The Perfect Trap

THE PERFECT
TRAP
JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES
SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFA Y ESTADSTICA, A. C.
DECEPTIONS
INTO WHICH
RELIGIOUS
LEADERS HAVE
FALLEN
THROUGHOUT
HISTORY
ACERCA DEL AUTOR
JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES es miembro
de la SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFA Y
ESTADSTICA, A.C. que es la sociedad cientfca
y cultural ms antigua del continente americano,
al haber sido fundada en el ao de 1833 por el
entonces Presidente de Mxico don Valentn
Gmez Faras.
El autor forma parte del Consejo Acadmico
Nacional de dicha institucin, al fungir como Pre-
sidente de una de sus Academias, y ha escrito
una gran cantidad de libros sociales, econmicos,
cvicos, ecolgicos, demogrfcos, histricos y de
anlisis diversos; algunos de los cuales han sido
traducidos al idioma ingls.
www.juanmanuelochoat.blogspot.mx/
About the author
JUAN MANUAL OCHOA TORRES is a
Certifed Public Accountant with Postgraduate
studies in International Commerce.
He is a member of the Sociedad Mexicana
de Geografa y Estadstica, A.C. (Mexican
Society of Geography and Statistics) and
is the author of a large number of books on
social, economic, ecological, civic, religious
and demographic issues, some of which have
been translated into English.
THE
PERFECT
TRAP
Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres
2
Original title in Spanish: La trampa perfecta
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres
FIRST EDITION: OCTOBER 2010
ISBN: 978-607-7944-10-2
Registration number:
03-2014-050913192700-01
Copyright Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres
To correspond with the author:
Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres:
mailjmot@gmail.com
www.juanmanuelochoat.blogspot.com
Justo Sierra 19 Centro Histrico
Telephones +52 (55) 5542 73 41 & 5522 2055
Mxico 06020, D.F.
MEXICO
Typography and book binding:
Luis Tovar Carrillo
tecnografca64@gmail.com
Translated to English by:
TLS Bureau and Marie-France Fortoul
marifrance60@hotmail.com
The total or partial reproduction of this book is prohibited
without the authorization of the authors.

THE PERFECT TRAP
3
CONTENTS
PAGE
PROLOGUE ......................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 7

CHAPTER I .......................................................................... 11
TRAPS
Background ................................................................................... 11
Different procedures ....................................................................... 12
Ways of deceiving ......................................................................... 16
CHAPTER II ......................................................................... 19
RIGHT DIRECTION
Importance .................................................................................... 19
Biblical perspective ........................................................................ 23
Pontiff .......................................................................................... 30
Apostolic succession and its history .................................................. 33
Creation of the papacy ................................................................... 41
Personal consequences ................................................................... 43
Social consequences ...................................................................... 48
CHAPTER III ........................................................................ 61
INTERCESSORS
Placebos ....................................................................................... 61
Intercessor .................................................................................... 62
Saints ........................................................................................... 80
One saint, two visions .................................................... 85
CHAPTER IV ....................................................................... 91
COMMUNICATION
Importance .................................................................................... 91
The right way ................................................................................. 93
False routes? ................................................................................. 98
The rosary and its true origin ............................................................ 102
4
CHAPTER V ........................................................................ 107
THE WAY
The common denominator .............................................................. 107
Way ............................................................................................. 110
Projection towards our world ........................................................... 112
Disorder ....................................................................................... 116
Order .......................................................................................... 123
EPILOGUE ................................................................................................... 127
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A ....................................................................... 133
ONE OF THE MOST LIKELY PLACES WHERE PETER ALSO
PRACTICED HIS MINISTRY
APPENDIX B ........................................................................ 135
THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
APPENDIX C ....................................................................... 141
BACKGROUND OF THE ROSARY
APPENDIX D ........................................................................ 145
SYNOPSIS OF THE MORMON CHURCH OR CHURCH OF
THE LATTER DAY SAINTS
APPENDIX E ........................................................................ 151
THE LOSER SYNDROME. PERSPECTIVES AND MOTIVES
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION ........................................................................... 155

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... 158
THE PAINTER WE DO NOT SEE ............................................... 159
THE PERFECT TRAP
5
PROLOGUE
You have surely wondered on more than one occasion
why things do not work properly in the world.
What is the reason for wars, hatred, envy, racism, hunger
and other countless problems? Could it be that our world
is badly designed?
Or could it be, as others say, that there is no God in the
universe because, if he existed, everything would work
perfectly?
Why are there so many problems, even in our own lives?
Throughout this book you will be presented with a differ-
ent perspective on these and other questions. I must warn
you, though. It might make you see things differently.
6
THE PERFECT TRAP
7
INTRODUCTION
Do not expect this book to contain a philosophical mes-
sage.
You have surely already realized that while philosophy
raises questions, it is religion that proposes the answers.
And though, through philosophy, we have been able to
learn interesting philosophical theorieswithin a merely
human contextthe real answer and authentic meaning
of life cannot come from any human being, nor from all
of us put together.
The reason for this is very simple. The real answer can
only come from God. Therefore, those of us who believe
in Jesus Christ will consider that the only, true way comes
from Him alone. Why?
Because Jesus Christ was not merely a wise man, as some
say. Nor was he merely an outstanding philosopher, as
others assure us, or a kind of visionary. He was God him-
self, who acquired a human nature with a single specic
purpose: you, I and us all.
The force of his message is such that it could have trans-
formed the world completely and fully.
Nevertheless, a supercial observer of the current situ-
ation might think that our world does not function as
it should, which encourages many to think that things
were badly planned or even worse, as others say, per-
haps there is no God.
8
What happens is that for reasons unknown to the human
being, a series of apparently positive forces interacts in
our world together with other negative forces.
Furthermore, if we analyze things a little more deeply,
we will realize that the world, as we now know it, is a
kind of work in progress, in other words, something
unnished.
In the face of this situation, I will try, through this book,
to show you a different perspective, which you may not
have considered. What do I mean? Allow me to explain.
That interaction of negative and positive forces has a
specic purpose we can begin to see only partly because
their full repercussions and scope are only known by
our Creator.
But inside those elements considered negative, an en-
tity that has performed a very unique role throughout
creation occupies a key place. And, while many in the
modern world, albeit supposedly considered so devel-
oped, have assigned it a more mythological than real
role, we must reassign its true signicance and risks to
this malevolent character. Why?
From the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, and given
that He spoke clearly to us of both his existence and his
way of acting, the thing changes completely and cannot
be sidestepped.
Now, what is his preferred way of acting? How does
he act to set a trap for even the best intentioned? It is
possible to protect oneself from his deceptions? What
are his objectives?
Throughout this book, in a very well founded manner,
I will describe many of the key tricks that have been
employed throughout human history, as well as some of
the consequences this has caused.
THE PERFECT TRAP
9
He who does not know history is condemned to repeat it
was not said in vain, therefore, let us nd out more about
his tricks and this will help us take care of the different
key elements in everyones life.
10
THE PERFECT TRAP
11
CHAPTER I
TRAPS
BACKGROUND
The word trap comes from two regions and this term
could have been inuenced from both of them. On the
one hand, it comes from German, specically from the
word tramp, and it also derives from the Latin term
trappa.
1
In olden days, this word meant contraption for hunting
animals, through something that was activated by being
stepped on.
But words evolve with the passing of the centuries and
this term was extended and also applied to some tricks
to be used against human beings.
That is why trap today means something like plan for
deceiving someone.
Earlier on I said that this deceitful procedure is the basic
reason why things dont work well in our world and,
believe me, I meant it.
Throughout his book, I will try to explain what I mean
and you will have the last word.
1
BREVE DICCIONARIO ETIMOLGICO DE LA LENGUA CASTELLANA
(ABRIDGED ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF CASTILIAN SPANISH), Joan
Corominas, EDITORIAL GREDOS (Spain) and BREVE DICCIONARIO ETI-
MOLGICO DE LA LENGUA ESPAOLA (ABRIDGED ETYMOLOGICAL DICTION-
ARY OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE), Guido Gmez de Silva, EDITORIAL
FONDO DE CULTURA ECONMICA (Mexico).
12
But before I get down to business, let me tell you that
when God designed our world, He wanted and wants the
best for us, but as I also said, a trickster wanders around,
enemy of God and of man, and what he wants is precisely
the opposite. Why does it happen so?
DIFFERENT PROCEDURES
The differences between our God and that enemy are
vast, since both are intrinsically different from each other.
On the one hand, we will see that the source of Truth is
God and, in contrast, the true father of lies is this entity
I speak of, since even the Lord himself dened him as
the true father of lies.
2
Let us look at it from several points of view. If we analyze
the objectives of one and of the other, we will see that
they are radically opposed.
God wishes the best for man. Christ dened the action
of God as a generator of life in abundance.
Conversely, that enemyas Jesus Christ also saidhas
come to steal, destroy and kill.
3
Now, if we look at it from the perspective of the power
each of us holds, we will realize that he who has the true
power and absolute authority is God. Conversely the
enemy, while he does also have power, it is very inferior
to that of God.
2
Gospel according to St. John 8:44 When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
3
Gospel according to St. John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly.
THE PERFECT TRAP
13
By way of an example, let me mention an occasion where
both powers came face to face.
Observe closely the total subjugation this evil entity
manifests before God.
On that occasion, Christ faced a demon-possessed
Gadarene, an event described in the rst three Gospels,
4

