By Gary Amirault
It seems everybody has something to say about Hell since Rob Bell’s book Love Wins published by HarperOne/Newscorp/Ruppert Murdock came out. Weighing in on who’s in or out of Hell or if Hell even exists are such heavy weights as Huffington Post, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Washington Post, Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, Reuters, New York Times, etc.. On it’s cover Time Magazine asks, “What if there’s no Hell? Facebook, Twitter and blogs by the tens of thousands have something to say about Rob Bell, Love Wins and and the stories that broke as a result of that well publicized book.
Christianity Today, Charisma Magazine, Relevant Magazine and other Christian news media are raising Hell about Hell. What the Hell is going on?
As Elvis might sing, “There is a whole lot of shaking going on” over the topic of Hell. To get Hell even hotter than it already is in the media, self-appointed Pope Billy O’Reilly, a conservative Roman Catholic joins the fray. O’Reilly invited Jack McKinney, a former Baptist minister on his program to discuss “Is there a Hell?” In the six minute debate, McKinney didn’t get in two words edgewise. O’Reilly, in his usual pontificated form, informs us that there must be a Hell for all the evil people in the world, people like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao Tze Tong. Good people go to heaven, bad people go to Hell. Case closed. But how can the millions who have never accept Jesus Christ as the personal Lord and Savior enter heaven asks the former Baptist minister McKinney. Simple says Pope O’Reilly, the Baptism of Desire. The Baptism of Desire?
Those of us who happened to have studied a little Church history are well aware of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church, for any centuries, taught there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church. Since the days of Augustine, everyone was damned to Hell except the “elect” in the Catholic Church who were properly water baptized. Jews, heathen, unbaptized infants — everyone was damned to eternal torments. Even Purgatory was only for Catholics who weren’t clean enough yet to receive the beautification of heaven. From Saint Augustine’s day forward, Hell was large and heaven was tiny.
As conscience pricked some Catholic leaders, they began to invent ways to empty Hell of some of its occupants. In the twelfth century the Roman Catholic,Peter Lombard, Master of Sentences invented Limbus Infantus (Limbo). This new place prevented unbaptized infants from entering heaven but at least did not consign them to the flames of Hell. It was something in-between, thus the term “limbo.”
The Jews have a saying that if one asked three Jews about any subject one will get back four opinions. Such is the case with Limbus Infantus. Ask three Catholic priests what Limbo is like and one is likely to get four different opinions. The counter-reformation Council of Trent of the sixteenth century and the twentieth century Vatican Council II would add enough contradictory legalese to confuse even the most skilled of Jesuit lawyers. Catholic dogma is a messy mass of man-made manipulation of creeds, laws, doctrines, rituals, rites, traditions to drive any normal human being insane. With that, stage right, enter Pompous Pope Bill O’Reilly who knows everything about everything.
But Bill O’Reilly, informs us that the Catholic Church has invented a special baptism for Holocaust Jews, infants and Gandhi. O’Reilly, quoting some document says:
“Non-Christians who seek God with a sincere heart,” which would be Gandhi, “and move by his grace, try to do his will as they know it through the dictates of conscience, can also be saved without water baptism. They are said to desire implicitly. That is called ‘baptism of desire.'”
“I was taught that in third grade, that the Holocaust victims, who were primarily Jewish, they’re damned because they’re not Catholic? That’s insane. All right. Little babies who die upon birth, they can’t get baptized. They’re not going to heaven? That’s insane. I think the problem is, with this no Hell business, is that you have to deal with the Hitlers and the Pol Pots and these tyrants. And if you say there is no Hell, then there really isn’t any regulation of behavior at all. And scripture goes right against that, does it not?”
On the television show, O’Reilly appeared to quote a document from the Catholic Church on this “baptism of desire” business. The New Testament speaks of a water baptism and a “baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire.” But I’ve never seen a “baptism of desire” in Scripture. So I googled “baptism of desire.” Oi Veh! What a mass of confusion! My head was double spinning in O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone.” Searching the internet, I found what O’Reilly quoted. He purposely didn’t read the sentence before his quote because it shoots his arguments of Holocaust Jews, infants and Gandhi in heaven all to Hell:
It(Doctrine of Desire) holds that those who come to faith in the Catholic Church as adults and become catechumens before receiving baptism nevertheless are admitted to salvation even though the Church teaches that (water) baptism is necessary for salvation. Non-Christians who seek God with a sincere heart and, moved by grace, try to do His will as they know it through the dictates of conscience can also be saved without water baptism; they are said to desire it implicitly. (cf. Catechism, 1260)
So then this baptism of desire has nothing to do with Jews who died in the Holocaust, nothing to do with non-catholic infants, nothing to do with the Gandhi’s of this world. Pope O’Reilly is spinning Roman Catholic teachings. It has taken an army of Jesuit lawyers to write papers so confusing that no one can understand them to hide the many outright contradictions there are within Roman Catholic teachings espoused by the various Popes and Church leaders. I don’t think any Jesuit lawyer would dare attempt to explain away Pope Pius O’Reilly’s butchering of Roman Catholic teachings.
