I had previously reported that LifeSiteNews, the Catholic anti-abortion organization, has reported favorably on the Noahide Laws (here). However, in three articles published in April of 2024, the organization has turned against the Noahide Laws and has linked them with Freemasonry and the anti-Christ religion which will persecute Christians. This is a big victory for the counter-Noahide movement.
Everything you need to know about the Noahide Laws, a universal religion without Christ
“…the eternal validity of the Seven Noahide Laws, a moral code for all of us regardless of religious faith,” President Ronald Reagan, First Education Day USA proclamation, April 4, 1982.[1]
(LifeSiteNews) — In the previous parts (Part I and Part II), we have been considering what Catholic theologians tell us about the Antichrist, whom St. Paul describes as follows:
[T]he son of perdition who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. (2 Thess. 2.3-4)
Therefore, when the Antichrist persecutes the Church, it seems that it will be at the expense of a false religion of his own. This religion will be based around the Antichrist himself, who will sit in the temple of God.
Catholic authorities do not agree whether this “temple of God” is a metaphorical expression relating to the Church or Catholic buildings, or to the Temple itself – whether fully or partially rebuilt.
However, many fathers and theologians and some mystics thought that the Antichrist would be received by the Jewish people as their awaited Moshiach (Messiah King). This was based, in part, on the words of Our Lord:
I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. (John 5.42).
This idea is also based on the great similarities between what we Catholics expect from the Antichrist, and what some adherents of the Jewish religion expects from the Moshiach.
One crucial shared expectation is that he will rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. According to the enormously influential twelfth-century rabbi Maimonides, if someone does succeed in rebuilding this Temple, it is a sign that he “is definitely the Mashiach.”[2]
Once the Temple is built, some hold, it will become the focus of a worldwide religion. Maimonides continues:
He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.’[3] (Emphasis added)
In other words, the Moshiach will establish a new universal religion, in which all people will (supposedly) serve God – in accordance with what they are taught by Moshiach, the Jewish religion and the Jewish people, who are to be “a light to the gentiles.”
The prophet Isaias wrote:
Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth. (Isa. 49.6)
As Catholics, we are aware that this idea is a distortion of what has already happened through the work of the true Messias, Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church.
In this piece, we are going to see how some Jewish writers understand this worldwide religion of the supposed Messianic age, and how this is incompatible with Christianity. In the final part, we will see that these understandings coincide with what will occur under the Antichrist, according to Catholic authorities.
The Noahide Laws themselves
It is well-known that, as a whole, the Jewish religion does not actively seek converts.
One reason for this is that, in that paradigm, it is not necessary to be an adherent of “Judaism” in order to have a “portion in the world to come.”
The Jewish religion and its laws are considered to be for the Jewish people themselves. The Torah was given by God to Moses so that they could be a “light to the nations.” One aspect of this, some believe, is that they have been commanded to teach the rest of the world how to follow “the Seven Laws of Noah” (the “Noahide” or “Noahide” laws).
These laws appear in the Talmud. Here they are, as given by Maimonides:
Six precepts were commanded to Adam:
- the prohibition against worship of false gods;
- the prohibition against cursing God;
- the prohibition against murder;
- the prohibition against incest and adultery;
- the prohibition against theft;
- the command to establish laws and courts of justice.
[…] The prohibition against eating flesh from a living animal was added for Noah, as Genesis 9:4 states: “Nevertheless, you may not eat flesh with its life, which is its blood.” Thus there are seven mitzvot.[4]
It is not improper to speak of a “Noahide religion,” and to note that it is quite simple: it is comprised of these laws, and the belief in one single God.
This is why the respected Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh could say, “the concern is for Gentile observance of the ancient religion of Noah, the only religion which is incumbent on all who are not Israelites.”[5]
A popular site on the matter explains the origin of these laws:
G-d gave the first six commandments to Adam and Hava (Eve). These were repeated to Noah after the Flood, and a seventh was added, when G-d established the Covenant of the Rainbow with Noah and all of the world’s creatures.
At Mount Sinai, G-d taught the Torah’s precepts through Moses, including G-d’s directive for all Gentiles to observe the 7 Noahide Laws.
A Gentile merits to receive a place in the eternal future World to Come, in the Messianic Era, through careful and pious observance of these universal commandments.[6]
Noahide Laws are the laws of the messianic era
Maimonides teaches that in the supposedly messianic era, the Gentiles “will all return to the true faith” – namely, that faith of which Judaism and the Noahide religion are the respective expressions.[7]
He also writes of this supposedly messianic era, in which the Moshiach will exercise influence over the whole world:
The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know God. Therefore, the Jews will be great sages and know the hidden matters, grasping the knowledge of their Creator according to the full extent of human potential, as Isaiah 11:9 states: ‘The world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the ocean bed.’[8]
In addition, some believe that by following the commandment (mitzvah) to promote the Noahide Laws amongst the Gentiles, they are hastening the coming of the Moshiach.
In the abstract, these laws appear to be similar to the Ten Commandments and compatible with Christianity. But to whom does it fall to decide this, and to administer and interpret these laws?
It will surely not fall to Christians. It also seems less likely that it will fall to the Noahides themselves, but instead to those deemed to be the “light to the gentiles.”
Further, whether it be through direct rule or otherwise, the supposed Moshiach – whom we have good reason to suspect will be the Antichrist – will exercise some level of influence in these matters over all of humanity.
However, this is problematic on two counts.
The Noahide religion considers Christianity to be idolatry
While some take more ambiguous or nuanced views, the Noahide laws are understood by many to prohibit the worship of the Triune God.[9]
Some argue that they are hostile toward Catholicism since some wordings forbid “idolatry,” of which the Church is supposedly guilty (both in the adoration of Christ and the veneration of the saints).[10]
For instance, Maimonides himself states that Christians do not serve the true God:
Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord.[11](Emphasis added)
In his book Miraculous Journey, Yosef Eisen paraphrases the third point in relation to a disputation of Nachmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman – “Ramban”):
Third, Ramban demonstrated how the Christian belief in the Trinity and Yeshu’s birth could not be believed by any thinking Jew. The Trinity is outright idol worship, for it is belief in three gods, while the Virgin Birth is wholly foreign to Jewish tradition and logic.