where we read how this entity rst questions the Lord
with the following words:
What is your issue with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you
come here early to destroy us?
And there you will see that a little later, and just so you
can see the total subjugation they have before God, Christ
asks him with authority:
What is your name?
Let me emphasize something: had there not been total
subjugation of these entities before God, do you know
what? They could not have even answered him, or they
could have said something or other, but analyze the terms
used to reply:
My name is Legion because we are many.
And so that there is no doubt of their total subjugation,
look how they ask for his permission before taking the
next step:
If you throw us out, allow us to go to those swine
4
Episode referred to in the Gospels according to St. Matthew 8:28;
St. Mark 5:2; and St. Luke 8:26.
14
And I insist, it wasnt until the Lord permitted it, that
they could enter.
I mean, there is no doubt that there is total subjugation
before God, though it must be highlighted that for some
reason only the Lord knows, He allows those entities to
still act in our world.
But one very important thing that must be highlighted
is that the way of acting of both is also completely dif-
ferent, you see, God plays clean, speaking truthfully
and openly, while the evil entity operates in a sly,
treacherous and lying manner.
Another difference we can observe is that this enemy
is not even intelligent, since if he were, he would have
realized from the start that all true life comes solely from
God and all authority in the universe should be only His.
And by being so different, their weapons or procedures
will also be different.
Some of the Lords weapons are the strength of reason,
love and conviction towards those who follow him, but
guess what the enemys main weapon will be: traps and
deception.
Let us analyze a little more the main characteristic of a
trap, taking the case of a physical trap from olden days.
A deep pit would be dug and some very sharp stakes
would be fastened, pointing upwards, to its lower part and
the upper part would have to be hidden with branches,
leaves or some earth.

I mean, the basic distinguishing feature of a contraption
of this nature is that it must not look like a trap, and
THE PERFECT TRAP
15
seen from above should give the impression of being
something absolutely and completely harmless and must
look like a simple path. Whats more, it must look like a
smoother and more attractive path than the other.
If a mouse happily walks through a basement and sud-
denly sees a seductive piece of cheese, half tied to a piece
of wood and some wire, it denitely does not imagine
that this little board is called a mousetrap. He just sees
it as a golden opportunity to eat a very delicious piece
of cheese.
As a test of this, I invite you to see how that enemy has
placed different traps for humans throughout the cen-
turies.
If we go to the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis, when
the enemy tempts Eve through the serpent, we will see
that he obviously did not speak truthfully to her. If he
had spoken honestly to her, he would have said something
like this: I invite you to make an enemy of God, that you
disobey him and thus all the earth will be cursed because
of you, so that you have to confront death and suffering,
both for you and for your descendents.
Did he say it like that? Not at all. Look at how he sets out
the matter.
5
So the serpent said to the women: you will not die; but God
knows that the day you eat of him your eyes will be open and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil
Analyzing this way of acting, we will see that it contains
the basic characteristic of a trap: that it does not look
like one.
5
First book of Moses, GENESIS 3:4.
16
It looks like something attractive and innocent, thus want-
ing to do a favor for that person who is being deceived.
If we had been wiser, we would have realized that the
orders of God are not to be questioned, since if something
had been good for man, the Lord of Heaven himself would
have told us beforehand.
And when He prohibits something, it is because that
something is damaging and harmful for man.
And something that is often forgotten is that while God
is concerned that man comes to harm, the enemy is not.
He could not care less about harm to humans. He wants
Gods work on earth to fail and for his plan not to work.
And I repeat, while Gods weapons are truth, justice and
love, the enemys weapons are lies, deception and TRAPS.
WAYS OF DECEIVING
Analyze the following case: when the enemy wants a
person to take someone elses life, no less, if he spoke to
him truthfully, he would have to say something like this:
I invite you to commit one of the most abominable acts
before God and Man. Take the life of that person. With
that action, you will carry that blame forever on your
conscience and will lose peace for the rest of your days.

Do you think he would put it like that? No way! On the
contrary, he will say something similar to this: Look,
if you take that persons life you will be doing good for
society, and no one will even realize. Whats more, be
quick because that person wants to take your life.
Look at this other example: if the evil entity tried to get
someone hooked on drugs and spoke truthfullywhich is
THE PERFECT TRAP
17
not the casehe would say something like this: I invite
you to destroy your mind, your body and your future.
That substance will make you lose consciousness,
leading you to commit acts that are even criminal,
which you will then regret. And to top it all, you will
be trapped with those substances, which will not only
damage you in a way you cannot imagine, but will also
hurt your family, work and pocket.
Would he put it like that? No, because that wouldnt
work for him.
He is going to put everything in such an attractive way
that he will convince many. He will say to his future
victims that this substance will bring them true happi-
ness and that they will be stronger, and who knows what
else. And heaven help that poor person who heeds him.
And he will do something similar whenever he wants
someone to indulge in lust, robbery, greed, pride and
countless things where, of course, he will not tell the
truth, but will rather present everything in a deceitful
manner because that is precisely the characteristic of a
trap: that it must not look like one.
Remember the case of a physical trap from olden times. The
sharp stakes at the bottom of the pit were perfectly hidden
so that from above everything looked attractive and safe.
The better hidden the trap, the better it works.
And, so, now that Jesus Christ has come to the world
with his extraordinary message, what will the en-
emy do? Is he going to retire, or will he go some-
where else? No. And since he cannot get a property
deed or something similar, his only weapon will be:
to carry out countless more tricks.
18
That must be why one of the main recommendations of
the Apostle Peter was:
6
Be sober and watch: because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking
whom he may devour.
This warning basically refers to his attitude because, in
terms of his physical form, believe me, he would be much
less dangerous if he were to physically walk like a lion,
since that would enable us to identify him because what
makes him extremely dangerous is that he is disguised.
And very craftily, he lays traps everywhere and where
you least expect.
That will be the exact objective of this book, which is
why I will try to briey expound on these traps in the
following chapters, as well as several of their effects.
The following cases will show you how the basic charac-
teristic of a trap is used: it does not look like one and its
victims at the time see it as harmless and even innocent.
Though, if we are observant, we will notice that in all
these cases there was a difference. It was always neces-
sary to make improper modicationsalbeit apparently
slight on occasionto that specied by God.
What you will also notice is that they were presented as
a better path, a shorter, more practical path. Analyze,
then, the following chapters and at the end you yourself
will be able to express your opinion.
6
1st Letter to St. Peter 5:8.
THE PERFECT TRAP
19
CHAPTER II
RIGHT DIRECTION
IMPORTANCE
If someone wished that a certain boat did not arrive at its
destination, tell me, how do you think he could proceed?
It is very simple. He would just make sure that it went
in the wrong direction.
I remember once seeing a documentary on a cargo boat
that had left a port on the west coast of America and was
due to head to an island located halfway across the Pacic.
Due to an unfortunate circumstance, someone placed an
electronic appliance next to the compass, which caused
certain magnetic interference, which in turn made the
boat involuntarily go off course, which at the time was
not detected.
After several days, the more experienced sailors were
wondering if the sun should be in that position at that
time of day.
They went to the captain and the steersman, who con-
dently pointed to the compass, saying, Im following
the direction and exact degrees shown by the compass.
You can check for yourselves.
At that point, someone removed the electronic appliance
that had been accidently placed next to it and what a
surprise! The compass positioned itself in a different
direction, which in this case was the correct one.
They all realized that for many hours they had been go-
ing in the wrong directiondue to interference in the
20
compasswhich caused a loss of time, fuel and other
inconveniences.
In the case of a journey like that one, the consequences,
though signicant, were not so serious, given that the
error was detected on time. However, if we talk about
an error in terms of the direction of an entire life, the
situation would be disastrous.
Continuing with the example of the boats, if someone
tried to make a vessel not arrive at its destination, he
surely would not say, Its not in your interest to arrive
at the expected port because hell surely be branded a
crazy person. Rather he will slyly want it to follow the
wrong route.
And as well as ensuring that this false route cannot
be corrected, if that cunning character managed to get
the steersman declared infallible, that would represent
the ultimate aspiration of all tricksters. Why?
As I mentioned in the example of the boat, some expe-
rienced sailors realized the mistake and fortunately had
the chance to point it out and were listened to, which
avoided the worst case scenario for all.
Let us imagine for a moment what would have happened
if it had not been possible to appeal against the decisions
of the steersman or captain? What would have happened
if they had declared themselves error-free?
We said earlier that a trickster wanders around our world,
whose objective is for things to fail, and the worst of it
is that to, a large extent, he achieves this.
Now, how does he think he could achieve his evil objec-
tive most effectively?
THE PERFECT TRAP
21
He would try to inuence whoever was in charge of key
decisions. What? Was our God really not aware of this
possiblity or about the existence of this harmful character,
who loves deceiving and destroying? Did our Lord not
realize the huge risk a mistake on the part of manage-
ment would represent?
Of course he knew, and thats precisely why, knowing
very well the enemys twisted intentions, he expressly
and clearly ordered us to call no man our father on earth,
and that we should all consider ourselves brothers, an
order that is in the following phase:
1
Call no man your father on earth, for only one is your true
Father, who is in heaven.
Parrallely, he left us something better than a functioning
compass: his teachings, laid outincredibly clearly and
simplyin the four Gospels.
On many occasions someone might wonder: How
could the enemy make someone get involved in an
1
Gospel according to St. Matthew 23:9. The version shown above comes from
the Catholic version, though the other versions (Christian and Catholic) basi-
cally say the same thing, as you can check for yourself:
Reina-Valera Version: And call no man your father on earth, for you have one
Peoples Version: And call no man your father on earth, for only one is your true
American Standard Version: And call no man your father on earth, for only one
is your true Father, who is in heaven.
Peshitta Bible (Not taken from Greek, but directly from Aramaic): Call no man
your father on earth, for only one is your Father, who is in heaven.
Given the importance of this text, which contains a direct order from Jesus Christ, we
are comparing these five versions that say the same thing. We are doing this because
some people, when they question inconsistencies with respect to that specified in
the Bible, argue that this is due to different translations, which is not correct, since
all the Christian and Catholic translations basically say the same thing.
22
open transgression to that ordered by none other than
Jesus Christ?
The father of lies subtlety and ability to deceive knows
no bounds and I am convinced that he did not raise
the matter as a clear transgression, since if he had, he
would have had to express something similar to this:
2