Read the article below in which the Roman Catholic Church tries to reconcile the “baptism of desire” with the resolutions of the Council of Trent. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is made up of little ones. Ask yourself as you read this legalese if “little ones” can understand this kind of mumbo-jumbo.
http://www.romancatholicism.org/trent-baptism.htm
While the Bible says nothing about this Roman Catholic “baptism of desire” that Pope O’Reilly pontificated on, there is a sacred baptism our Lord and Savior endured which insured the salvation of every living being from the very first to the very last. Jesus Christ was baptized into the death of humanity — He tasted death for EVERYONE, not a single soul excepted. Jesus was assured of the Father that He put all things into His hands — and that of all the Father gave Him, He would lose NOTHING, not a single soul! (John 3:35, 6:37) The Baptism of God’s “desire” assured that the will and desire of the Father would be met: “God will/desire all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim. 2:1-6 Jesus’ baptism unto death will surely draw all mankind to Himself. John 12:32, 33. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christianity. It is time Christians return to this sacred foundation — Jesus Christ, Savior of all that the Father has given Him. The Father has given all things into His Hands. Believe it!
“And if, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (literally drag in Greek) all mankind unto Myself. This He spoke signifying what manner of death He should die.” John 12:32
7 thoughts on “Pope O’Reilly/Fox News Holy Hell In the No Spin Zone”
Ah.
Bill O’Reilly.
The depth of his blindness and the darkness of his thinking has left him in a state of deception that one would say that he is hopelessly lost but we all know that with God all things are possible and that with Him even darkness is light.
In due time Bill will see the light if not in this life in the age(s) to come.
I saw this “interview” too, but, to no surprise, Bill did what Bill does. He asks questions to refute rather than to get answers; he tells guests what they should have said, or bereats them for what they did say. I would like to be on his show to explain the terrible harm which has been done, is being done, and will be done by the false doctrine of eternal torture until it is exposed for the big lie about God which it is.. I have explained this in my book, “Spiritual Terrorism: Spiritual Abuse from the Womb to the Tomb,” which is about love-based vs. fear-based religion. I also provide the Biblical solution to this problem of spiritual abuse–Christian Universalism. In spite of all the fear-based religion in the world, which is the basis of domestic and international terrorism, there is hope for the world for universal salvation and universal peace.
The baptisn of desire? What kind of stipidities will they come up with to maintain that insane, false teaching of eternal damnation? As for Fox News, don’t be surprised they have “filthy communication” on the hell doctrine. Fox News is owned by Satanist Rupert Murdoch who owns the rights to the infamous NIV as well as the satanic “Bible” and “The joy of gay sex”. He obviously isn’t a born again Christian. Not yet. He is still totally spiritually dead…
when i heard o’rielly’s interview of jack mckinney, i was stunned! He never even gave him an opportunity to state with much detail, why he had even been invited on the program! I thought I was the only person who saw what had actually happened-I’m so grateful to have come across this blog where others saw the same thing and were concerned! It proves the theological bias that is entrenched out there and for as much as o’rielly considers himself the prince of the no-spin, his personal bias prohibits him from being such. To all out there who would like a brilliant paper regarding the doctrine of endless punishment, read the Origin And History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment by Thomas Thayer at www.tentmaker.org/OriginsandHistory.html. Maybe I should suggest this to o’rielly as well. Be aware, those who reject this diabolical doctrine will be subject to persecution! God be merciful!
Great work Gary. I will be writing Bill and sending him a copy of Love Wins and my soon to be published book “Is God Fair? What About Gandhi?
It’s at the publisher now and should be out in a few weeks.
Hey, tell me a little about your book via email. I’m interested in what you are doing. Peace, Gary
Moses and Paul never mention hell. The false translation of the Greek Hades to the non equivalent Hell is something to ponder. Everyone went to Hades in Greek culture, although in reality, no one goes to Hades. We all came from dust and to dust we shall return. Ecclesiastics 9th chapter says the dead know nothing. 1st Cor, 15, Paul says without the resurrection, no one survives!!
No one understands this anymore.
Thanks for the information
Clarence