Interestingly, Christian missionaries still attempt to convince Jews of the truth of their religion, and the refutation of their so-called proofs is exactly the same as the Ramban used more than 700 years ago.[12]
Eisen also states elsewhere, about the origins of Christianity:
Eventually, the Christians realized that the Jewish people would not accept their idolatrous beliefs, and decided to introduce their religion to the Gentile world.[13]
Both Eisen’s and Nachmanides’ books are included as “Recommended books for Learning and Living the Noahide Code” on a website for “Noahides” (those following those laws).[14]
We should also note in passing that, according to Maimonides and some others, Noahides are to be at a considerable civil disadvantage in comparison with Jews.
For example, Maimonides teaches that, unlike under the stringent safeguards for Jews, Noahides can be executed “on the basis of the testimony of one witness and the verdict of a single judge,” and “[n]o warning is required.”[15] Noahides are also punished more harshly for crimes against Jews than Jews are for the same crimes against non-Jews,[16] and are held to legal obligations to which Jews are not.[17]
Maimonides also states:
It is a positive commandment to destroy false deities, all their accessories, and everything that is made for their purposes […]
In Eretz Yisrael, the mitzvah requires us to hunt after idol worship until it is eradicated from our entire land.
In the diaspora, however, we are not required to hunt after it. Rather, whenever we conquer a place, we must destroy all the false deities contained within.[18]
In a commentary on this text by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger, we find the following:
[E]ven according to the opinions which permit gentiles to believe in Christianity, Jews are obligated to destroy their objects of worship and churches.
This raises a question regarding the churches that exist in Eretz Yisrael today. Should their existence be tolerated, or are we, as a people and as individuals, obligated to destroy them?[19]
In light of this, we may be better placed to understand Maimonides explanation of the punishments to be inflicted on idolaters:
A Noahide is executed for every type of foreign worship which a Jewish court would consider worthy of capital punishment.
However, a Noahide is not executed for a type of foreign worship which a Jewish court would not deem worthy of capital punishment. Nevertheless, even though a Noahide will not be executed for these forms of worship, he is forbidden to engage in all of them.
We should not allow them to erect a monument, or to plant an Asherah, or to make images and the like even though they are only for the sake of beauty.[20]
It does not seem clear or agreed whether Christianity is considered worthy of capital punishment in this school of thought or not.
We can see how “acceptable” Christianity is to some by considering the prevalence of the hostile treatment of Christians in the Holy Land. Christians, especially priests, are spat upon, and churches and cemeteries are vandalized. In 2023, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa indicated that this has increased with the election of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
This is because these attitudes also exist amongst those in power. Certain elected politicians propose legislation to criminalize attempts to tell others about Jesus Christ and Christianity. Atamar Ben-Gvir, a key figure in the coalition, has praised activists such as Bentzi Gopstein, who called Christianity “that accursed religion” and Christians “blood-sucking vampires.”[21]
The Lutheran minister Munther Isaac recounts more such examples in a 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson.
We can also see how “acceptable” Christianity is in Maimonides’ claims that it is a form of idolatry, which serves a false God, has spread error throughout the world, has altered the Torah, has many forbidden monuments and images, and is responsible for much humiliation and death amongst the Jews.
Either way, Maimonides states that all idolatry, including Christianity, is to be forbidden, at least in Israel itself.
Can Christianity be ‘purified’ to make it compatible with Noahidism?
Some writers believe that Christianity could be tolerated amongst Gentiles if it were “purified” of elements which are incompatible with the Jewish understanding of the first Noahide law (against idolatry).[22]
Rabbi Benamozegh believes that such a “purification” is possible, necessary, and even inevitable that it will be drawn back into an alliance and union with Judaism:
[T]hey will know at the proper moment how to join their energies of spirit and intelligence, so that in serene contemplation of the truths of history and doctrine, they will recognize their original kinship, and through an appropriate alliance resume their common work for the accomplishment of their great destinies.
Why should this hope not be realized? Why should Judaism and Christianity not unite their efforts with a view to the religious future of mankind? Why should Christianity find it difficult to collaborate with this religion from which it came, whose fundamental truth it recognizes, and which possesses, to a higher degree even than itself, all the qualities of which it is so proud: antiquity, historical continuity, authority, vitality?
And if from these deliberations with the Jewish mother-religion could emerge a Christianity which preserved its character of divine authority – a Christianity, may we venture to suggest, all the more orthodox as it would have strengthened itself by drawing on an orthodoxy older than itself, but which, as we firmly believe, would satisfy the needs of men better than the present Christian churches can do, and which would be better prepared to provide against the perils of the future – can one imagine a happier portent for mankind, or a more admirable solution to the great religious problems of our day?[23] (Emphases added)
He then tells us that this will be achieved by a reconsideration of the Holy Trinity and what he calls “the problematic personage of Jesus,”[24] and by Christianity reconciling itself with “Hebraism”:
[I]t is Christianity, reformed to be sure on its first model, which will always be the religion of the Gentile peoples.
And this will come about through Judaism itself. […] This will be the reconciliation of Hebraism and the religions which were born of it.[25]
Another rabbi has suggested that Trinitarian Christians might be considered as observant of the Noahide laws, but even his reasoning makes clear that this would only be so with a significant redefinition of dogma of the Holy Trinity, such that the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity are not really each God, but rather “smaller deities,” in “partnership” with God the Father.[26]
Such a redefinition of the Holy Trinity would also entail redefining the dogmas of the Incarnation of Christ and the Redemption, because if God is not really triune, then there is no real Second Person of the Holy Trinity to become incarnate and to be fully God and fully man. This would appear to fall into the heresies of Arianism or Subordinationism.
But if Jesus of Nazareth is not both fully God and fully man, then his crucifixion was not an infinitely pleasing sacrifice in atonement for sin. If this is so, then Jesus has not redeemed us.
And if this in turn is so, then the merits of a non-existent redemption cannot be applied to us; we cannot be supernaturally sanctified by grace which He has not won; nor can we be incorporated into a mystical body which would not exist.
