The Atrocities Committed In Defense Of Unbiblical Traditions
Introduction
From the pages of Scripture to the annals of history, God repeatedly warns that religious power divorced from biblical truth becomes one of the most dangerous forces on earth.
Christ founded His church on humility, service, truth, and love (Matthew 20:25–28; John 18:36). Yet history records the rise of a religious system that departed from these principles, merging ecclesiastical authority with political power, enforcing doctrine by coercion, and shedding the blood of those who refused submission.
The Bible foretold this system. In Revelation 17, John is shown a woman, symbolizing a church, arrayed in PURPLE and SCARLET, adorned with GOLD, seated upon a beast, and holding a GOLDEN CUP, and described as “drunken with the blood of the saints” (Revelation 17:4–6). These identifying marks, royal colors, wealth, global influence, and blood guilt, fit only one religious power in history: the Papacy.
She reigns “over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18), drawing strength from civil power while corrupting the purity of the gospel with man-made traditions.
This article presents a historical and chronological examination of the Papacy’s rise and actions, from its inception to the present, evaluated through Scripture and documented historical records, revealing a system that has repeatedly defended unbiblical traditions through persecution, suppression, and bloodshed.
FROM APOSTOLIC SIMPLICITY TO ECCLESIASTICAL POWER
The apostolic church knew nothing of popes, cardinals, indulgences, inquisitions, or enforced orthodoxy. Authority rested solely in Scripture (Acts 17:11). Leadership was servant-based, never coercive, nor marked by the grandeur of royalty (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1–3). Faith spread by preaching, persuasion, and personal conviction, not by prisons, swords, or fires.
Yet the apostle Paul warned that after his departure, a “falling away” would occur and eventually a “man of sin” would arise, exalting himself within the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4). This prophecy described apostasy from within Christianity, not persecution from outside.
As Christianity gained imperial favor in the 4th century, the church abandoned the cross for the crown. Bishops sought imperial backing. Doctrinal uniformity replaced biblical faithfulness. Pagan philosophy and worship practices were absorbed to maintain unity and control, fulfilling Paul’s warning against human tradition replacing divine truth (Colossians 2:8).
ALLIANCE WITH KINGS AND NATIONS
Ruling Through Political Power
The Papacy crowned emperors, dethroned kings, absolved rulers of oaths, and launched wars. Popes openly claimed authority over civil governments. Medieval Catholic canon law asserted that the pope could judge all men, but be judged by none.
Revelation 17:18 identifies this power unmistakably: “The woman which thou sawest is that GREAT CITY, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Her greatness here mentioned is not size, but in influence.
From Charlemagne to the Holy Roman Empire, no ruler reigned securely without Papal approval. Monarchs who resisted Rome were excommunicated, their subjects released from loyalty, and their kingdoms plunged into chaos.
History records the humiliation King Henry IV endured at the command of Pope Gregory VII: In the severe cold of winter, with uncovered head and naked feet, and in a miserable dress, he awaited the pope’s permission to come into his presence. Not until he had continued three days fasting and making confession did the pontiff condescend to grant him pardon. Even then it was only upon condition that the emperor should await the sanction of the pope before resuming the insignia or exercising the power of royalty.
THE CRUSADES: BLOOD UNDER THE BANNER OF THE CROSS
Popes called for holy wars not only against Muslims, but against Christians who rejected Papal authority.
The Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) exterminated entire towns in southern France. When asked how to distinguish heretics from faithful Catholics, a Papal legate infamously replied: “Kill them all; God will know His own.”
Entire populations, men, women and children were slaughtered. Churches became mass graves. This was authorized bloodshed, blessed and financed by the Papacy.
THE INQUISITIONS: SYSTEMATIZED CRUELTY
From the 12th century onward, the Papacy created permanent judicial systems to identify, prosecute, and destroy doctrinal dissent.
Catholic Records Confirm:
– Secret trials with no defense counsel
– Anonymous accusers, often motivated by fear or greed
– Forced confessions, extracted under threat or torture
– Property confiscation, enriching church and state
– Executions, carried out by civil authorities at Papal demand
Inquisitorial manuals written by Catholic theologians, such as Directorium Inquisitorum and Practica Inquisitionis explicitly authorized torture, deception, prolonged imprisonment and psychological terror.
Victims were:
Stripped
Suspended by limbs
Crushed
Burned
Imprisoned for life in underground dungeons
Children testified against parents. Wives against husbands. Silence was treated as guilt. Those condemned were publicly burned alive in religious ceremonies meant to terrify observers into submission.
Revelation 17:6 is chillingly precise:
“I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.”
Drunkenness implies excess, repetition, not isolated cruelty, but sustained, institutional violence.
SUPPRESSION OF THE BIBLE: FEAR OF TRUTH
The Papacy opposed the free circulation of Scripture. Catholic councils and decrees forbade laypeople from owning or reading the Bible without priestly approval.
Bible translators were treated as criminals:
– William Tyndale was strangled and burned for translating Scripture into English.
– His crime was not error, but obedience to Christ’s command to teach all nations.
Why such fear? Because Scripture exposes the Papacy’s erroneous traditions.
Jesus declared: “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). A system built on tradition cannot survive widespread biblical literacy. Even today, during the Catholic Mass, the congregation is not encouraged to hold the Bible and read it for themselves. The majority only know what the Priest told them.
The system discourages the members from doing what God instructed us to do: “STUDY to shew THYSELF approved unto God…” 2 Timothy 2:15
Their own inquisitorial records reveals the Papal hatred for freedom of worship, freedom of conscience and teaching of Truth.
The records states:
– Manufactured evidence
– Retroactive condemnations
– Exhumation of bodies to symbolically execute the dead
– Public shaming of families
Guilt was assumed. Innocence was irrelevant. Submission was everything.
Christ warned: “The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2).
THE REFORMATION AND PAPAL RETALIATION
The Protestant Reformation exposed centuries of corruption, but Rome responded with:
– Censorship
– Political assassinations
– Religious wars
– Jesuit countermeasures
– Renewed inquisitions
Reformers were branded traitors. Nations were plunged into bloodshed. Millions died in Europe’s wars of religion.
Today, though methods have changed, claims of supremacy have not. The Papacy still asserts authority over conscience, elevates tradition above Scripture, and seeks global religious and political leadership.
Revelation portrays this power as enduring until the end times, admired by the world, yet condemned by Heaven. “The whole world wondered after the beast” Rev 13:3.
CONCLUSION:
God does not merely expose this Babylon, the Papal apostasy, He calls His people to leave it:
“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins” (Revelation 18:4).
This is not an attack on sincere individuals within Catholicism, but a solemn warning against institutionalized error enforced by power and persecution.
History testifies that when the Papacy ruled unchecked, conscience bled. Scripture confirms that any system exalting tradition above God’s Word, will eventually fall under divine judgment.
Christ’s kingdom is not built by force, fear, or fire but by truth, love, and freedom.
And in the end, truth will stand, while this counterfeit system, no matter how ancient or powerful, will fall.
[Revelation 18:21]
[21] And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
[23] And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee… …for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
The prophecy is written.
The history is recorded.
The choice now lies with every soul.
Come out and be saved,
Or remain and be lost.