I invite you to go over the words of Jesus Christ and,
thus, if you are mistaken in different respects you will
drag everyone along with you.
Might he have put it like that? No way! I rather think
that he expressed it in a manner similar to the follow-
ing: Its not right to be controversial with regard to the
words of Jesus Christ. He is already in heaven, but you
are here on earth and have to face people who even say
how things are becoming different. Therefore, its better
that only one constitute the guide or father of all, and the
others should adhere to him, and that person could be
YOU, since you are so prudent and, thus, you will guide
everyone in an admirable manner.
And if that bishop, in turn, argued that that prohibition
is clearly described in the Gospels and, therefore, anyone
who read them would realize that disobedience. Perhaps
the enemy suggested to him:
Leave the Bible complete in other languages that almost
no one knows, and also completely prohibit its diffu-
sion throughout the world, and you will thus become
an extraordinary leader for all Christian people without
2
Obviously no human being could know the precise arguments the person
must have had who decidedas we will later seeto start making use of
papacy, universal bishopric or ponticate. However, taking as a base the
actions that followed, surely the motivations were similar to those now set out.
THE PERFECT TRAP
23
receiving uncomfortable questions from anyone. It is true
that Jesus Christ prohibited that, but He did not know,
like you, all the reasons of a practical nature.
But, a frequent problem is how can one suddenly be
constituted as a kind of representative of God on earth
when an express prohibition for it exists, by none other
than Jesus Christ?
Let us analyze this from two perspectives, rst from a
Biblical point of view and then from a historical point
of view.
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
The best way Catholic theologians aimed to support the
gure of the ponticate, papacy and universal bishop-
ric was by turning to a paragraph found in the Gospel
according to St. Matthew 16:18, which says:
And I [Jesus] say to thee: that thou art Peter; and upon
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon
earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
They confer great importance onto that part, since they
consider that it holds the same fundaments as the papacy,
however, if we analyze said paragraph a little more care-
fully, we will see things differently.
The rst thing that stands out in this paragraph is the
person to whom it is addressed and it clearly species
Jesus: to You (to Peter) and never mentions the possibility
of any kind of successor, not will we nd the slightest
24
hint in this respect, nor of Peter, nor of anyone in the
entire New Testament.
Now, if there had been successorssomething not men-
tioned ever by Jesus, Peter, Paul or any of the Apostles
who might they be?
Because in reality, all the worlds Christian groups assure
that they are the true successors of Peter.
If they had existed, they would denitely be those who
acted like Peter acted, and who followed his directions, dont
you think?
And among many other things that we will see in this
and in subsequent chapters, is that Peter would not allow
respect towards his person, as we can see when on one
occasion Cornelius
3
(a Roman centurion) kneels before
him and Peter immediately pulls him up and not only
that, but shows him that he himself (Peter) is a man just
like Cornelius.
If that were not enough, Peter never proclaimed himself
to be infallible, since if you open the Book of Galatians,
4

