and to arrest with saving hand the fall of the perishing'. Whether this appeal was successful or not we do not know. Except for Bishop Paulus' repeated effort to have his case heard in Rome, there is no further literary record of Donatism. We are left with the impression of the movement resurgent and triumphant in southern Numidia, and then there is silence. (Frend, The Donatist Church, p. 312).

The rise of Islam to destroy the North African Christians!!

By the year 600, the Lord's Congregation was triumphant over all her enemies. North Africa—comprising over 600 cities—was the richest part of the Roman Empire. The city of Rome itself was dependent on North Africa for her daily bread. With the rise of Islam, Europe became permanently separated from the Continent of Africa.

After conquering all of North Africa, the Arabs crossed into Spain in 711. Their main target in Spain was the Goths, who baptized by triune immersion, and refused to join the church of Rome.

The Arabs stayed in Spain unto January 1492, when Portuguese Christopher Columbus was about to follow a map to the New World.

This allowed for the redeployment of the Spanish army to the New World just in time to block the English, French and Dutch colonization.

In 674 the Arabs lay siege to Constantinople

Only 50 years after the founding of Islam by Mohammad, a huge Arab army . . . and NAVY . . . attacked Constantinople....Conquering Constantinople required a huge number of ships which you would not normally associate with desert dwellers.

A knowledge of combined operations by land and sea was necessary for the conquest of Constantinople. Also a knowledge of siegecraft and the use of battering rams and powerful catapults.

It so happens that the first besiegers of Constantinople were DESERT DWELLING Arabs. The first siege began in 674 and lasted for 5 years. The Arab besiegers were almost completely annihilated by the Eastern Romans.

The Eastern Romans had a secret weapon called Greek Fire. It was somewhat like napalm and actually burned on the water. It was the ancient world's equivalent of the atomic bomb.

The Papal mercenaries were barbecued with this Greek Fire—the siege was a total failure—with thousands of Arab casualties:

The Saracen ships carried heavy siege engines and huge catapults; but the fortifications along the Marmara and the Golden Horn were proof against their assaults. The Byzantines, moreover, possessed a secret weapon. To this day we are uncertain of the composition of 'Greek fire'. Whether it was sprayed over an enemy vessel or poured into long, narrow cartridges and catapulted against its objective, the results were almost invariably catastrophic: the flaming, oil-based liquid floated upon the surface of the sea, frequently igniting the wooden hulls of the ships and causing an additional hazard to those who tried to jump overboard. For long the Muslims refused to admit defeat; only after the fifth year did the battered remnants of the Saracen fleet turn about and head for home. In 679 Muawiya sulkily accepted Constantine's offer of peace, which demanded the evacuation of the newly-conquered Aegean islands and an annual tribute. A year later he was dead. Constantine, on the other hand, was at the height of his popularity. He had inspired his subjects with the morale to withstand five years of siege by a power hitherto considered irresistible, and in doing so he had saved Western civilization. Had the Saracens captured Constantinople in the seventh century rather than the fifteenth, all Europe—and America—might be Muslim today. (Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, p. 101).

Obviously the Vatican couldn't care less if the whole world was Muslim—as long as true Christianity was exterminated!!

Constantinople finally fell to the Muslim Turks in 1453

Thanks to the Muslims, Old Rome was finally able to eliminate her Eastern rival in 1453. After fighting heroically for 1000 years, the Empire finally came to an end.

Millions of Muslims are worshipping a deadly demon named Allah!!

The God of the universe is a triune being composed of 3 divine persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Never in the Bible does God ever call Himself by the name Allah.

God is called JEHOVAH, Eloihim, El Shadai, Adonai, Emmanuel, etc., etc., but never is HE referred to by the name of ALLAH....The Hebrew and Arabic languages come from the same common root.

The only similarities between Islam and true Christianity is this: Islam borrowed the one day of rest in seven from true Christianity and the Muslims follow Apostolic Christianity in forbidding the use of images!!

Vital Link

Rome versus Constantinople

References

Frend, W.H.C. The Donatist Church. A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa. Oxford University Press, London, 1952.

Little, Lester K. Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750. Cambridge University Press, London & New York, 2007.

Norwich, John Julius. A Short History of Byzantium. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997.

Raven, Susan. Rome in Africa. Routledge, London & New York, 1993.

Copyright © 2009 by Niall Kilkenny

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