As we can see, such a “purification” necessary for Christianity to be compatible with the Noahide religion, would result in the fundamental denial of the most basic dogmas of the Christian religion. This new and “more orthodox” Christianity which would “emerge” would not be Christianity at all – even if it paid lip service to Christ and retained some existing terminology.
In fact, this idea of “purifying” the Christian religion by redefining and rethinking what is meant by her dogmas is impossible for Catholics,[27] and is precisely how the theologian Pietro Parente defines the system of “modernism” condemned by Pope St. Pius X:
A heresy, or rather a group of heresies […] with the pretense of elevating and saving the Christian religion and the Catholic Church by means of a radical renovation. […]
[A] hybrid amalgamation of verbal Catholicism with real naturalistic rationalism…[28] (Emphasis added)
If this is what is entailed in the “Noahidation” of the Christian religion, then it is not a purification at all. This denial of the Holy Trinity and of Christ’s supernatural redemption is impossible, and it is apostasy.
Conclusion
Overall, it appears clear that a significant school of thought believes that Christianity is a form of idolatry, and thus contrary to the Noahide laws, which appear to be central to the religion to be imposed on the world by the Moshiach awaited by the Jews.
Even if belief in the Trinity might be considered tolerable amongst some Jews now, it seems that many expect this to cease under the Moshiach. It is also unclear, given the generally negative animus towards the person of Our Lord, whether a “purified” Christianity treating him merely as a great teacher would be acceptable.
The imposition of the Noahide religion seems to necessarily entail the persecution of the Church, either through the legal and bloody prohibition of Christianity or through a “purification” which would constitute an apostasy from the faith.
There have been many instances of Christianity being outlawed and persecuted throughout history. Each instance has been considered as a foreshadowing of the final and worst persecution which will take place under the Antichrist – whom, as we have seen, Catholic authorities expect to be acclaimed by the Jewish people as the Moshiach.
In this part, we have seen that for many authors, Christianity is incompatible with the Noahide religion, on the grounds of supposed Christian idolatry.
In the next part, we shall consider the matter from another perspective, and see that the Noahide religion is also incompatible with Christianity, because the former is naturalistic and thus fundamentally opposed to the supernaturalism of the latter.
In this, it is also uncomfortably close to both Freemasonry and the religion which Catholic authorities expect to be imposed by the Antichrist himself.
LifeSiteNews’ Dr. Maike Hickson contributed to this report.
References
| ↑1 | https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/816636/jewish/The-Rebbes-Guidance-to-US-Presidents.htm |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Melachim uMilchamot 11.4 |
| ↑3 | Ibid. |
| ↑4 | Ibid., 9.1 |
| ↑5 | Elijah Benamozegh, Israel and Humanity, p 243. Paulist Press, New York, 1995. https://archive.org/details/israelhumanity0000bena/page/243/ |
| ↑6 | Ash Noah website, ‘7 Noahide Laws Introduction’ |
| ↑7 | Cf. Maimonides: The interpretation of the prophecy is as follows: Israel will dwell securely together with the wicked gentiles who are likened to a wolf and a leopard, as in the prophecy Jeremiah 5:6: “A wolf from the wilderness shall spoil them and a leopard will stalk their cities.” They will all return to the true faith and no longer steal or destroy. Maimonides ibid. 12.1 |
| ↑8 | Maimonides, ibid., 12.5 |
| ↑9 | For some more “tolerant” views, see Rabbi David Meyer here, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman in the comment discussion here. As shall become clear, Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh believes that Christianity can be “purified”, but by changes so drastic as to constitute apostasy. |
| ↑10 | Cf. Rabbi Smary Brownstein here: However the Christian belief in a triune G-d is not compatible with the Torah. You can find details on this and related questions on the AskNoah website in their Q&A forum. |
| ↑11 | Maimonides, ibid. 11.4. |
| ↑12 | Yosef Eisen, Miraculous Journey: A Complete History of the Jewish People from Creation to the Present, p 197. Targum Press, Southfield Mich., 2004. https://archive.org/details/miraculousjourne0000eise/page/196/ |
| ↑13 | Ibid., 108-9. |
| ↑14 | ‘Recommended Books for Learning and Living the Noahide Code’, Ask Noah site. |
| ↑15 | Maimonides Ibid. 9.14 |
| ↑16 | For instance, consider Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Nezikin, Rotzeach uShmirat Nefesh, 5.3-4: When a Jew unintentionally kills a servant or a resident alien, he must be exiled. […] When a resident alien kills a Jew unintentionally, he should be executed, even though he acted unintentionally. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Nezikin, Rotzeach uShmirat Nefesh, 5.3-4 |
| ↑17 | For example: A Noahide who slays any soul, even a fetus in its mother’s womb, should be executed in retribution for its death. Similarly, if he slew a person who would have otherwise died in the near future, placed a person before a lion, or starved a person to death, he should be executed for through one manner or other, he killed. Similarly, one should be executed if he killed a pursuer when he could have saved the latter’s potential victim by maiming one of the pursuer’s limbs. These laws do not apply with regard to Jews. Ibid., 9.4. |
| ↑18 | Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Hamada, Avodat Kochavim, 7.1. |
| ↑19 | Eliyahu Touger, Commentary on Halachah 1 on Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Hamada, Avodat Kochavim, 7, available here. |
| ↑20 | Maimonides Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Melachim uMilchamot 9.2 |
| ↑21 | https://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-extremist-jewish-group-calls-christians-blood-sucking-vampires/ and https://www.axios.com/2022/11/02/israel-election-extreme-far-right-rise-netanyahu-victory |
| ↑22 | For instance, Benamozegh anachronistically asserts that idea of the Triune God is a corruption of concepts from the Kabbalah. (cf. p 104). |
| ↑23 | Benamozegh 51 |
| ↑24 | Cf. Benamozegh 329-30:
|
| ↑25 | Ibid. 59 |
| ↑26 | Answering a question, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman wrote:
While Christians, of course, firmly deny worshipping three gods, we do insist that the three persons in the one God are equal. Cf. the Athanasian Creed:
|
| ↑27 | Cf. N. 28 of St Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis |
| ↑28 | Pietro Parente, “Modernism”, 190-1, in Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee 1951. |
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/freemasonry-and-the-noahide-laws-both-promote-the-naturalist-religion-of-the-antichrist/
Freemasonry and the Noahide Laws both promote the naturalist religion of the Antichrist
The following is Part IV in a series on Catholic teaching on the rise of the prophesied Antichrist. Read Part I here; Part II here; and Part III here.
