On November 20, 2009, a group of people, describing themselves as Christians, issued a declaration to join together to combat the evils of the present time: evils such as abortion, sodomy, promiscuity, the breakdown of marriage and the culture of death. That such evils are rampant in society is undeniable and that they should be opposed and confronted is indeed a worthy objective. But, and its a very big but, the basis upon which this declaration is founded is fatally flawed and is, therefore, doomed to failure.

In the preamble to the declaration the differences between Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox are glossed over as "the shortcomings and imperfections of Christian institutions." In other words, the tortures and massacres carried out at the behest of successive popes using the instrumentality of 'The Holy Inquisition,' and Roman Catholic inspired religious wars, as a result of which between fifty and sixty million people of all ages and both sexes perished, is merely because of imperfections and shortcomings! Oh how the Evangelicals of today, having swallowed the Jesuit invented interpretation of prophecy, namely Futurism, totally ignore the bloody doings of the Church of Rome down the centuries.

It is said that during Victorian times three books were to be found in most Protestant homes, namely, the Bible, Pilgrims Progress and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. One thing is for certain nowadays and that is the fact that most Evangelicals are totally unaware of Foxe's Book of Martyrs and know precious little of church history, especially when Rome was in the ascendency.

The preamble goes on to declare how that monasteries preserved the Bible. While it is true that manuscripts were to be found in monastery libraries, the Bible was unknown to people and priest alike. For a time, the Bible was placed on the index of forbidden books by the Church of Rome, which church strove with might and main to prevent the Scripture being translated into the vernacular declaring that for the common people to have access to the Bible in their mother tongue would be the cause of great evil.

According to the preamble, papal edicts were issued against slavery in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This was the period when the Inquisition was at its height as Rome sought to keep all people in its sphere of influence enslaved in spiritual darkness. It was also during this period that the Conquistadores of "His Most Catholic Majesty," and Jesuits were enslaving and massacring thousands of the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas.

The preamble ends by stating that Christians today, like those who have gone before, are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good. One wonders what is meant by "costly grace?" Perhaps the terminology 'free grace' would be offensive to papist ears.

The Declaration begins with a false statement in that it declares that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelicals are all Christian. It goes on to declare that "We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love......" It then makes the astonishing assertion that "We set forth this declaration in the light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason and in the very nature of the human person." Leaving aside the fact that human reasoning is, at best, flawed, and that human nature is depraved, neither Roman Catholicism nor Greek Orthodoxy base their beliefs on the Bible alone, they themselves being witnesses.

I intend to deal only with Roman Catholic errors, especially in regard to salvation. If an organisation, calling itself Christian, is wrong in regards as to how a sinner becomes reconciled to God, it doesn't matter if it is correct in all other areas. The Church of Rome teaches a different way of salvation than that laid down in Holy Writ, therefore, its adherents, believing in the Roman way of salvation are not Christian and are under the anathema pronounced by the Apostle Paul in Galatians Chapter 1. It is for this reason that I assert that the whole project is doomed to failure because its is not based upon the solid foundation of Scripture.

The Church of Rome does not receive the Bible as being the sole source of authority for what it teaches. Listen to what the RC Church declares in its "Catechism of The Roman Catholic Church." 'Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal. Each of them make present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own 'always to the close of the age'.

'Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit'. 'And {Holy} Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.'

As a result, the Church to whom the transmission and interpretation of Scripture has been entrusted, 'does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the Scriptures alone. (My Emph.) Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.'

I could draw attention to many teachings of Rome which are contrary to Holy Writ; teachings such as Papal Infallibility, auricular confession, priestly absolution, the veneration of saints and Mary, purgatory, indulgences and the blasphemous dogma of Transubstantiation, to name but a few. But the one which I wish to draw the readers attention is Rome's attitude to justification by faith alone. This doctrine, as Luther rightly said, is the one by which a church stands or falls.

A perusal of the RC catechism reveals that they confuse justification with sanctification. They do not see justification as an act but a process. The Council of Trent, which is regarded as infallible by the Church of Rome in Canon 12 sates the following. "If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy, which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone which justifies him, let him be anathema."

These Evangelicals who are teaming up with Rome addressing them as their brethren in Christ should take heed as to what this church has to say about their faith. According to Rome they are accursed! But do these evangelicals really believe in justification by faith alone in Christ alone? If they do why do they then address those, who vehemently deny this foundational truth, as Christian? Do these people really believe in this doctrine or do they pay lip service to it? Do they believe there is more ways than one by which a sinner can be justified? Rome teaches a different way to that which is revealed in the Bible and anathematises those who believe what the Bible clearly teaches. They cannot both be correct.