“You need all your energy to write the book. [The book of which I speak, is a Holy Scripture and is part of the plan which has been revealed in the ‘Book of Kells’.] This book will change lives, save souls and has been foretold. Yes, the book is what was prophesied. You are the writer. I am the Author. (November 12th, 2010)
The Book of Kells is the ancient Iish term for the four Gospels but interestingly. The term has been removed from the original message on 'WarningSecondComing website' though it is still available in some translations.
That is not the only time when the new 'scripture' needed correction. For example, on March 23, 'WarningSecondComing' website amended the message from the previous day that called on ALL the followers to fast from Monday until 15.30 on Good Friday and said that to those 'who do not wish to endure this suffering (fasting) 'I will grant you great blessings', a rather attractive offer - who would not like great blessings after all? Especially if all it took was not to fast during the Holy Week.
What came first, the Church or the Bible?
None of the New Testament writings called themselves Scripture until the Church decided that they should be part of the Bible.
Maria Divine Mercy writes,
“Why do My children ignore these teachings taught by My apostles since the new scriptures were produced?” (30 Nov 2010).
What teachings were taught by Apostles since the New Scriptures were produced? None. As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote,
"It was the New Testament that came out of the Church, not the Church which came out of the New Testament."
 |
“I call only on those who are brave enough to
take up my gauntlet.” MDM message 23/8/2011
(Is Jesus challenging us to a duel?)
|
The New Testament canon was approved and finalized as late as the fourth century A.D. In the early days of the Church there were many writings in circulation supposedly coming from the apostles. Some of them were read in the early Church, such as the 'Shepherd of Hermas' written by Pope Clement,' but they never made it into the final canon. The Church Father in union with the Pope, under guidance of the Holy Spirit determined which writings were inspired. The Councils of Rome (382 A.D.), Hippo (393 A.D), and Carthage (397 A.D.) finalised the list of 27 books of New Testament. None of the twelve Apostles, of course, was alive at that time.
MDM and Sola Scriptura
Catholics see God's revelation as presented through Scripture, Tradition and the teaching body of the Church, the Magisterium. Protestants reject the Sacred Tradition and the Magistrium, claiming that only the Bible (Sola Scriptura) contains all the knowledge necessary for salvation.
Even the Bible itself seems to reject the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, calling the Church 'the pillar and support of the truth' (1 Tim 3: 15), and warning the faithful about the dangers of private interpretation: "At the same time, we must recognise that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual." (2 Pet 1: 20).
This is something that even Luther learnt the hard seeing the chaos Sola Scriptura and private judement in interpreting the Bible produced, he said, "All men now presume to criticise the Gospel, almost every old dotting fool or prating sophist must, forsooth, be a doctor of divinity.'
The result today is thousands of Protestant denominations, all of which claim to rely solely on the Bible and yet cannot agree with each other on a number of points.
Maria Divine Mercy, unlike Catholics, embraces the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and is apparently a Protestant, as she claims,
"The Bible contains the Holy Word of God. The Bible contains the whole Truth. It does not lie. If you deny the Truth contained therein you deny the Word of God. (May 18, 2012).
Though this poses a few questions - if the Bible contains the whole truth, why do we need the Book of Truth? And happens when her messages contradict the Scripture? That should mean that one of them got it wrong, right?
But Maria Divine Mercy has a solution for that:
"My true prophets, for the most part, are ignorant of Holy Scripture or prophecies given to the world out of My Mercy. They do not need to quote extracts from the Holy Bible because I do not ask them to do this. My Word is given as it is. My Holy Bible is sacred. To extract sections out of it, in order to endorse any divine revelation, is not authorised. When a message is given by Me, the prophet writes what I dictate, and is never asked to replicate extracts given to the world by My apostles." (April 28, 2013).
That is very convenient as it takes care of a number of problems - MDM is excusing herself for not knowing the Bible - as this is apparently a sign proving she is a true prophet. Also, nobody, including the Church even, is 'authorised' to examine whether the Book of Truth conforms to the Bible, which is normally the test of authenticity of private revelation - its consistency with Public Revelation.
Though 'it is not authorised', let's take a look at a few such rather striking contradictions.