(LifeSiteNews) — In the last part, we considered the “Seven Noahide Laws.” Here they are, as expressed by 12th century rabbi Maimonides:
- the prohibition against worship of false gods;
- the prohibition against cursing God;
- the prohibition against murder;
- the prohibition against incest and adultery;
- the prohibition against theft;
- the command to establish laws and courts of justice.
[…] The prohibition against eating flesh from a living animal was added for Noah.[1]
The Jewish religion holds these seven Laws to apply to all mankind. The Torah (“the Law”) represents a specific covenant between God and a chosen people, and it is not necessary to be a part of this covenant for the gentiles to have “a portion in the world to come.”
On the contrary, the respected Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh has said, “the concern is for Gentile observance of the ancient religion of Noah, the only religion which is incumbent on all who are not Israelites.”[2]
This is why the enormously influential twelfth century rabbi Maimonides states that, in the supposedly messianic era to come, the Gentiles “will all return to the true faith” – namely, that faith of which Judaism and the Noahide religion are the respective expressions for Jew and Gentile.[3]
Compatibility
Are the Noahide Laws intended to be compatible with other religions?
The Noahide paradigm holds that the Jewish people remain “the light to the Gentiles,” and so it should be clear that these Laws will be interpreted and administered according to presuppositions of the Jewish religion.
This paradigm holds that Noahidism is essentially the first religion given to mankind, and that Judaism is merely a specification of it for the Jewish people.
Some writers seem to suggest that the observance of these minimalist Laws, without any great number of rites or prayers, constitute the entirety of the religion possible and permitted for gentiles.[4] Given the minimalism of Noahidism, it seems reasonable to think of it as a “practical” or “partial” deism – a form of naturalism closely linked with the Enlightenment and Freemasonry – in which God is detached from the individual Noahide.
Others writers suggest that other religions can be compatible with the seven Laws, and thus can either be legitimate in themselves, or can be “purified” so as to become compatible.[5]
This former idea is very similar to the outlook taken by Freemasonry.[6] It is also similar to that of “perennialism,” which holds that there is a “transcendent unity of religions,” and that “[t]he differences between the religions are as providential as the aspects they have in common” and that “[t]he true and revealed religions were all sent by, refer back to, and grant access to, the same Absolute Reality.”[7]
It is unclear whether, in the Noahide paradigm, the toleration or existence of so-called “ethical monotheisms” is to continue in the supposedly “messianic age.”
However, in the last piece, we saw that a significant school holds that Trinitarian Christianity is incompatible with the Noahide Laws and the Noahide religion, because it is construed as a species of idolatry. As such, it is either illegitimate and unacceptable – or in need of “purification.”
Having considered the matter from the Noahide and Jewish perspectives, the focus of this piece is to look at the matter from the Christian perspective, and ask whether the Noahide religion is compatible with Christianity.
We shall see that it is not compatible. Christianity is fundamentally opposed to the presuppositions of Noahidism, and for reasons which place the Noahide religion uncomfortably close to what is expected in the religious system of the Antichrist.
Rationalism & naturalism
Even though some writers say that the Noahide Laws must be accepted because they have been revealed, Noahidism is manifestly a naturalist religion, imposing only an obligation to monotheism and a set of laws discernible by natural reason.
The respected Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh speaks of the “fundamentally rational quality of Noahism” and writes as follows:
[T]he Israelite is presumed to be ignorant of the Law as long as he has not been expressly instructed in it; but this excuse cannot do for the Noahide, whose conspicuously (indeed, exclusively) rational code is accessible to the human conscience.[8]
In one sense, this presents the Noahide religion as the codification of natural law. It is certainly true that much of morality is knowable in this way. It is also certainly true that the existence of “God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world.”[9]
Prior to and apart from supernatural revelation, natural philosophers such as Aristotle demonstrated much that is correct about God and morality through the use of natural reason. This is the subject of “natural theology,” which is quite distinct from naturalism.
Although these laws are all knowable through reason, some Jewish authorities state that, in order to be meritorious, they must be observed specifically because they have been revealed by God as well.
However, the positive exclusion of the objective divine revelation of Christ, and the redemption which he has wrought for us, makes the Noahide religion a religion of rationalism and naturalism in the sense defined by Fr Denis Fahey:
Naturalism consists in the negation of the possibility of the elevation of our nature to the supernatural life and order, or more radically still, in the negation of the very existence of that life and order. […]
Naturalism may be defined therefore as the attitude of mind which denies the reality of the Divine Life of grace and of our Fall therefrom by original sin.
It rejects our consequent liability to revolt against the order of the Divine Life, when this life has been restored to us by our membership of Christ, and maintains that all social life should be organized on the basis of that denial.[10]
Rationalism and naturalism have been the key ideologies advanced since the so-called Enlightenment and French Revolution. One principal form in which naturalism has been advanced is the so-called “liberty of religion/worship” and the “separation of Church and state.”
By this is meant the denial that both civil society and each individual have duties towards God and the true religion – and instead, the claim that all citizens and groups are equally free to worship in accordance with their own religious principles, without regard for the true God or true religion.
This naturalism, including in relation to civil society, is fundamentally incompatible with the Catholic religion, and has been repeatedly condemned by the Church. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII drew attention to the number of times that the latter has been condemned by the Church, and called it “the legal apostasy of society from its divine Author.”[11]
This is because, even at its “best,” naturalism relegates Christianity to one of many possible or permitted religions, and treats supernatural revelation as mere opinion and a private affair. It uncrowns and dethrones Jesus Christ as the Incarnate God and King, and at most offers Him a place in a pantheon of gods or wise religious teachers.