you will note that Paul publically points out that Peter
made a mistake that is accepted by Peter.
As for the naming of the authorities, it should be men-
tioned that, at this time, they were called elders (plural)
in each church, as we can easily see in the actual letters
from Peter and throughout the New Testament.
3
Acts 10:25: As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet
in reverence. But Peter made him get up. Stand up, he said, I am only a man
myself.
4
Letter from St. Paul to the Galatians 2:11.
THE PERFECT TRAP
25
But does he (Peter), in a personal capacity, consider him-
self like the Pope, universal bishop, pontiff or similar? It
is also easy to nd this out, so let us read what he said, in
reference to its own person. Let us go to the rst universal
Letter from Peter 5:1, where we will rst see in whom
he conded his authority: to the elders; and second, how
Peter considered himself: simply as one of them.
I ask the elders who are here among you, I, an elder with
them and witness to the sufferings of Christ, I also partici-
pate in the glory that shall be revealed. Teach the ock of
God that is among you,
5
looking after them, not by force,
but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, but with spirit; not
by having domination over those who are in your care, but
by being examples to the ock.
The Catholic version says this: As Peter entered, Cornelius
met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made
him get up. Stand up, he said. I am only a man like
you.
Someone might ask: did the Apostle Peter make any ref-
erence to any potential successor or later guide? He did,
but he also warned us
6
of the risks of false guides who
5
The term elder appears in the Bible in two senses: 1.- Persons of advanced
age, and 2.- The guides and shepherds of the congregation, in accordance with
Judeo-Christian tradition. In this paragraph, we can see that they are referred
to as authorities or guides because it asks them: Teach the ock of God that
is among you. And I repeat: Peter considered himself to be one of them.
6
Though there is not even the slightest mention in the New Testament to assume
that Peter was located in a Christian community, as a kind of sole leader, universal
bishop or something similar, there are many other parts that describe him as one
of the Apostles, though very active in his ministry. Analyze the following paragraph
(Acts 8:14): When the Apostles (plural) in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. Note that the
person who decided said dispatch was not actually Peter, nor another person referred
to by name, but the Apostles. How could St. Peter have designated a sole guide
as successor if he did not even consider himself as such?
26
would deceive the Christian congregation. Good grief!
Where does it say that?
If you open the 2nd Letter from Peter 2:1, you will see that
he expresses himself thus:
But there were also false prophets among the people, just
as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly
introduce destructive heresies
Now, if Peter never located himself in a place of preemi-
nence, perhaps Paul did? Nothing of the sort. Again I ask
you to read between so many quotes from Paul himself,
where you will see how he considered his role in service
to the Lord:
7
I was appointed herald, apostle and teacher
of the Gentiles.
Analyze the title or the charge considered by Peter him-
self for himself, which is, by way of introduction, at the start
of the 2nd Letter from St. Peter 1:1: Simon, Peter, servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
equal faith with us in the justice of our God (In the 1st
Letter from St. Peter 1:1 he introduces himself in a similar
way). This term is fully consistent with the name used by
the Lord Jesus Christ: When it was day, (Jesus) called his
disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called
apostles. There are 42 quotes relating to the Apostles in
the New Testament. This word apostle derives from the
Greek apostolos, which means the sent one.
And in regard to authority, how would Paul refer to
them? In a similar manner to Peter, Paul also referred to
the ecclesiastical authorities as the elders. Analyze it
for yourself:
8
7
2nd Letter from Paul to Timothy 1:11; something similar is in the 1st Letter to
Timothy 2:7, in the Letter from Paul to Titus 1:1 and in countless other parts.
8
1st Letter from Paul to Timothy 5:17.
THE PERFECT TRAP
27
Let the elders
9
who rule well be counted worthy of
double honor, especially those who labor in the word
and in teaching.
Analyze this other quote from Paul along the same lines:
10
For this reason I left you in Crete [to Titus], that you
should set in order the things that are lacking, and ap-
point elders in every city as I commanded you; whoever
was irreproachable, husband
11
of only one woman
And if Peter never saw the possiblity of successors, per-
haps Paul did? Yes, he did, but also by way of a warning
on false guides that would be created. Analyze their own
words quoted in the Book of Acts of the Apostles 20:29:
Because I know that after my departure erce wolves will
come in among you, not sparing the ock. And from among
your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to
draw away the disciples after them.
Tell me something: do you think that if neither Peter, Paul
nor any of the Apostles had never named themselves
popes, pontiffs or something similar, they would have
named a future sole successor, going above what Jesus
Christ has ordered?
9
In some translations, this word is replaced by priest, which means exactly
the same, since it comes from the Greek presbyteros, which means elder
or the eldest or the most experienced.
10
Letter from St. Paul to Titus 1:5. It is important to mention that this is also
considered a pastoral letter, that is, addressed to the guides or leaders of a
church.
11
Note how Paul, in this and other similar mentions, recommended that the
elders, guides, or bishops (and also deacons or ministerial aides) of each
church, be married. When he recommends voluntary celibacyas he says
that he himself practices ithe does so for the congregation in general, though
indicating that those who wish to can marry.
28
On the other hand, what might be one of the reasons for
Jesus Christ not warning us of the dangers of granting
leadership of the church to a single person?
When there is only one person as a guide, we make it
incredibly easy for the enemy because he only has to
confuse him and that person will take everyone else in
the wrong direction.
Now, would it be possible for Satan himself to inuence
someone as close to God? Of course! Let me mention
what happened in front of Jesus Christ himself.
On one occasion, together with Christ, Satan entered Peter
and tried to make him desist from suffering in Jerusalem.
However, if the evil entity can deceive you or I, he cannot
deceive the Lord, and Jesus Christ immediately identies
him and reprimands him harshly.
Where is that? If you open the Gospel according to St.
Matthew at 16:23, you will see that it says the following:
But he [that is Jesus] turned and said unto Peter, Get
thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for
thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those
that be of men.
But returning to the paragraph we are now unpicking,
with which some try to justify successors, we will see
that Jesus continues to say to Peter that he would give
him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. What are they?
Those keys are perfectly exercised by Pedro in the Book
of Acts 2:38, when the people, at that point very confused,
ask him about the path to follow once Christ had died
and he answers thus:
THE PERFECT TRAP
29
Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ.
Believe me that both at that moment of confusion and
with his indication to follow Jesus Christ all his life, Peter
makes perfect use of those keys to Heaven.
And in the last part of the paragraph we are analyzing, we
will see that he continues thus, when Christ says to Peter:
And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.
This last section is interpreted completely wrongly. It is
understood as a prerogative of acting freely, and not what
it really is: a very serious call to attention on the great re-
percussion of all human acts, where each good or bad ac-
tion will have repercussions in our present and future life.
Proof of this is in the same section, where the Lord Je-
sus Christ repeats it, not only for Peter, but for all those
who were listening at that moment [Matthew 18:18],
corroborating that, rather than a kind of concession or
franchise directed only at Peter, it is a warning to all
of the extraordinary repercussions, both in the current
world and in the future one, of binding and loosening
correctly, in the sense of the Gospels.
But then, if, from the biblical perspective, there is not
even the slightest fundament to situate a person above
the rest, and not only that, but there are signs to the
contrary, what might Christian history tell us about this?
As we start to introduce ourselves a little to the history,
let us analyze a word that has performed a very important
role throughout the centuries.
30
PONTIFF
The world pontiff comes from Latin, but has a very dif-
ferent origin and meaning from what most people think.
Pontiff comes from pons or pontis, which means
bridge and this word, in turn, derives from another that
is ponton, which means passenger boat with no bridge.
12
The curious thing is that many people take it for granted
that this word belongs to our Judeo-Christian tradition,
when the reality is that it comes from totally unrelated
sources.
The word Pontifex Maximusor in English Supreme
Pontiffis much older than the coming of Jesus Christ
and was used within Paganism with a very singular g-
ure: a kind of king-priest who was something like a
bridge between those who they considered their gods
and human beings.
That was how it was regarded from the time of the
Babylonians
13
and later the Persians, specically in the
city of Pergamon, a city that was very important for four
centuries.
Subsequently, as Greece conquered Persia in the 3rd
century before Christ and this city of Pergamon was
12
BREVE DICCIONARIO ETIMOLGICO DE LA LENGUA CASTELLANA
(ABRIDGED ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF CASTILIAN SPANISH), Joan
Corominas, EDITORIAL GREDOS (Spain) and BREVE DICCIONARIO ETI-
MOLGICO DE LA LENGUA ESPAOLA (ABRIDGED ETYMOLOGICAL DIC-
TIONARY OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE), Guido Gmez de Silva, EDITORIAL
FONDO DE CULTURA ECONMICA. (Mexico)
13
HISTORIA DE LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST),
Jos Luis Montecillos Chipres, Editorial El Camino de la Vida
THE PERFECT TRAP
31
designated the capital of the Seleucid Empire, which was
one of the divisions of Alexander the Greats Empire, it
happened that in the year 133 before Christ, on the death
of King-Priset Atalo III, his will bequeathed his kingdom
to the nascent Roman Empire.
But a curious thing is that when Rome came into contact
with these new Pagan rites, the Roman emperors, who
were considered as those who headed all the religions of
the State, were considered as judges or arbiters of divine
and human things.
Therefore, this new title of Pontifex Maximus tted
them like a glove to be constituted in a kind of bridge
between their gods and human beings.
And it was thus that this ancient gure of king-priest used
for centuries by Persians and Babylonians was transferred
to the Roman Empire to become a kind of God on earth.
Also, by the way, one of the sources of conict between
the early Christians and leaders of the Roman Empire
was precisely that: the Christians only recognized one
God and did not share the idea that the emperor was
considered an earthly divinity.
Julius Caesar, from the year 63 before Christ, was recog-
nized as Pontifex Maximus or Supreme Pontiff.
Therefore, the early Roman emperors, including Constan-
tine4th century after Christbore this title.
The Christian churches, in the early years, were dissemi-
nated throughout the Roman Empire and outside of it.
The most important bishops were those from Jerusalem,
Antioch, Carthaga, Alexandria and others and the Bishop
of Rome was by no means the most important.
32
But, returning to the title of Pontifex Maximus, observe
something curious: despite being Roman emperors and
inheriting such a title, one of the emperors, named
Gratian, in the year 382 of our era, voluntarily renounced
such title because he was a Christian and considered it
incompatible with his Christian principles.
Now, if, within earthly parameters, it would be unthink-
able and completely unsuitable to establish a pontiff,
that is, if there were a single person as a bridge between
God and men, what could we say about something similar
established within Christianity?
Looking at it from a human context, if a country, social or
religious organization, political party, company or family
made the huge mistake of having the opinion of a single
person make every decision, that human group would
limit its thinking capacity to an extreme degree, since it
is only from collective participation that real solutions
can emerge in practically everything.
Nevertheless, that which sociologically speaking we sur-
mise, in other words, the great disadvantages of single-
person decisions make us understand why, in the spiritual
eld, if the Lord knows about them in advance, he not
only gave us the exact route, but expressly warned us
that we should NOT proceed thus.
But in the face of doctrinal or biblical support, and once
we know the Pagan provenance of the gure of pontiff,
how can we support the theory of a pope, pontiff or
universal bishop?
There is a theory that has been repeated for centuries.
It is stated that there was a kind of apostolic succession,
insisting that Peter was the rst Roman Bishopor Pope,
THE PERFECT TRAP
33
supposedlyand that from there all the rest came, which
does not coincide with the reality.
14
While those who prepared a similar hypothesisof the
supposed apostolic successionconsidered that per-
haps due to the darkness of the times it would not be
possible to prove neither one thing nor the other, they
were greatly mistaken.
Because from the historical vision, and not so much from
external sources, but from within the historical context
of the Bible itself, we can elucidate that such apostolic
succession simply does not exist because it all seems to
show that Peter was not even in Rome.
APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION AND ITS HISTORY
The rst thing we would need to do to assume that the
Apostle Peter was the rst Roman bishop, would be prove
that he was there.
But the evidencefrom the Bible itselfgoes against
this.
15
What do I mean? I invite you to analyze in detail
the following evidence.
14
The title of Pontiff that had been rejected by the Roman Emperor Gratian
because he was a Christian, and which came from Pagan sources, after having
been constituted universal bishop in Rome, which happens later, was misap-
propriated by the leaders of the papacy.
15
In their eagerness to try to prove such a suppositionthat Peter was in
Romesome have gone to the extreme of using the apocryphal gospels, but as
their name shows, the word apocryphal means false or falsied. It would
be absurd to try to found somethingeven insignicant thingson something
that is recognized as intentionally fake or falsied.
Most of the Apocryphal Gospels are known to denitely have been written
in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries by some sect such as the Gnostics
and furthermore, it is also known that those who wrote them did not have the
opportunity to know about the events they aimed to describe.
34
In the times of death, from which the rst martyr of the
Christian churchStephenis known, the Apostle Peter
was in Jerusalem.
16
On the other hand, take into account that the Apostle
Paul, no less than 17 years after his conversion, which
occurred several years after Christs death, arrives in
Jerusalem again and nds that Peterwho by the way
was not a young man, since from the times of Christ he
was still there, in Jerusalem, exercising his Ministry.
It is perfectly described in the Letter of St. Paul to the
Galatians 1:18 and in that same letter, in the next chap-
ter, it is agreed
17
between Paul, Peter and the rest of the
Some media, throughout the 20th century, presented some of the documents
as supposed discoveries, when their existence was known for a long time.
It should be mentioned that the extraordinary Dead Sea archeological discov-
eries (at Hirber Qumbran) were not related to the Christian movement. The
documents found there can be classied into three groups:
A.- Biblical (Some books of the Old Testament), B.- Agnostic, (not those that
refer to the Christian group) called: Book of Jubliees, Pseudo Jubilees, the Books
of Noah, Enoch, Tobias, the Testament of Levi and a piece of another unknown
apocryphal called Genesis or Lamej; and C.- Books of the Esenia Community.
But the apocryphal documents from other sources referring to the Christian
movement are assigned no credibility both due to their lack of historical sup-
port and the very low quality of their writing, since almost every page of this
book has serious errors in regard to customs and events.
LOS EVANGELIOS GNSTICOS (THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS), EDITORIAL LEC-
TORUM, (Mexico); EVANGELIOS APCRIFOS (APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS),
EDITORIAL PORRA, (Mexico); PALESTINA Y LOS ROLLOS DEL MAR
MUERTO (PALESTINE AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS), Jos Luis Montecillos
Chipres, Editorial El Camino a la Vida (Mexico).
16
Book of the Acts of the Apostles 7, 1:60 and 8:20, which shows in many parts
the presence of Peter in Jerusalem. This Book of Acts, according to the experts,
was probably written in the year 63 by St. Luke from Rome. HISTORIA DE LA
IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST), Jos Luis Monte-
cillos Chipres, EDITORIAL EL CAMINO A LA VIDA.
17
This same agreement in regard to the ministry of Peter to the Jews and of
Paul to the non-Jews is widely referred to in a great many parts of the New
Testament.
THE PERFECT TRAP
35
Apostles that Peter would dedicate himself to ministering
to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles, in other words, to
the non-Jews.
18
On the other hand, when the rst Council of the Chris-
tian Church was held, Peter was in Jerusalem, which is
detailed in the Book of Acts, Chapter 15.
To better back up that I am saying, when Paul wrote
his Letter to the Romans, which is thought to have been
around the year 57 or 58 from Corinth, and physically
carried by Febe,
19
not even the slightest mention is made
of the Apostle Peter, since that letter contained greetings
to many people.
20
Obviously, if Peter had been in Rome, or even more ob-
viously, if he had have been the Bishop of that city, he
would have at least been mentioned, dont you think?
When Paul comes to Rome, which occurs around the year
61,
21
several people go out to meet him, none of which
included Peter.
18
If that were not enough, we must consider that the charge that Paul went to
the Gentiles was not a product of a mere agreement between the Apostles,
but a direct indication from the Lord. See the Testimony of Ananias, who was
charged by Jesus Christ to return Pauls sight, when Ananias says to the Lord
that Paul is a persecutor of believers.
19
Sister Febe, bearer of the letter, is mentioned in the actual Letter from Paul
to the Romans 16:1.
20
This letter contains affectionate greetings to those who were in
Rome, mentioning by name the following: FEBE (Bearer of the Letter),
PRISCILLA, AQUILA, EPENETUSM MARY, ANDRONICUS, JUNIA,
AMPLIATUS, URBANUS, STACHYS, APELLES, ARISTOBULUS,
HERODION, NARCISSUS, TRIPHENA, TRYPHOSA, PERSIS, RUFUS,
ASYNCRITUS, PHEGON, HERMES, PATROBAS, HERMAS, PHILO-
LOGUS, JULIA, NEREUS AND OLYMPAS. The following send their
own greetings: PAUL, TIMOTHY, LUCIUS, JASON AND SOSIPATER.
It even mentions who writes the actual letter: TERTIUS. (Letter from
Paul to the Romans, Chapter 16).
21
Book of Acts, Chapter 28:14.
36
(as if the Lord had not known) Jesus replies to Ananias: Go
your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name
before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
Book of Acts of the Apostles, 9:15, as well as other similar
mentions.
Here is another piece of information: when Paul was in
prison in Rome, he wrote several letters, including letters
to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon.
22

