We’re Absorbing You: The External Force That Many Are Falling For – Not Unity, But Absorption
“The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” — Revelation 18:3
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you still tremble at the Word of God—if the thunder of Luther’s hammer on the Wittenberg door still rings in your ears—then hear this: Rome is not coming with a battering ram. She is coming with a handshake. No papal bull will be nailed to your church door announcing, “We own you now.” Instead, you will wake up one Sunday to find your pastor quoting Laudato Si’ in the sermon, your youth group praying the Rosary “for unity,” and the Vatican flag flying beside the cross at the ecumenical picnic. And you will wonder how it happened.
It happened slowly. It happened subtly. It happened like communism: death by a thousand cuts.
The Velvet Knife: How Rome Absorbs Protestant Denominations Without Announcing
The Reformers saw it clearly.
- Martin Luther (1545): “The Pope is the very Antichrist.”
- John Calvin (Institutes IV.2.12): “The Roman Antichrist… sits in the temple of God.”
- John Knox: “That Roman harlot… drunk with the blood of the saints.”
They did not mince words. Why? Because Rome’s system is not a harmless variant of Christianity—it is a rival gospel that elevates tradition above Scripture, images above the invisible God, and a man in white robes above the King of kings.
And yet, in the last 50 years of ecumenism, we have watched four major Protestant communions—Lutherans, Reformed, Methodists, Anglicans—sign documents that say, in effect:
“We agree on justification… mostly.” “We recognize each other’s baptisms… sort of.” “We’re all climbing the same mountain to the same God.”
That is not unity. That is absorption.
Exhibit A: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ 1999) – A Reformed Critique
The Lutheran World Federation signed it. The World Methodist Council joined in 2006. The Anglicans in 2016. The World Communion of Reformed Churches in 2017.
On the surface: “We agree that salvation is by grace through faith.” Underneath: “Works are the fruit of faith… and necessary for final salvation.”
Wait—necessary? That is Trent, Session VI, Canon 24—anathema to every Reformer who ever lived.
Luther would have burned the document. Calvin would have called it “a perfumed poison.” But today? It’s taught in seminaries as “progress.”
Related: Sola Fide vs Catholic Justification – What Does the Bible Say?
Exhibit B: Sistine Chapel Ecumenical Prayer, October 23, 2025 – Anglican Drift to Rome
King Charles III—Supreme Governor of the Church of England—prays with Pope Leo XIV under Michelangelo’s frescoes. They sing together. They call it “fraternal closeness.” The King is named “Royal Confrater.”
No doctrinal union. No merger. Just a photo op that says: “We’re family.”
And the world cheers. And the watchmen sleep.
Exhibit C: Pentecostal-Catholic Charismatic Convergence (1967–Present)
It started at Duquesne University. Catholic students “baptized in the Spirit.” Speaking in tongues. Slain in the Spirit. Side by side with Jesuits.
No one said, “We’re Catholic now.” They said:
“We’re experiencing the same Holy Spirit.” “We’re united in love.” “It’s the same mountain.”
By the 1980s, John MacArthur saw the danger. In Strange Fire (1983, expanded 2013), he warned:
“The charismatic movement is a bridge. And Rome is on the other side.”
He was right. Today, charismatic megachurches stream Vatican-approved “healing masses.” They pray to Mary “as a fellow believer.” They call it “convergence.”
The Communist Parallel: Death by a Thousand Ecumenical Cuts
Communism didn’t win with tanks. It won with:
- Textbooks
- Hollywood
- “Tolerance”
- “Equality”
- “We just want to help the poor.”
Rome’s ecumenical strategy wins the same way:
- Ecumenical dialogues (1970s)
- Joint prayer services (1980s)
- Shared social justice statements (1990s)
- Evangelicals and Catholics Together (1994)
- JDDJ (1999)
- Sistine Chapel selfies (2025)
Each cut is small. Each cut is “loving.” Each cut bleeds the Reformation dry.
The Idolatry God Hates: Statues, Relics, and Mary Worship
Exodus 20:4–5
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image… You shall not bow down to them or serve them.”
Rome’s response?
- Golden monstrances
- Jeweled statues
- Relics (bones, hair, even trousers)
- Mary crowned as Queen of Heaven
This is not “honor.” This is idolatry—the same sin that brought Israel into exile.
1 Timothy 2:5
“There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Rome’s response?
- “Mary is Mediatrix.”
- “Saints intercede.”
- “Pray to them.”
This is not “help.” This is blasphemy.
When Human Wisdom Trumps God’s Absolute Authority: The Women Elders Example
The same velvet knife that opens the door to Rome also slices away every other clear command of Scripture the moment culture demands it.
If you claim to honor sola Scriptura, why would you ever change one jot or one tittle (Matthew 5:18)? God did not stutter. He did not leave room for “contextual interpretation” when the stakes are eternal.
Biblical Case Study: Women Elders and Pastors
1 Timothy 2:12
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”
1 Timothy 3:2
“Therefore an overseer must be… the husband of one wife.”
Titus 1:6
“If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife…”
Clear. Unambiguous. Rooted in creation order, not culture:
1 Timothy 2:13–14
“For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived…”
This is God’s design from the beginning—before the Fall, before Israel, before Rome, before feminism. The Almighty who spoke galaxies into existence ordered His Church the same way He ordered marriage and the family.
Yet today, churches that once thundered sola Scriptura now install women elders and pastors. They say:
“Culture has changed.” “The Spirit is doing a new thing.” “Paul was just addressing a local issue.”
Who told you that was okay?
- Not Moses.
- Not Paul.
- Not Peter.
- Certainly not Christ, the Head of the Church.
If you will rewrite one clear command to suit the spirit of the age, you have already surrendered the battlefield. Rome smiles. The absorption is complete.
The Distinguishing Mark of True Worship: Sola Scriptura vs Cultural Compromise
The world says: “Love = Unity = Compromise.” God says: “Love = Truth = Separation from falsehood.”
John 4:23–24
“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
Not in incense. Not in statues. Not in human mediators. Not in cultural concessions.
Soli Deo gloria. Sola Scriptura. Solus Christus.
Anything less is absorption.
A Reformed Watchman’s Cry: Resist Ecumenism and Cultural Drift
You will not see a banner that says, “Welcome back to Rome.” You will see:
- A shared hymn
- A joint statement
- A “unity” conference
- A pope on a very large video display screen
- A woman elder preaching “in Jesus’ name”
And one day, your grandchildren will ask:
“Grandpa, what was the Reformation?”
Sound the alarm. Teach your children. Read the Reformers. Test everything by Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Rome is patient. Culture is relentless. But Christ is coming.
And when He returns, He will not ask:
“Did you get along with everyone?”
He will ask:
“Did you keep My Word?” (John 14:23)
Stand fast. Do not be absorbed. Soli Deo gloria.
— A Watchman on the Wall
