The Magical World of Cultist

By c.pio

These past few weeks, I have been busy attending my FB account … I found myself answering and addressing some baseless accusations against True Church founded by Christ – The Catholic Church. Here are few funny but worth noting examples:

The Case: Pope Silvester II (c. 946 – 12 May 1003)

Birth name: Gerbert d'Aurillac, was a prolific scholar, teacher, and Pope. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab/Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics, and astronomy, reintroducing to Europe the abacus and armillary sphere, which had been lost to Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman era.

Pope Silvester II, as a scientist, was said to be far ahead of his time. He wrote a series of works dealing with matters of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music), which he taught using the basis of the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric). In Rheims, he constructed a hydraulic-powered organ with brass pipes that excelled all previously known instruments, where the air had to be pumped manually. He may have been the author of a description of the astrolabe that was edited by Hermannus Contractus some 50 years later. Besides these, as a Pope he wrote a dogmatic treatise, De corpore et sanguine Domini—On the Body and Blood of the Lord. (Wikipedia.org)

The Argument:  Raymond C Ako (Iglesia ni Cristo fanatic member)

PAPA: SI SILVESTRE II AY PINANINIWALAANG TINULUNGAN NG DEMONYO (POPE SILVESTER II WAS BELIEVE HELPED BY THE DEMONS)

"SYLVESTER II INTRODUCED ARABIC NUMERALS INTO THE WESTERN WORLD,
"MANY PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THAT THIS POPE WAS ELECTED WITH THE HELP OF THE DEVIL" (THE POPES,page 40)

According to him, the legend is true that he (Gerbert d’Aurillac known as Pope Silvester II) connived with the Demons to gain such knowledge and have the see of Peter.

I really don’t know how this professed ‘Bible only’? cult believes such magical Legend. But then again, one thing is for sure… they will use anything under the sun to attack us.

“SYLVESTER II INTRODUCED ARABIC NUMERALS INTO THE WESTERN WORLD”

Mr. Blake Morris in his novel “The Justification of Johann Gutenberg” wonderfully illustrates the answer how the ARABIC NUMERAL seen as Demonic Symbols by Medieval Western World that explain how poor Pope Silvester II was accused of conniving with the Demons:

Arithmetic in that school was taught with Arabic numerals. It was only when I had grown the legs for my second school, at the monastery of St. Viktor, a three-mile walk from home,  that I found what heresy these symbols were. Asked on my first morning to write down one to nine, I put the numbers as my old teacher had shown me – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 – and felt proud at forming them neatly. But Brother Benedict, the ancient monk appointed my new teacher… shook with rage when he saw what I had done.

               ‘What infidel language is this?’ he bawled.

               ‘They are numbers, master.’

               ‘They are the work of Satan.’

… Seeing how I trembled myself, he spoke more mildly to me, and having slashed out my offence with angry flourishes of his pen, he tenderly crafted his chaste reply: I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,VII,IX.

‘Observe’, he said, ‘the pure and beautiful simplicity. With Roman Numerals, you need master only three signs to write nine numbers.

…’May I ask a question, master? How do I make nought (zero)? ‘There is no such sign,’ he said, freshly displeased. ‘As a Christians, you must forget the notion of nought. In God’s universe, everything is alive and inhabited, even hell. There is never nothing.’ ‘But how can I do sums without a nought?’ ‘I repeat: there is no such number. The closest God allows us to come to nothing is purgatory. But even purgatory, though an in-between, is still a living place, not nought. … nought is the sign of Devil.

[Other point of how the medieval Christian Europe hated the Arabic Numerals as to compare in Roman Numerals it is because the latter reminds of something very Christians: X = 10 - the Cross, Christ Redemptive Act; L= 50 - Incomplete or half: power of Lucifer; C=100 Christ, Complete and you could ask no more. but in Arabic Numeral, all these reminders are not present.]

Funny it may sounds, but I think Iglesia ni Manalo Cult believe in these superstitious meaning of numbers and the ‘nought/zero’ is the sign of Devil. So since they believe that the Legend is true, I challenge them if they don’t use the symbol ‘0’ in any of their documents otherwise they connive with the demon.  =)

Next issue: the case of Santa Claus 

Arcee Ofthepast katoliko lang ang meron nyan (only catholic has it) member of Ang Dating Daan.