And none of them make the slightest reference to Peter,
neither to his person nor to any of his works, which is
understandable because this great Apostle was not there.
One more reference: in the nal part of Pauls Letter to
the Colossians, written, as I said, from prison in Rome
he writes:
23
Aristarchos my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the
cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received
instructions; if he comes to you, receive him) and Jesus
who is called Justos. Those are the only Jews [or men of
the circumcision, in some translations] among my fellow
workers for the Kingdom of God, and they have been a
comfort to me.
The only Jews who helped him? Was Peter really not
a Jew? Or perhaps he did not want to help him in his
work for the Kingdom of God? No. Peter simply was not
in that city.
Another piece of evidence is the following: Chapter 18 of
the Book of Acts of the Apostles, written around the year
22
We said including because there is a letter written by Paul that is lost, which
is deduced from the New Testament, which is the Letter to the Laodiceans.
Its existence is presumed from that mentioned in the Letter from St. Paul to
the Colossians, 4:16.
23
Letter from St. Paul to the Colossians, 4:10.
THE PERFECT TRAP
37
63 by St. Luke, makes the following reference, which is
key for what we are discussing:
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, where he
met a Jew called Aquila,
24
whose family came from Pontus.
He and his wife Priscilla had recently left Italy because an
edict of Claudius had expelled all the Jews from Rome.
Therefore, I ask you: do you believe it is possible that,
if it had been agreed that Peteras evidenced in a large
amount of partspracticed his ministry among the Jews
and Paul among the non-Jews, and if the majority of Jews
had been expelled from Rome, would it make any sense
for Peter to move there?
What would be the purpose of Peteror the rest of the
Apostles charged with ministering to the Jewsneglect-
ing such important bishoprics of those other regions, to
go to a place from which the Jews had been expelled?
25
One last comment on this: when Paul is going to be
beheaded by Nero, which is somehow visualized be-
tween the lines in what is thought to be his last let-
terthe Second Letter from Paul to Timothywritten
from Rome,
26
you and I will be able to see in that entire
24
Remember that Aquila and Priscilla were two people Paul sent Greetings to
in Rome in the Letter to the Romans (described in a previous note).
25
If anyone should assume that Peter could have perhaps been in Rome before the
quoted references, that is not viable either because, aside from that mentioned
in the previous points, the Roman Emperor Claudius, (whose full name was
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, who was born in the year 10
BC and died in the year 54 AD) and decided to expel the Jews during his reign,
that is before the year 54, an additional piece of information that would make
the presence of Peter in a place where there were almost no Jews completely
illogical, considering that Peters ministry was to the Jews. VIDAS DE LOS
DOCE CSARES (LIVES OF THE TWELVE CAESARS), Suetonio, EDITORIAL
GROLIER (Mexico).
26
2nd Letter from St. Paul to Timothy 4:6.
38
letter that Paul does not make the slightest mention
of Peter, which obviously would not have happened
if that great Apostle had been in that city.
27

And remember to take into account that such Letter to the
Romans was written in the year 57 or 58 and the Book of
Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke in the year 63,
therefore, the mention of these two people in the Book
of Acts is AFTER that made in the Letter to the Romans.

