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Doctrines of Man not God

4th Century

-- confession of sins to priests, and

-- penance obligations assigned for sin

-- Purgatory doctrine introduced

440-461 Title of "Pope" first used by Leo, Bishop of Rome (Note: "papa" or "pope" as well as "Vicar of Christ" were used by many bishops in different cities until the 6th century when it began to be reserved for the Bishop of Rome.

450 Leo the Great begins building the Medieval Papacy into a political power.

(NOTE: None of the early Church Fathers who shaped the doctrine of the church were bishops of Rome.)

590 Pope Gregory the Great established the Papal Kingdom (Vatican)

-- paganism is mixed with Christianity in rituals, holidays, etc.

Example: December 25th, which was fixed as day to celebrate birth of

Jesus, is actually the nativity date of the pagan god Mithras.

700 Adoration of statues began ("Iconoclastic Movement")

-- also veneration of relics

850 Documents forged by some church leaders were alleged to be a handbook for church government put forth by "Pope" Sylvester in the 3rd century, supposedly giving support to the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over other bishops. Called the "Forged Decretals", they were acknowledged as forgeries in 1440 by the Roman Catholic church, but by then the Roman Papacy was well established. Thus the claim by some that the Roman Catholic Church was "built on lies and forgeries".

850-962 112 years in which the Popes were chosen not by the Church, but by the Roman or German kings and emperors.

-- doctrine established of a "treasury of merit", of excess good deeds by apostles and saints, etc. This merit could be dispensed to forgive or "absolve" the sins of other people, who could receive a "dispensation" under authority of the Pope. This led to the doctrine of "indulgences", wherein people could purchase forgiveness for sin from the church.

1044 Pope Benedict IX (12 years old when elected Pope) was such a farce that he was forced to resign the Papacy.

1054 The "Great Schism", when the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches of the Christian church excommunicated each other, formalizing a division that had actually been existence for centuries.

1059 Pope Nicholas II institutes the College of Cardinals in an attempt to regain for the Church the control of the Papacy, and wrest it away from the political leaders of the state.

1198 - 1216 Pope Innocent III acts as dictator, dominating the heads of state in England and Europe. (This was the reverse of "Caesaro-Papism" where the State ruled the Church.)

l2th Century -- more apostate false doctrines were introduced:

-- intercession of (& praying to) Mary and the saints

-- use of Rosary

-- use of crucifix

-- incense burning

-- ceremonial altars

1215 doctrine of Transubstantiation promulgated by Pope Innocent III as official dogma of the church. (it had been debated since the second century)

1265 Thomas Aquinas develops an explanation for the Transubstantion doctrine.

l5th Century -- "simony" introduced (purchase of priestly office with money)

-- reading the Bible is forbidden to the laity, at times under penalty of death.
1545 Council of Trent: met to try to reform the Catholic church's errors.

Later doctrines:

-- Papal infallibility

-- Papal decrees added to Bible and tradition as "basis of faith and doctrine"

-- Perpetual virginity and assumption of Mary

-- Prohibition against eating meat on Fridays

(first imposed, then rescinded in the 1960's, without any revelation from God