This is precisely the offer rejected by the early Christian martyrs, and against it, Fr. Fahey writes:
We must combat that mentality [of naturalism] and proclaim the Rights of God.[12]
In addition, this naturalist de-christianization of the state were and remain key tenets and aims of Freemasonry, as Fr. Edward Cahill writes:
Freemasonry sets up a code of morals and a principle of human virtue and beneficence independent of God; and while it affects to ignore Our Divine Lord, or where circumstances require, pays a homage of lip service to His sacred Name, its very essence is opposition to Him and to His mission on earth.[13]
Naturalist ‘purification’ is impossible
The ideas expressed by Fr. Cahill are precisely what we hear proposed by advocates of the Noahide religion – who would have us “purify” Christianity from the dogmas of the Holy Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, His redeeming sacrifice on the cross and its application to us for our sanctification in the New Covenant and the Catholic Church.
However, such a “purification” is necessary for Christianity to “return” to the Noahide religion from which it has supposedly departed.
But this involves the fundamental denial of the most basic dogmas of the Christian religion, even if it paid lip service to Christ and retained existing terminology. Further, as mentioned previously, this idea of “purifying” the Christian religion by redefining and rethinking what is meant by her dogmas is impossible for Catholics.[14] It is also precisely how the theologian Pietro Parente defines the system of “modernism” condemned by Pope St Pius X:
A heresy, or rather a group of heresies […] with the pretense of elevating and saving the Christian religion and the Catholic Church by means of a radical renovation. […]
[A] hybrid amalgamation of verbal Catholicism with real naturalistic rationalism…[15] (Emphasis added)
This “Noahidation” of Christianity is not a “purification” or a return to the pristine religion of Noah, but rather naturalism and apostasy.
Freemasonry and the Noahide religion
There is a great similarity between the Noahide religion and that which is proposed for mankind by Freemasonry – or which Freemasonry proposes as the “meta-religion” behind all other “true” religions, and with which all religions must conform.
Both Noahidism and Freemasonry claim to present a more pristine and ancient religion than Christianity – or at least to facilitate a return to this supposedly true universal (or “catholic”) religion. For instance, in the classic masonic text, Morals and Dogmas of the Accepted Scottish Rite, Albert Pike writes:
Humanity has never really had but one religion and one worship. This universal light has had its uncertain mirages, its deceitful reflections, and its shadows; but always, after the nights of Error, we see it reappear, one and pure like the Sun.[16]
Both Noahidism and this Freemasonic “universal, eternal, immutable religion”[17] are “merely ethical” and naturalist systems, presented as a perennial set of rational truths.
Both entail what Leo XIII called:
[T]he utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order of the world which the Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from mere naturalism.17
It is also curious that the rites and mythology of Freemasonry are so centered on the building of the Temple of Jerusalem and the figure of Hiram Abiff (presented as the architect of Solomon’s Temple). In his book on the Antichrist and Freemasonry, Monsignor George F. Dillon links this allegory with naturalism and the de-christianization of society.[18]
What is also striking is how similar the more esoteric doctrines of Freemasonry are to those of Kabalah, the dominant form of Jewish mysticism. The theme of Kabalah as the source of the “transcendent unity of religions” dominates the last third of the previously mentioned work by Albert Pike, who also says:
All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return to it: everything scientific and grand in the religious dreams of the illuminati, Jacob Boehme, Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, and others, is borrowed from the Kabalah; all the Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.[19]
Needless to say, none of this is compatible with Christianity.
Based on this naturalism, Pope Pius IX called Freemasonry “the Synagogue of Satan” and “a synthesis of all the heresies and the rallying point of all the uprisings of man against God.”[20]
Pope St. Pius X also links these different forms of naturalism with St. Paul’s warnings, and applies the text of 2 Thessalonians to the worship of man himself:
[M]an has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God […] he has contemned God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored.[21]
Conclusion
As a merely “ethical,” naturalist and anti-trinitarian religion, the Noahide system is utterly incompatible with Christianity.
This is because Noahidism is not the “mere” monotheism of natural theology. As it is specifically anti-trinitarian, and given that God really is Triune, it entails a rejection of God to a greater or lesser extent.
It specifically rejects the supernatural order established by Christ – and such a rejection entails the elevation of a natural order above that which God objectively established for the supernatural perfection and salvation of mankind.
It also specifically rejects truths which God really has revealed – which entails the subjection of supernatural divine revelation to the natural judgment of Man.
Fr. Denis Fahey once wrote of Freemasonry and naturalism:
If we deliberately reject our divine Lord and His grace, we try to make ourselves superior to God. […]
The final result to which initiation tends is the pantheistic deification of man.[22]
The same applies to the Noahide rejection of Christ. Even aside from the Antichrist literally demanding divine honors for himself, the Noahide elevation of naturalism at the expense of the true supernatural religion itself constitutes what St. Paul prophesied:
…Who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he [representing “man”] sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. (2 Thess. 2.4)
Because of this, it is clear that the Noahide religion and any so-called “ethical” religion without Christ, naturalism, religious liberty, state agnosticism, Freemasonry and modernism ultimately all converge together.
Their end point is the worship or cult of Man himself, and the belief that “all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown.”[23]
As we shall see in the next part, this convergence is a key part of what Catholic theologians and mystics expect in the stages of the Antichrist’s religious persecution.
LifeSiteNews’ Dr. Maike Hickson’s upcoming report inspired this piece.
Post-script
Considering the discussion above, we cannot help but find the below texts deeply troubling.
Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II, 1965:
According to the almost unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown.[24]
Dignitatis Humanae, Vatican II, 1965:
This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.
[…] This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.[25]
Paul VI, Address during the last general meeting of the Second Vatican Council, 1965
Secular, profane, humanism has finally revealed itself in its terrible shape and has, in a certain sense, challenged the Council. The religion of God made man has come up against a religion – for there is such a one – of man who makes himself God.
And what happened? An impact, a battle, an anathema? That might have taken place, but it did not. It was the old story of the Samaritan that formed the model for the Council’s spirituality. It was filled only with an endless sympathy. Its attention was taken up with the discovery of human needs – which become greater as the son of the earth (sic) makes himself greater.
