There are many people who are familiar with Keith Green and his music, and it would be an understatement to say that Keith was a powerful minister of Jesus Christ in his songs. Keith did more than sing and worship the Lord. He preached to the people through his songs, and he made a great impact during his short life as a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is most unfortunate that Keith died in a small plane crash in 1982, along with ten others, which included two of his children, Josiah and Bethany, an entire Missionary family of seven, and the Pilot. When I came to know the Lord in 1989 I read his book No Compromise as well as numerous tracts that his ministry distributed.
Many people do not realize that Keith Green was also very outspoken against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and he published a series of must-read articles in tract form which I discovered at Grace Gems, entitled The Catholic Chronicles.
Here is the conclusion that Keith Green reached and that which he ended The Catholic Chronicles:
“Conclusion”
It is obvious by even this brief glimpse into the doctrines of mortal and venial sins, confession, penance, and purgatory, that the Roman Catholic Church has constructed one of the most unbiblical doctrinal systems that has ever been considered “Christian”. The fear, anguish, and religious bondage that such a system of “reward and punishment” creates, has tormented millions of lives for centuries, and continues to prey on those who are ignorant of the biblical way of salvation.
To merely call such a system “a cult”, would be to throw it into the vast category of religions and quasi-religions that are currently making the rounds of our college campuses and city streets, snatching up many an unsuspecting youth. No, the Roman Church is not a cult. It’s an empire!
With its own ruler, its own laws, and its own subjects! The empire has no borders, it encompasses the globe with its eye on every person who does not vow allegiance. It calls the members of other faiths “separated brethren” (The term used by Vatican II to describe the members of Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant churches.) and has as its goal the eventual bringing together of everyone under its flag.
I know that many will not be convinced or moved by this article (or any of the others) to make such a conclusion. They are impressed by what they’ve heard about recent stirrings among the Catholics in the “charismatic renewal”. Many evangelicals (especially Charismatics) have been thrilled by the reports of Catholics speaking in tongues, dancing in the Spirit, having nights of joy and praise, even attending “charismatic masses”.
Mouths that used to speak out boldly against the Church of Rome have been quieted by the times. It no longer is in vogue to speak of the pope as “the antichrist” (Although the following people unhesitatingly did: Martin Luther, John Bunyan, John Huss, John Wycliffe, John Calvin, William Tyndale, John Knox, Thomas Bacon, John Wesley, Samuel Cooper, John Cotton, and Jonathan Edwards.) or the Catholic Church as the “whore of Babylon”. Now Protestants unwittingly believe that “our differences are not so great”. Ah, that is just what She needs us to think!
