Question:
I went to a site on the Internet, which claimed to be part of the Old Roman
Catholic Church, but in a table of Apostolic Succession, they listed a
“Luciferian Legacy,” “Female Bishops and Sophias,” and “Occult Orders and
Gnostic Bishops.” Huh ? ? ?
Answer:
I have seen several such sites. Their deceptive claim is very
troubling. They are certainly not affiliated with our Church ! ! !
Nor with any other body of practicing Christians.
“Luciferian” describes something or someone associated with
the Devil. The idea that one might rightly be affiliated with both the
Devil and with any form of Christianity is beyond ridiculous!
Female Bishops are an impossibility. A bishop is one who
possesses the fullness of the priesthood. From the very beginning,
God has recognized only men as His priests —consider Abel, Abraham,
Melchisedech, the sons of Aaron (Moses’ brother), Jesus, the Apostles,
and every age of Catholic and Orthodox history thereafter.
The modern sects with women “priests” have an erroneous notion of the Holy
Sacrifice and the other Sacraments, so even their male ministers are not
sacrificing priests, and have no ability to hear Confessions, to Anoint, to
Confirm, nor to Ordain.
A “Sophia” would seem to refer to a woman who possesses
knowledge that is above and beyond that which can be known by mortals—even
beyond what has been revealed by God.
The idea that any man or woman could have knowledge beyond God’s revelation,
or knowledge that is known by some sort of magical process, is obviously
wrong. This articulates with “Occult Orders and Gnostic Bishops.”
“Gnosticism” comes from a dualist understanding of
reality—spirit is good, created by God, and matter is evil, created by a
lesser “god.” Matter impedes the operation of spirit, and makes knowing God
nearly impossible. In some cases, a series of “emanations” from God may
endow a person with the knowledge (gnosis) necessary for salvation.
Not everyone is capable of receiving emanations, but such special people are
thought to exist—some hold that they can pass their gnosis on to
other people (the Bodhi Sattva of Buddhism is an example of one who
is said to pass on gnosis to people of lesser enlightenment).
Salvation is said to be through gnosis, independently of faith or
good works (which often leads to wild behavior). If the physical body is
trapping the soul, abortion, murder, and suicide might be imagined to be
positively good!
The “Occult” is an attempt to explain reality in terms of
unobservable and unmeasurable forces and qualities—think of alchemy,
astrology, and other forms of magic. Better yet, don’t waste your time
thinking about them at all.