Do you at least recognize this its merit, you modern humanists who have no place for the transcendence of the things supreme, and come to know our new humanism: we also, we more than anyone else, have the cult of man.[26] (Emphasis added)
Francis, Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living together, 2019
The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.(https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html)
References
| ↑1 | Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Melachim uMilchamot, 9.1 |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Elijah Benamozegh, Israel and Humanity, p 243. Paulist Press, New York, 1995. https://archive.org/details/israelhumanity0000bena/page/243/ |
| ↑3 | “[The gentiles] will all return to the true faith and no longer steal or destroy.” Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Melachim uMilchamot 12.1 |
| ↑4 | Cf. Maimonides:
Ibid., 10.9. See also Michael Kress here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230322212445/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-modern-noahide-movement/ |
| ↑5 | Cf. Rabbi David Meyer, p 24: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/oessh/ad/croce2016/croce2016_en.pdf |
| ↑6 | Cf. The following from Albert Pike’s classic work on Freemasonry:
Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, p 524. Charleston A.M., 1871. |
| ↑7 | Cf. Sophia Perennis, FAQ. |
| ↑8 | Benamozegh 270. |
| ↑9 | Oath Against Modernism, https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius10/p10moath.htm |
| ↑10 | Fr Denis Fahey, The Kingship of Christ and the Conversion of the Jewish Nation, pp 33-4. Christian Book Club of America, Palmdale CA., 1953 |
| ↑11 | Pope Leo XIII, Epistola È Giunto to the Emperor of Brazil, 1889. Available here. |
| ↑12 | Fahey 33 |
| ↑13 | Fr Edward Cahill, The Framework of a Christian State, p 232. M.H. Gill & Son Ltd. Dublin, 1932. |
| ↑14 | Cf. N. 28 of St Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis |
| ↑15 | Pietro Parente, “Modernism”, 190-1, in Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee 1951. |
| ↑16 | Pike, 102 |
| ↑17 | Ibid., 219. |
| ↑18 | Mgr Dillon writes:
Mgr. George F. Dillon, War of antichrist with the Church and Christian Civilization, p 19. M.H. Gill & Son, Dublin 1885. |
| ↑19 | Pike 744. |
| ↑20 | Quoted in Cahill, 231. |
| ↑21 | Pope St Pius X, E Supremi, On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, 1903. n. 5 |
| ↑22 | Fr Denis Fahey, The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World, p 367. Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam NH, 2018. |
| ↑23 | Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, n. 12. |
| ↑24 | https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html n. 12 |
| ↑25 | https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html n. 2 |
| ↑26 | Translation taken from: https://crc-internet.org/further-information/liber-accusationis/in-paulum-sextum/2-heterodoxy.html. Latin here: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/la/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_epilogo-concilio.html |
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/antichrist-expected-to-persecute-the-church-through-imposing-the-naturalist-noahide-laws/
Antichrist expected to persecute the Church through imposing the naturalist Noahide Laws
The following is Part V in a series on Catholic teaching on the rise of the prophesied Antichrist. Read Part I here; Part II here; Part III here; and Part IV here.
(LifeSiteNews) — A key part of the Antichrist’s persecution will be in the imposition of a false religious system on the world, at the expense of the true religion.
However, it would be more accurate to speak of several systems, in that Catholic authorities speak of a progression. For example, St. Robert Bellarmine states that there will be four parts to the Antichrist’s doctrine. According to his schema, and adding the preliminary stage of preparing for his coming, the Antichrist will:
- Arrive when very many have fallen away from God and the true religion
- Deny the true Christ, prohibit Christian institutions, and impose Jewish laws and rites.
- Proclaim himself to be the true Messiah or Christ, and will deceive the Jewish people with these claims
- Proclaim himself to be God, and be worshiped as such “in the temple of God”
- Curse all other gods (including the true God) and idols.[1]
In the latter stages, it seems that the Antichrist will abandon any pretense of being the Jewish Messiah. At that stage, he will persecute not only the true Catholic religion, but also all false religions and even the sects which assisted him.[2]
However, many writers believe that he will begin with a show of benevolence in his denial of Christianity and the imposition of some form of the Jewish religion.
We have seen previously that Catholic theology and prophecy holds that the Antichrist will present himself as the Moshiach (Messiah), and that the Jewish people will accept him as such. A key reason for this is that he will successfully fulfil the conditions which they expect of their earthly Moshiach.
In this part, we shall see that this also applies to the religious systems which will be imposed.
Early stages of the Antichrist reign
Many Catholic authorities draw links between the Antichrist, the Temple and the Jewish religion.
St. Robert Bellarmine gives some examples:
[St Cyril of Jerusalem] says in Catechism 15 that he will be very zealous for the temple in Jerusalem in order to show that he is from the race of David; finally, also [St Gregory the Great] in Book 11 in Letter 3 says that Antichrist will be a promoter of the Sabbath observance and of other Jewish ceremonies.[3]
Fr. Charles Arminjon – in a book which St. Therese warmly praised in her famous autobiography[4] – explicitly refers to the Jerusalem Temple, and links the Jewish religion with that which will be imposed by the Antichrist:
At first Antichrist will convince the Jews that he is the Messias. In order to deceive them the more successfully, he will hide behind a mask of moderation and feigned holiness.
When St. Paul tells us that he will have himself worshipped in the temple of God, he seems to imply that he will rebuild the temple of Jerusalem, utterly destroyed by Titus; consequently, he will prescribe circumcision and, for a time, restore the bloody sacrifices and the other rites of the Judaic religion.[5]
The religion which Jewish authorities expect from the Moshiach
This aligns with what is expected by some Jewish authorities. For example, the enormously influential Rabbi Maimonides states that once the Moshiach has rebuilt the Temple, it will become the focus of a worldwide religion:
He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.[6] (Emphasis added)
And elsewhere:
In that era, there will be neither famine or war, envy or competition for good will flow in abundance and all the delights will be freely available as dust. The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know God.
Therefore, the Jews will be great sages and know the hidden matters, grasping the knowledge of their Creator according to the full extent of human potential, as Isaiah 11:9 states: “The world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the ocean bed.”[7](Emphases added)
However, Maimonides and others definitely do not understand this to mean that the whole world would become Jewish.