But listen to this: if you visit St. Peters Basilica in Rome,
you will nd that in a semi-basement there is a place
where they say the remains of the Apostle Peter lie.
The problem is that there is no anthropological, archeo-
logical or historical basis to prove it,
28
therefore, some
are of the opinion that perhaps those remains come from
someone of the same name (Peter) who was removed from
Roman tombs, since that name was and is very common.
29
Now, those who think that Peter was the rst Supreme
Pontiff should mentally situate themselves in those far-
27
If the reader wishes to learn about one of the most likely places where Peter
also exercised his ministry, I invite you to read Appendix A.
28
In any case, the burden of proof is the responsibility of those who state a
similar thing. Every researcher, archeologist, historian and the general public
are waiting and wishing to analyze any piece of proof there might be in that
respect.
29
That name is very common not only for a man, but also for a woman. As an example
of this, I include an inscription from one of the Roman tombs: PETRONIA, WIFE OF
A DEACON, MODEST TYPE, HERE LIE MY BONES; RETAIN YOUR TEARS, DEAR WIFE
AND DAUGHTER OF MINE; AND BELIEVE THAT IT IS PROHIBITED TO CRY FOR THOSE
WHO LIVE WITH GOD. BURIED IN PEACE AND IN THE COMFORT OF THE FESTO
CONSULATE Quoted in the book HISTORIA DE LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY
OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST), Jos Luis Montecillos Chipres. EDITORIAL EL
CAMINO A LA VIDA.
This letter also constitutes a test of the fact that ministers and deacons of the
era were married.
THE PERFECT TRAP
39
away years, when the early Christians were persecuted
in different cities of the Empire for, among other things,
refusing to recognize the divinity of the Emperor.
Tell me something: do you believe it is possible that Peter
or, rather, those who had been the true Bishops of Rome
in the early centuries, could have even imagined the pos-
sibility of using a single person with the title of Pontifex
Maximus, which the Roman emperors did possess?
The mere idea of thinking about such a thing seems
completely aberrant and out of place to us, both doctrin-
ally and politically. Moreover, Christ not only prohibited
any situation of preeminence between brothers but, on
several occasions, made recommendations such as the
following:
30
But Jesus called them to him and said, You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not
be so among you, but whoever would be great among
you must be your servant, and whoever would be rst
among you must be slave of all.
Precisely for these very Christian principles it was, as we
have said, when the Roman Emperor Gratian himself,
still withpolitically speakingthe authority to use such
title, felt motivated to renounce it.
During earlier centuries, the Bishop of Rome, without
having originally been among the greatest or most impor-
tant, was acquiring increasing strength, not for any reason
30
Gospel according to St. Mark 10:43 and St. Matthew 20:26, this response
from Christ was made at the request of the mother of the sons of Zebe-
deeJames and Johnwho wanted her sons to sit in heaven, one to his left
and the other to his right.
40
of a doctrinal nature, but for one more circumstantial or
prosaic: he was geographically located in the same place
of political power of the era, that is, the capital of the
Roman Empire.
31
But I would like to highlight a curious fact: the Roman
Emperor Constantine, in the 17th century, created two
political axes in his empire, one in Rome and another in
the city that used to be called Byzantium, which from
then was called Constantinople.
32
The Bishop of Constantinople made an attempt to become
a kind of universal bishop, but at that time there was
another opposing declaration from another bishop, who
wrote: None of my predecessors has consented to bear
this profane title because when a patriarch [that is what
Christian bishops were called back then] repeals the title
of universal, the title of patriarch is discredited, it is
not the Christian custom to want to give themselves a
title that discredits their brothers.
33
31
As an additional piece of information which corroborates that in the
early centuries there was no one in Rome who carried out the duties of a
Pontiff, universal bishop or Pope, note how at the rst seven Councils
(aside from the rst Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15) and in fact
the only ones that were universally recognized by all the Christian churches
in the world, which were: Nicea (351 AD), 1st Constantinople (381 AD),
Ephesus (431 AD), Chalcedon 451 AD), 2nd Constantinople (553 AD), 3rd
Constantinople (680 AD) and 2nd de Nicea (787 AD) and were called by
emperors and personnel completely unconnected to the Bishopric of Rome
and that from there Rome started to call councils, which were incorrectly
called ecumenical, since they no longer had the participation of the rest
of the Christian churches of the world (Ecumenical means universal
and derives from the Greek oikumene [the inhabited earth]).
32
And is today called Istanbul and belongs to Turkey.
33
HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Edward
Emily Gibbon Volume 4, Page. 596. British historian (1737-1794) Published in
1776 and 1794. Also quoted in the book HISTORIA ECLESISTICA (ECCLE-
SIASTICAL HISTORY), Eusebio de Cesarea, In Note 41, Volume II, Book VI,
EDITORIAL CLIE (Spain).
THE PERFECT TRAP
41
Do you know where the bishop who was categorically
opposed to the idea of there being a universal bishop
and who issued the previous declaration was from? You
will be amazed: from Rome.
But the situation did not end there. The Bishop of Rome
sent a letter to the Roman Emperor, which included
the following text: I condently state that anyone who
calls himself universal bishop is the precursor to the
antichrist.
34
If these apparently simple declarations had been issued
by some other bishop, they would not have such signi-
cance, but coming from the Bishop of Rome himself, the
situation changes categorically. Why?
Not only does it demonstrate a position consistent with
the Gospels, but the situation goes much further: it is
highlighting the fact that at that point there was still noth-
ing similar to a universal bishop or pontiff in Rome.
So, at what point did the gure of pope or pontiff emerge
as an institution?
35
CREATION OF THE PAPACY
In the late 6th century and early 7th century the Bishop
of Rome, Gregory I, also called the great, was succeeded
by another bishop called Sabinian, who occupied the
position from 604 to 606 and was succeeded by Boniface
34
Item. Vol. 4, Page 596.
35

