THE ORIGINS OF ROMANISM
The Church of Rome has claimed from long ago to be the "true church".  It recognises no other as a Christian Church.  This is the reason for her not joining the World Council of Churches in the past and for her support of the new set up replacing the British Council of Churches, "Not Strangers But Pilgrims".  However we must enquire how this great body which we claim, on evidence from the Bible and history, to be apostate came into being from heathenism.

THE CLAIMS OF ROME
It claims it was founded by St Peter, the fisherman disciple of Jesus.  There is however no real evidence that Peter was ever in Rome and from the history of the early church and the principal events of the history of the Roman Empire at that time it is very unlikely.  In the 1st Epistle of Peter (1 Peter 5:13) he sends greetings to the dispersed Jews to whom he writes from Babylon.  He was the apostle to the circumcision, Christian Jews who had received Christ.  After 63AD and the Jewish war against the Romans multitudes of Jews, and Christian Jews among them, fled east from Palestine to Babylon.  We find Peter at Antioch in a dispute with Paul; this was on the way to Babylon, Galatians 2:9.  The end of the epistle to the Romans has the longest list of friends remembered as it closes.  According to Roman tradition Peter would have been residing in Rome, leading the infant church, but he is not mentioned in that list; the undoubted reason was that he was not there.  The idea of bishops ruling whole areas of the church did not appear till the time of the Emperor Constantine.

HOW IT DEVELOPED
During the reigns of ten Emperors, beginning with Nero and ending with Diocletian, the Christian Church was physically and bitterly persecuted.  Many thousands perished, thrown to the lions in Roman Arenas, crucified, burnt alive, or died of privation and torture in the prisons.  Nothing however could destroy the Church and when Constantine became Emperor in 323AD he made the Christian religion the official religion of the Roman Empire.  The previous emperors had been closely connected with paganism and held the title Pontifex Maximus - supreme priest.  A Christian emperor, even if only nominally so, denied this and renounced his title.  It was later adopted by the Popes.  He was no longer deified (regarded as a god) and worshipped.  The pagan priests now turned to a formal Christianity and renounced paganism.  This was not true conversion so that they professed Christ but were still at heart Pagan.  The Pagan festivals were given Christian names and connections and the Pagan heroes were replaced by Christian saints.  The ceremony of the Lord's Supper was gradually transformed into the Mass which was the "unbloody sacrifice" to Jupiter in a Christian form.  Much was based falsely on the Old Testament Jewish priesthood, temple and sacrifices.

A STRIKING EXAMPLE
The Pantheon in Rome is a wonderful example of this change.  Its name means "all the gods" and it was a heathen temple built in 27 BC.  When later the Roman Emperors became "Christian" it was adapted into the use of a Christian Church.  It has become the Westminster Abbey of Rome; in it are buried artists and members of the Italian Royalty.  The most striking features are the various pre-Christian idol figures that are now supposed to depict figures of Christ, St Joseph and others.  Originally they were pagan idols made before Christ was born.

THE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN
One of the most striking of all these adaptations from heathenism and certainly the most important, is the worship of a female deity with a child in its arms, supposed to represent the Mother of Christ, Mary the Mother of Jesus.  The ancient world worshipped such a goddess.  She appears again and again in the Old Testament as Ashtaroth.  The groves we read of in the Old Testament were planted in her honour.  She was known to the Phoenicians as Ashtaroth, to the Greeks as Astarte and the Romans as VENUS.  She was given some very elaborate titles, one of which was "the Queen of Heaven" (see Jeremiah), a title used by Roman Catholics today for the Virgin Mary.  In Roman Catholic theology she is styled thus, a title never used of her in Scripture after her marriage to Joseph.  There she is always "Mary the mother of Jesus".  She is seen in Mark 6 as the mother of a considerable family of four sons, other than Christ, and at least two daughters.  The present Pope and the Jesuit order are deeply devoted to this heathen worship as is Cardinal Hume and it has flooded over into the Church of England in the awful shrine at Walsingham.  Little by little the cult of the Virgin has been fostered and has grown into a very great system.  She is regarded as the co-redemptionist with our Lord by many.  In 1854 she was declared sinless in the Immaculate Conception decree of that year.  In 1950 her body was declared to have been assumed into heaven after death.  All this has been borrowed or developed from paganism.

HOW THE MONKS AND NUNS BEGAN
In old Pagan Rome there was a system in support of the old pagan religion of certain Vestal Virgins, women devoted to the gods.  They were made to take vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.  This was a long established Pagan practise; it was adopted by Rome as she developed the system of monasticism for both men and women.  In the Pagan religions virginity was highly esteemed and this was adopted by Romanism, yet the Scriptures teach that marriage is honourable in all.  Thus the system of Monks and Nuns became grafted on the ancient Church both East and West.  It did not have the sanction of the Bible.

FORMS, CANDLES, VOTIVE LIGHTS AND VESTMENTS
There are many other devotions borrowed by Romanism from pagan practice.  The Rosary is a string of beads used to prompt the user to say certain prayers, especially to the Virgin Mary.  There are several forms of this used in the Roman Church.  The use of candles and votive lights was also copied from the pagan worship where it was a most important part of the ceremonies and ornaments of Pagan Temples.  The Garments of the Bishops and Priests were copied from pagan vestments.  There are no directions for such things under the New Covenant at all.  In the Old Testament they had significance in setting forth Christ and the Gospel, but were abolished by His perfect sacrifice.  The vail of the Temple was rent in twain and the way to God by Christ alone opened.