MDM: ‘I am suffering to such an extent that the wounds inflicted upon Me at My terrible crucifixion…are opening again and festering…’ 13. 11. 2010:
The Bible: because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. Psalm 16: 10
****
MDM ‘Many Christians ignore one of the most fundamental promises I made during My crucifixtion [sic] where I would be present in bread and wine and leave a permanent mark to help nourish souls. 14. 4. 2011
Bible: The only promise given during the Crucifixion is: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 43
****
MDM ‘All paths lead to God, the creator of mankind.’ 21. 11. 2010:
Bible: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ John 14: 6
****
MDM: Don't you know that My Power is Almighty and that I cannot be broken, even though they may break My Bones. 7. 07, 2013.
Bible: 'He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Psalm 34: 20
Reading these one would wonder that maybe it is not 'authorised' to extract sections of the Bible to endorse this supposedly 'divine revelation' because simply the Bible does not endorse it.
Private Revelations and the Bible
There has never been a true seer has ever claimed his or her messages to be equal with Holy Scripture. And even if MDM's messages conformed to the Bible and the teachings of the Church, would it be still possible to put them on par with Holy Scripture? The Church, which is the pillar and support of the truth, teaches the opposite:
Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.(CCC 67)
Of course, according to Maria Divine Mercy the Church shouldn't even attempt to discern these messages - she tells us,
"Never try to analyse My Messages for you do not need to do so. My Word is My Word. No man can defend My Word for it is cast in stone. Any man who tries to break My Word or cast aspersions on it, will fail for they are powerless against My Holy Word. (July 2 2012).
So that apparently means the Church, without any discernment or study, should add MDM messages to the Bible, and maybe even include it in the Mass readings? Then we would probably find ourselves listening to such pearls of wisdom from MDM:
“They will never deviate from the truth no more than you. My beloved followers, can sway the truth to suit your interpretation.” 28/12/2010
“Remember God the Father is now in charge of His Kingdom which no man can tumble. Any attempt to do so will result in failure.” 14/7/2011
“Keep praying for those sacred servants of Mine who will, like Judas before them, kiss Me on one cheek while betraying Me with the other. 28/1/2013
“Many people reject them [God’s visionaries]. Even more reject those visionaries who have made themselves known to the world.” 29/11/2012
Or these threats against those who dare to speak against Maria Divine Mercy's revelations:
When you spit at Me, you will become blind and will never see again. When you utter words of hatred, your tongue will be cut out. When you stand up and declare to all your self-proclaimed knowledge of God, you will fall with your legs cut from under you. When you deem My prophet to be evil, you will have no life. (May 4th, 2013).
Compare that to Matthew 12: 32;
"And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next."
Is she equal to the Holy Spirit - one wonders.
Such threats are fairly common in her writings, since they are apparently crucial for the salvation of mankind,
“You, My beloved faithful are now being called by me to stand up and defend My Holy Word so that mankind can be saved.” (15/11/2011),
Though more common is the admonition not to defend the messages, as in
“My daughter you must not respond or try to defend My word.(23/5/2011:)
Supposedly they can stand on their own. That takes care of the problem effectively because it is quite impossible to defend them. The only way to defend them is to refuse to defend them. Better change the topic. Attack Pope Francis for example. Works almost every time.
So is Maria Divine Mercy writing new Scripture? Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for us, Catholics, she is not.
The Catholic Church teaches that public revelation is already complete:
"...no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries (CCC 66)
And
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations". (CCC 67).
Maria Divine Mercy is not writing 'new scripture'; she is rather creating a new religion, a Catholic sect with its own 'holy book'.
Such holy books were already written, like the Koran written by Mohammed or the Book of Mormon written by Joseph Smith. Those two books claim not only divine origin, but they are supposedly not written by humans even - just like MDM who uses automatic writing to get her messages.
The Bible, on the other hand, has human authors who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (CCC 136 ).
We, Catholics, already have the Book of Truth and it is called the Holy Bible; we should take seriously what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it,
"The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. (CCC 103).
Perhaps if we had better knowledge of the true Word of God, we would not fall for any counterfeits as the badly written, heretical and at times plain silly messages of Maria Divine Mercy ironically called 'The Book of Truth'.