If on any occasion you have wondered: how did that original timid Christian
church of the early centuries evolve into a powerful institution that aimed to
siituate itself above the kings for many subsequent centuries? In Appendix B
you will see a document that was very inuential in that respect called The
Donation of Constantine.
42
III, who was in the position for only a short time from
606 to 607. Shortly before that brief period of Boniface,
a singular political event took place.
36
The Roman Empire being in full fall in 602, a Roman
Emperor called Maurice was detained by a centurion
called Phocas. At that time there was a coup dtat and
Phocas killed not only Emperor Maurice, but also his
sons, proclaiming himself Emperor.
But many people, including the Bishop of Constanti-
nople, Ciriaco, did not acknowledge him as Emperor,
but statedrightlythat he had arrived at that post by
means of a murder.
Given this lack of acknowledgment, some years later in
606, during the time of Boniface III, with whom Phocas
had a good personal relationship, in a skilledalbeit il-
legalpolitical maneuver, Roman emperor Phocas, who
knew about the ecclesiastical rivalry between Rome and
Constantinople, proposed the following deal to his friend,
the Bishop of Rome: that Boniface should acknowledge
him as emperor and he, in turn, would acknowledge him
as universal bishop.
Boniface accepted, which gave rise to the centralization
of bishops in Rome, not without winning the disapproval
of other bishops, though such opposition did not prosper
a great deal, since the Bishop of Romenow universal
had the support of the Emperor himself.
But regardless of the political or moral legality of such a
maneuver, the serious thing of the matter was that this
36
HISTORIA DE LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST), Jos
Luis Montecillos Chipres. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, Vol. I, (Boniface III,
607, Phocas).
THE PERFECT TRAP
43
step constituted an open transgression to that indicated
in the Gospels and, in my opinion, that was merely the
product of a simple trap, designed by the trickster par
excellence. That is what I was referring to at the start.
Believe me, I do not doubt for a second the excellent good
intentions of the vast majority of people who believe in
the legitimacy of the ponticate, and perhaps the wonder-
ful Lord in Heaven, in his vast goodness, and whoever
acts without knowing the real facts could be exonerated
in this kind of deception in to which several people from
other eras fell.
Nonetheless, I would like to make a very respectful exhor-
tation to those who believe in Jesus Christ, in the sense
that they consider that if the Lordno lesstells us not
to place anyone in a situation of moral pre-eminence over
others, it must have a very powerful reason for being.
What could one of them be? Regardless of the fact that
merely doing things differently to what the Lord orders
must be reason enough to obey him, this alone will not
be enough. I remind you that if the Lord prohibits some-
thing, that will translate into signicant inconveniences
for all.
PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES
The list of errors derived from the arbitrary imposition of
a single person, in the form of pontiff or universal bishop
is very great, and its consequences have been very nega-
tive throughout the history of Christianity.
If someone asks me about what I consider the main nega-
tive aspect, I think it was not having widely and openly
diffused the Gospels to all the people of the world, since
44
in almost all the centuries of Christianity, the Gospels
could not be read by an overwhelming majority of in-
habitants of the planet.
One of the reasonsamong otherswhy Islam advanced
so quickly was because the Koran was widely diffused
to wherever it could be. Many people of that age even
knew this religion as the religion of the book.
37
Conversely, I invite you to analyze the following case
from the 13th century. When Niccolo and Maffeo Polo
father and uncle of Marco Polotravelled to China, they
had the unique opportunity to be received by Kublai
Khan, emperor of that country. Khan asked them about
religious belief in Europe and they talked to him about
Christ, who came to the world as God. How do you
imagine the Emperor reacted?
He asked that to convince him and many of his people,
they send 100 people to his country to talk to them
about that.
Therefore, on returning to Italy,
38
they raised this impor-
tant matter with the ecclesiastical authorities, but Pope
Clement IV was immersed in other activities, some of
which were of a political nature. Nevertheless, his suc-
cessor, Pope Gregory X sent TWO monks with the Polo
Familyby the way, on that new voyage they would be
accompanied by Marco Polo, barely a young manand
they all travelled together on that next voyage to China.
37
LA HISTORIA DE LOS RABES (THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS), Albert Hourani,
EDITORIAL JAVIER VERGARA (Mexico).
38
MARCO POLO, Marco Antonio Gmez Prez, GRUPO EDITORIAL TOMO,
(Mexico).
THE PERFECT TRAP
45
Unfortunately, these two monks, before arriving at that
far-off country, received an order to return.
39
Regardless of the fact that the desirable thing would have
been to send a great many people there, what occurred
to him as the best gift for the emperor?
Without thinking twice about it, I consider that the best
imaginable gift would have been the New Testament
translated into Chinese.
It is true that the printing press
40
had not yet been in-
vented, but it was perfectly viable to have translated and
sent a signicant number of copies, as the Muslims had
done many years earlier with the Koran.
41
Instead of this, do you know what was sent? A little oil
from the lamp from the place that it is believed was the
holy tomb of Jerusalem. And both the missionaries and
the copies of the Gospels were conspicuously absent.
Another small demonstration of this grave omission was
what happened when Friar Luis de Len,
42
one of the
most distinguished professors of the University of Sala-
manca, dared translate part of the Bible into Spanish:
39
A that time it was denitely possible to displace a large group of people to
other far-off regions, which was proved by the fact that during the sad Cru-
sades many thousands of people were moved, albeit with another purpose.
40
With mechanical steel exchangers because the wooden ones was being used
on a small scale in China at that time.
41
Even the Muslims ended up giving many of their followers a pocket version
of the Koran. The cost of any of the Crusades was a great deal higher than what
the translation and production of thousands of copies could have cost, which
could have been sent to many countries. LA HISTORIA DE LOS RABES (THE HIS-
TORY OF THE ARABS), Albert Hourani, EDITORIAL JAVIER VERGARA (Mexico).
42
Friar Lus de Len was a prisoner in the dungeons of the Inquisition for four
years, eight months from 1572 to 1576. Since he was also an expert in Hebrew,
46
He was held captive by the Holy Inquisition for several
years and, had he not promised to not do any more trans-
lations, he would have been added to their list of victims.
We cannot forget that one of the most important tasks
of the Lord was the diffusion of his Gospels and, I re-
peat, during most of the previous centuries, not only
did the pontiffs not carry out this extremely important
order, but they tried to prevent it being done.
Other proof of this was the following: when around two
centuries ago, some organizations called Bible Societies
were formed to do what had not been done, that is, to
take the message of Jesus Christ to as many people as
possible, they tried to obstruct this at all costs.
Analyze the declaration of Pope Pius VII
43
with regard to
such Bible Societies: they are an articial deception
through which the same fundaments of the religion are
mined, a plague that has to be cured and abolished.
he dared make some observations on the Hebrew to Latin translation of part
of the Old Testament, of the only authorized version of the Bible of that time
(the so-called Latin Vulgate written in LATIN) and it is important to mention
that the Council of Trent, in open opposition to that ordered by Jesus Christ,
had prohibited the Bible being translated into vernacular languages, that is,
the actual language of each country. As an example of a poem written by him:
Here is where envy and deceit / Held me behind a prison gate / Happy is the
humble state / Of he who wisely fnds retreat / Away from this worlds evil
fate / And with poor room and board makes do / Amidst the scenic wilder-
ness / With only God to answer to / And all alone lets life pass through /
Unenvied and unenvious.
LA INQUISICIN, EL LADO OSCURO DE LA IGLESIA (THE INQUISITION: THE
DARK SIDE OF THE CHURCH), Primitivo Martnez Fernndez. EDITORIAL LUMEN
(Colombia-Mexico).
43
DIEGO THOMSON Y LA BIBLIA EN MXICO (DIEGO THOMSON AND THE BIBLE IN
MEXICO) and JUREZ Y LA BIBLIA (JUREZ AND THE BIBLE), Jos Luis Montecillos
Chipres, EDITORIAL EL CAMINO A LA VIDA (Mexico)
THE PERFECT TRAP
47
That so called plague of Bible Societies aimed to bring
the Bible to everyone, in their own language.*
And a little later that century, Pope Leo XII
44
continued
with the same attitude against the diffusion of the Gospels
by Bible Societies. See what he put in a letter he sent to
some Bishops in Ireland: It is no secret to you, venerable
brothers, that a society vulgarly called Bible Society is
being audaciously spread throughout the world.

After rejecting the traditions of the Holy Fathers, in
opposition to the well-known decree of the Council of
Trent, the [Bible] Society has joined forces and used all its
means with a single objective: the translation, or rather,
the perversion of the Bible into the languages of all the
nations
If you have never been curious about it, I exhort you to
do the following: compare a Catholic Bible with a Chris-
tian one, and you will see that they are the same thing,
which makes us think that what they did not want was
it to be widely and openly read.
We were saying that on one occasion, Christ said something
to Peter,
45
which I think is a crucial warning of the great
transcendence of every human act:
And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
* It was not until the late 20th century that groups of faithful were permitted
to attend Bible study. Perhaps that incipient opening enabled the following
more signicant step: to pass from being listeners of The Word to doers
of The Word.
44
Item.
45
Gospel according to St. Matthew 16:19.
48
Unfortunately, as I also said, this phrase was taken as
a kind of prerogative of free behavior, or as a kind of
ecclesiastical franchise and not as what it really is: an
extremely important call to attention on the great scope
and transcendence of our personal actions, which will
have repercussions not only on this earth, but in the
afterlife for many people.
As I was explaining, if we have the chance to undo
mistakes and teach the largest message the world had
received , and it is not done, that will haveas in fact it
has hadvery serious consequences in the present and
future life of those who could have receive this message
and did not.
But if we talk about only one of the most recent inconve-
niences, lets say of the 20th century, due to that appar-
ently insignicant fact of having put a person in a place of
pre-eminence, I would like to set out the following case.
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
There is an element that many people do not associate
with the socio-economic wellbeing of a country and
this is the demographic question. Therefore, given its
importance, I would like you to do some reecting in
this regard.
By way of some background, I will say that several cen-
turies ago, and due to the decient medical and health
conditions of those years, of every 1,000 children born,
only around 250 survived.
46
46
LIBRO DE LOS HECHOS, CASOS, COSAS (BOOK OF ACTS, CASES, THINGS). Isaac
Asimov EDITORIAL LASSER (Mexico).
THE PERFECT TRAP
49
In the 20th century, with the fortunate advent of better
medical care,
47
of every 1,000 children born, an average
of around 950 survive around the world.
48