Rather, they held that the earthly Moshiach will restore the full Jewish religion for them, and that together they will teach and impose “knowledge of God” on the nations through the seven Noahide Laws.
In this way, supposedly, the Moshiach and the Jewish people will complete their role as “a light to the nations/gentiles.”
Is this a contradiction with what Catholic writers have said about the Antichrist?
Will the Noahidism of the Moshiach suppress Christianity?
The Noahide Laws are the basis of a religion consisting of a minimalist set of ethical norms and a vague recognition of monotheism (or even deism).
According to the paradigm of the Jewish religion, the Mosaic covenant is specifically for the Jewish people – with the Noahide religion being another form of what Maimonides calls “the true faith.”[8] Rabbi Benamozegh calls Noahidism “the only religion which is incumbent on all who are not Israelites.”[9]
Judaism and the Noahide religion are (he claims) the two expressions of the “true faith” for Jew and Gentile respectively.
The imposition of the Noahide Laws, of which Maimonides speaks, would seem to be to the detriment of Christianity. As previously discussed, the Noahide religion and Christianity are mutually incompatible.
Noahidism considers Christianity to be a form of idolatry and would need to be “purified” of its fundamental dogmas in order to become acceptable. In the same section, Maimonides directly denies that Our Lord was the true Messiah, and then adds:
When the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his position becoming exalted and uplifted, they [the Gentiles] will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage and their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.[10]
From the Christian perspective, Noahidism is an attempt to propose what Fr. Edward Cahill called “a code of morals and a principle of human virtue and beneficence independent of God” and Jesus Christ, and is the essence of “naturalism.”[11]
Fr. Fahey explains this concept further:
[Naturalism is a] revolt against the order of the Divine Life, when this life has been restored to us by our membership of Christ, and maintain[ing] that all social life should be organized on the basis of that denial.[12]
Christianity cannot make peace with Noahidism, because it is a form of naturalism, in that it sets aside divine revelation and purports to make men good without regard for the supernatural order brought to us by Jesus Christ.
It seems eminently possible that the Antichrist will restore aspects of the Jewish religion for the Jewish people, and establish the Noahide Laws, based around the Temple and the Jewish religion, for the Gentiles.
Does St. Hildegard talk about the Noahide religion?
The “dual approach” of the Jewish and Noahide religions corresponds with what St. Hildegard von Bingen (d. 1179) saw in her revelations about the times of the Antichrist/Moshiach. These revelations seem to have been approved by Pope Eugene III.[13]
First, she writes that he will propose a simple and liberal doctrine, and reject baptism and the Gospel. She then puts words in his mouth which are similar to those expressed by Rabbi Benamozegh on the “purification” of Christianity in the previous parts:
He will say, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is not the son of God, only a deceiver who gave himself out as God and the Church instituted by him is only superstition.’
The true Christ has come in his person. He will say, ‘I am the Savior of the world.’
Especially will he try to convince the Jews that he is the Messiah sent by God, and the Jews will accept him as such.[14]
She then describes a naturalist religion very similar to the Noahide Laws, especially in that it is linked to the Jewish religion in the same way as they are:
His doctrine of faith will be taken from the Jewish religion and seemingly will not differ much from the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, for he will teach that there is one God who created the world, who is omniscient and knows the thoughts of man and is just, who rewards the obeyers of his commands and the trespassers he chastises, who will raise all from the dead in due time.[15] (Emphases added)
The idea of an anti-Chrisian religion “taken from the Jewish religion,” whilst being similar to Christianity in superficial ways, corresponds precisely to the Noahide religion.
St. Hildegard speaks in terms which recall all this Noahide minimalism, but more in terms of the earthly paradise of the Moshiach:
Religion he will endeavor to make convenient. He will say that you need not fast and embitter your life by renunciation, as the people of former times did when they had no sense of God’s goodness. It will suffice to love God. He will let the people feast to their heart’s content so that they will pity the unfortunate people of former centuries.[16](Emphases added)
St. Hildegard’s words also recall the naturalist philosophy of deism, associated with Freemasonry and the Enlightenment. Deism, itself a form of naturalism, holds that there is indeed one supreme being, but that he does not involve himself in the world.
In a similar vein, the relationship between the Noahide adherent and God is quite unclear, with God appearing detached from the Noahide.
The Noahide belief in God is commonly expressed merely as a prohibition of idols. Noahides are not commanded to observe the Sabbath rest in God’s honor, and Maimonides states that even such observation is worthy of death.[17]
Noahides “are not commanded to sanctify God’s name,” according to Maimonides, who at times writes as if it does not really matter if Noahides are coerced into violating these seven laws – even regarding worshipping false gods.[18]
The Jewish writer Michael Kress notes that the Noahide religion is a relatively new movement, but that “embracing seven laws of basic morality does not a lifestyle make.”[19] He notes that it has “little or no active spiritual life, no prescribed ritual [or] liturgical life.”[20]
He calls it “a formless set of vague moral guidelines,” and explains how some Noahides have adopted certain practices taken from the Jewish religion as ways to fill “the void” and “lingering hole” left by “the lack of an active and defined spiritual life.”[21]
St. Hildegard’s description of the religion of the Antichrist is quite similar. As such, while the Jewish religion is traditionally thought of as monotheistic, Noahidism appears to be a “practical” or “partial” deism, in which God is detached from the individual Noahide outside of a minimalist set of prohibitions – as St. Hildegard describes.
Nor is St. Hildegard the only writer who writes as if the Antichrist’s religion – at least at the early stages – will be of a naturalist character.
The naturalism of the Antichrist in other Catholic writers
The much-loved F.r Frederick William Faber makes a similar point in a note about the Antichrist:
His doctrine an apparent contradiction of no religion, yet a new religion. Comparison with French revolution.[22]
The French Revolution was the great triumph of naturalism and the ideals of Freemasonry. Fr. Bernard Kramer also suggests that the religion of the Antichrist may begin with naturalism and communism, in a continuation of the French Revolution:
It may be communism or plain idolatrous paganism; it will comprise emperor-worship and devil-worship coupled with persecution of the true believers.
