What does the Vatican represent?
Who does the Vatican represent?
Not you.
The Vatican represents the power of Rome.
The Vatican represents the power of the elite.
In the early days, the Roman emperors hijacked Christianity and perverted its message.
They saw the rising tide against them and adapted.
They merged their gods and their paganism with the new religion of Christianity.
This is what leaders and money accumulators do.
It is who they are.
They built beautiful basilicas and churches to glorify themselves, to cement their power over the people.
They proclaimed themselves the vicars of Christ.
They led their people to war. They said it was God’s will.
They accumulated massive booty and extended their power over continents.
But there is no Christ in wealth.
There is no Christ in power.
There is no Christ in subjugation.
There is no Christ in gold and monetary splendor.
Christ’s message is not one of money and title accumulation.
He said so himself.
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”
In so speaking Christ was not validating greed and government; no, Christ was setting his world quite apart.
He was not telling you to peacefully coexist with the pagan world of greed.
In so many words he was telling his followers that the current world in which they were living was not working, and that if they wanted a different – better – world they would have to walk away from Caesar.
You cannot spread the message of Christ by walking away from Christ.
You cannot spread the message of Christ by entering the world of Caesar.
Indeed, the message of Christ is subverted by pomp and ceremony.
Christ is about humility.
Christ refused a crown.
Christ rode upon a donkey, the lowliest of the animals, a true beast of backbreaking burden.
You cannot approximate yourself to God by building beautiful churches and chapels.
No work of art can bring Christ nearer to you.
It’s an illusion to think so.
It’s a lazy man’s way to salvation.
You don’t become more Christian by walking into a beautiful basilica.
Indeed, you isolate yourself within a prison of gleaming majesty.
Christ can only be approached through the practice of Christ’s principles.
The basilica exists to inspire awe.
Through its vast expanse, it creates in the human mind a sense of human insignificance.
The echoes reinforce that sensation.
With that conditioning in place the leaders of the church, who claim to represent God’s will, find a pliable and willing mind.
That is the purpose of the Vatican.
Sincerely,
Archer Crosley
Copyright 2022 Archer Crosley All Rights Reserved
Cowboy Archer 