[The elect] will know him at once as an impostor and will not be misled. He will be in league with the antichristian [naturalist] world-powers and adopt their principles of government and civil law.
As spiritual head of his empire, he may declare it treason against the state to accept Christianity or the moral law of God.[23]
In his 1898 Prophecy of the Popes, Fr. Joseph Maitre discusses the Antichrist’s religious persecution in light of the naturalism of the modern world:
[W]e can recognize many characteristic traits in our epoch.
One wishes, it is true, to speak of God, of religion. But religion for many is nothing more than a vague Deism which makes of the SUPREME BEING a sort of abstraction, afar off, indifferent to human affairs and the things of humanity.
One speaks of love of men, of civism and of patriotism. But under these grand words the most odious egotism lies hidden. A vain philanthropy has replaced Christian Charity, the cult of reason and of matter has taken the place of the adoration of Christ and of respect for His Church, the source of true Charity.
And however the strong spirits, the independents allow themselves to be enchained by tyrannical bands, and abdicate their liberty for the benefit of those cursed societies which lead the modern world, Freemasonry, secret societies of every kind.[24]
The imposition of such naturalism would be a true persecution of the Church. Fr. Lémann states that the Antichrist’s persecution will entail at least two aspects:
- The outlawing of Christian teaching
- The obligation to teach error.[25]
In previous parts, we saw that the Noahide Laws and Christianity are mutually incompatible – and we can also see that these two aspects correspond to that mutual incompatibility.
On the one hand, an imposition of the Noahide Laws could either outlaw or “purify” Christianity along naturalist lines; on the other, such an imposition could also require Christians to teach the false system of naturalism against the supernatural religion of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: The preparation for his coming
Catholics know that any naturalism on the part of the Antichrist will soon give way to outright worship of the man himself. This is the implicit teaching of many authorities. This transition from naturalist humanism is also depicted in narrative form in Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson’s famous novel Lord of the World.
However, what seems to be necessary for the early stages of Antichrist’s religious regime aligns with Jewish expectations of the earthly Moshiach, the Jerusalem Temple and the Noahide religion.
In their respective paradigms, both Antichrist and Moshiach are expected to be accepted by the Jewish people, who will assist him in establishing and imposing a religion, linked to Judaism and based around the Jerusalem Temple – which will deny Christ and Christianity.
Thus, those who are preparing the way for the Moshiach are, perhaps unwittingly, probably preparing the way for the Antichrist.
This brings us to another similarity between the Catholic and Jewish views about this matter – namely, the striking alignment between exactly what will prepare the way for the Antichrist and Moshiach.
This shall be the subject of the next part.
References
| ↑1 | St. Robert Bellarmine, in Controversies of the Christian Religion, p 89. From the Third General Controversy On the Sovereign Pontiff, Book III, On the Antichrist, Ch. 12. Trans. Fr Kenneth Baker, Keep the Faith Press, 2016. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Fr. Charles Arminjohn, The End of This Present World And The Mysteries Of The Life To Come, p 68. Sophia Institute Press, Manchester NH, 2008. |
| ↑3 | Bellarmine 891 |
| ↑4 | “While reading this book my soul was flooded with a happiness quite supernatural. I experienced a foretaste of what God has prepared for those who love Him; and, seeing that eternal rewards are so much in excess of the petty sacrifices of this life, I yearned to love Our Lord, to love Him passionately, and to give Him countless proofs of affection while this was still in my power.” In Arminjon ix. |
| ↑5 | Arminjon 45. |
| ↑6 | Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Melachim uMilchamot 11.4 |
| ↑7 | Maimonides Ibid. 12.5 |
| ↑8 | They [“the wicked Gentiles”] will all return to the true faith and no longer steal or destroy. Maimonides ibid. 12.1 |
| ↑9 | Elijah Benamozegh, Israel and Humanity, p 243. Paulist Press, New York, 1995. https://archive.org/details/israelhumanity0000bena/page/243/ |
| ↑10 | Maionides Ibid. 11.4 |
| ↑11 | Fr Edward Cahill, The Framework of a Christian State, p 232. M.H. Gill & Son Ltd. Dublin, 1932. |
| ↑12 | Fr Denis Fahey, The Kingship of Christ and the Conversion of the Jewish Nation, pp 34. Christian Book Club of America, Palmdale CA., 1953 |
| ↑13 | The Catholic Encyclopaedia writes:
Mershman, Francis. ”St. Hildegard.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. <https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07351a.htm> |
| ↑14 | Rev. R. Gerald Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, p 127. TAN Books, Rockford Illinois, 1974. |
| ↑15 | Ibid. |
| ↑16 | Ibid. |
| ↑17 | “A gentile who studies the Torah is obligated to die. They should only be involved in the study of their seven mitzvot. “Similarly, a gentile who rests, even on a weekday, observing that day as a Sabbath, is obligated to die. Needless to say, he is obligated for that punishment if he creates a festival for himself. “The general principle governing these matters is: They are not to be allowed to originate a new religion or create mitzvot for themselves based on their own decisions. They may either become righteous converts and accept all the mitzvot or retain their statutes without adding or detracting from them. “If a gentile studies the Torah, makes a Sabbath, or creates a religious practice, a Jewish court should beat him, punish him, and inform him that he is obligated to die. However, he is not to be executed.” Maimonides Ibid. 10.9 |
| ↑18 | “A Noahide who is forced by another person to violate one of his commandments is permitted to transgress. Even if he is forced to worship false gods, he may worship them. For Noachides are not commanded to sanctify God’s name.” Ibid. 10.2 |
| ↑19 | Michael Kress, The Modern Noahide Movement, My Jewish Learning. https://web.archive.org/web/20230322212445/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-modern-noahide-movement/ |
| ↑20 | Ibid. |
| ↑21 | bid. |
| ↑22 | Fr Frederick William Faber, Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects, Vol. 2, p 17. Edited by J. E. Bowden, Thomas Richardson and Son, London, 1866. |
| ↑23 | Fr Herman Bernard Kramer, The Book of Destiny, p 319. TAN Books and Publishers, Rockford IL, 1955. |
| ↑24 | In Culleton, 181. |
| ↑25 | Fahey 183 |
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