But this new socio-demographic prole that took place,
among other things, due to the advent of medicine, made
family planning necessary for couples.
49
And many analysts from different parts of the world,
having been aware of the signicance and consequences
of this change in the socio-demographic prole, alerted
different international governments and organizations
to the matter.
Therefore, this ethical or moral approach, given its ex-
traordinary importance, went all the way to the Vatican
in the mid-20
th
century.
50
47
Including the appearance of antibiotics in the early 20th century. HISTORIA
DE LA MEDICINA (HISTORY OF MEDICINE), Dr. Manuel Barqun Caldern,
MNDEZ EDITORES, (Mexico).
48
POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Table of the world population.
(Washington, USA)
49
Just so you have an idea of what it would mean to not plan population, we
can make the following mathematical projection: if the current population
of the developing worldwhich is the one that primarily growshad an
average of 2.7 children per woman, and an annual growth of 1.4 per cent, the
world population (which by 2010 was 6.87 billion), in only 100 years, would
reach 24.7 billion, and in a further 100 years (200 years from 2010) would
reach 97.7 billion.
Obviously the socio-economic balance and, above all, the ecosystem would be
destroyed a very long time before reaching such a gure, but that tells us of
the urgent need for family planning.
As you will understand, the dilemma is not whether or not growth should be
planned or not, but rather: whether it occurs when we still have time to do it.
It is imperative to stabilize the number of children per woman to around 2.2,
which can be achieved if most couples have 2 to 3 children.
50
In 1950, the total world population was 2.7 billion. UN. PICTURE OF THE
WORLD POPULATION.
50
By virtue of which, in 1968,
51
the then Pope Paul VI ap-
pointed a committee formed by 16 theologians and ex-
perts on the subject and asked them to issue their opinion
in this regard, that is, to analyze the suitabilityor lack
thereofof a new Encyclical about to be published
52
in-
cluding a prohibition on the use of prophylactics as a
means of birth control.
After a profound analysis by this committee, once it
evaluated the consequences of the change in the socio-
demographic prole, as well as the notorious global in-
ability to provide the basic satisers to a population that
was growing too quickly, the committee obtained the
following vote:
One abstained, four voted to include the prohibition of
the use of prophylactics and eleven voted for contracep-
tives not to be banned. In other words, almost 3 of every
4 voted against the inclusion of prohibition.
With that, this committeeappointed by Pope Paul
VI himselfgranted validity to the medical, scientic,
economic and environmental opinions of the different
experts in each eld from different parts of the globe.
However, to their and many international experts sur-
prise, Paul VI put the ruling of his own committee to one
side and DID include said prohibition in his new Encyclic
HUMANAE VITAE, publishing it in July 1968.
What was his main argument? That such family planning
methods are articial. But many of us thought: isnt
51
By 1968, the world population was already 3.5 billion.
52
This would bear the name HUMANAE VITAE and would be issued by the
then Pope Paul VI.
THE PERFECT TRAP
51
medicinewhich encouraged the demographic explosion
in the 20th centuryalso articial?
Would a mother, on seeing her small child with a high
temperature that puts his life at risk, not allow him to be
given an antibiotic because this medication is articial?
Are telephones, computers, televisions, cars, electric light,
radios, tractors, vitamins, disinfectant, clothing, houses
and almost everything around us not articial too?
Many people might rightly tell us that we could all be
wrong.
It is true, we are all subject to mistakes and precisely for
that reason the extremely wise Lord of Heaven categori-
cally prohibited us from designating one above all others,
like a supposed father.
There are two crucial aspects that I would like to high-
light.
If the Lord had been obeyed and no one had been put
above all others, that enormous demographic error would
not have happened. Why?
The committee itselfappointed by the Pope himself
ruled against the papal intention of prohibiting contra-
ceptives, but since Paul VI was elevated to the category
of Pontiff or Pope, he could have perfectly well imposed
his personal opinion.
53
53
We are not trying to say that the papal opinion has been the only factor that
inuenced this issue, but it did denitely inuence one very extensive sector
of the world.
52
But the second and most serious part of the matter is that
said action had serious socio-economic consequences
in many parts of the world, and if I may, I will explain
some of them.
Obviously, the most valuable element known on the
planet is the human being, but if we grow at a quicker
rate than our ability to generate the necessary satisers,
we create a society with very serious shortages.
Some people of good faith say: I know many countries
that have a large population and are very developed.
It is very important to establish a key difference: one thing
is the elevated population density and another completely
different thing is a high rate of demographic growth.
And the dangerous thing for any nation in the world is
the second one.
Why is a high rate of demographic growth harmful?
For the simple reason that population duplication takes
place within too short a time period. And during that
same period the necessary satisers are not successfully
duplicated, which will create a multitude of serious short-
ages for a large amount of people.
To understand this better, lets analyze a specic example.
If a country like Mexico in 1976 had 54 million inhabit-
ants and by 2010 it had already 108 million
54
double
what does that mean from a practical point of view?
Regardless of which political party governed Mexico, if,
in only 34 years the population doubled, this means that
54
Even subtracting the great amount of people who emigrated during that
period to the United States. INEGI National Institute of Statistics and Geog-
raphy (Mexico). Vital Statistics.
THE PERFECT TRAP
53
during that same time period the necessary satisers, such
as access to drinking water, drainage, electricity, urban
roads, housing, jobs, gas, police, food supply, education,
communications, green spaces, wood production, abso-
lutely everything would also have to double.
If that were not enough, all the accumulated decits
must be solved over decades or centuries and moreover,
a certain percentage of the infrastructure that with the
passing of the years is becoming obsolete.
As you will understand, that is a goal that cannot be met,
not in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru,
Bolivia, India or any country in the world, since no one
would have the capacityeven with the best govern-
ment in the worldto create what in practice would be
another new countryplus the accumulated decitsin
that short time period.
The speed factor performs a crucial role, not only in this,
but in anything that comes to mind. Let me put it to you
with a very simple example.
A fundamental element for human survival is without a
doubt food. We all agree that food is not only good, but
indispensable for life, dont we?
Take a moment to recall the food you ate yesterday.
Now lets imagine for a moment that this same amount
of food is multiplied by two or by three on that same day
and that we do the same thing each day for seven days.
I can assure you that before the end of the week, you, I
and anyone would be in hospital, regardless of the sig-
nicant fact that the food is good.
54
What happened? Something very simple: the food was
ingested in a quantity greater than the ability to digest it.
In the case of the population, something similar happens.
It is not enough to state to the media the importance of
human life, but it is indispensable to take the necessary
steps to favor the development of a stable society that is
able to provide the necessary satisers to all its members.
Lets return to the practical example of Mexico, where
I mentioned that if its population doubled in 34 years
even when emigration is taken out of the equationwhat
also had to be done? To double all the satisers at the
same time in that very short period.
Now I ask you: what happens if in that same period it is
not possible to double housing?
We will have a signicant segment of the population living
in makeshift houses with dirt oors, no drinking water
or drainage and perhaps even located in high risk zones.
What will happen if Mexico is not ableas no country in
the world would be ableto double capacity to provide
the jobs required?
The need to emigrate will drastically increase, the amount
of street stalls will grow and violence and insecurity will
rise.
What will happen if its ability to generate sustainable
wood products does not grow proportionally (as we will
see in all countries with similar growth)?
It is logical to think that the deterioration of forests will
reach levels that will put the ecological balance of the
country at great risk.
THE PERFECT TRAP
55
What will we be the situation if urban roads are not
doubled? Obviously, there will be congestion, with slow
trafc and angry drivers, which in turn will have a nega-
tive inuence on production and other key elements.
And something similar will occur with absolutely all
the necessary satisers that have not been able to grow
at the rate required. And another thing: many of those
areas are inuenced negatively by others, producing a
dangerous mix.
But observe a curious fact: the rst impression of the
inhabitants of both Mexico and any country with such
conditions will be to blame the government without
analyzing that perhaps there were hidden forces that
surely caused these things to occur.
And what we see on the scale of a single country will
also be seen on an international scale, and I invite you
to judge for yourself.
The developing world population reached around 3
billion by 1970.
55
But you see, by 2010 the population of that same develop-
ing
56
segment had practically doubled and Im not even
going to ask if the necessary satisers were doubled be-
cause the answer will obviously be nothe period was
too shortand the conditions are even more deplorable
now for a sector increasingly more extensive.
55
POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU, Table of the world population 2009.
(Washington, USA.) The population considered developed was around 25%
of the total world population at that time, which was 4 billion.
56
Item. World population picture. The population increase from 1970 to 2010
basically occurred in the segment considered underdeveloped, therefore,
by 2010 the proportion between developed and underdeveloped changed and
only around 15 of every 100 persons (2010) were in the developed world.
56
And observe how curious it is that there are other people
who naively, albeit with good intentions, say we need
education without focusing so much on family planning.
Obviously, education is a crucial element, but currently,
the truth is that both things have to be done because,
if a family from Africa or a highly marginalized area of
Latin America has ve children, probably one or several
of those little ones has already had to leave schoolif
they even have that optionto help support their family.
A simple recommendation to educate will be more
utopian than realistic.
But returning to the topic occupying us today, that is, re-
garding the consequences of doing things differently from
what the Lord says. Believe me, the social repercussions
have also been immeasurable.
I will give you a few gures so we have more facts on the
magnitude of the damage. The whole world was affected by
the conrmation, after the Second World War, of the terrible
events that took place at the Nazi extermination camps.
It is inconceivable that, due to the almost demented men-
tality, prejudice and ignorance of a tiny group of fanatics,
a large country like Germany could be convincedand
practically blindedby a Ministry of Propaganda to
exhibit racist attitudes towards another group of fellow
citizens of the world.
And already immersed in that blindness, another select
group of them was able to implement clandestine death
factories at which over six million people were erased
from the face of the earth.
But I have some very bad news for you: according to the
socio-demographic situation of previous last decades, in
THE PERFECT TRAP
57
less than 10 years all the deaths from that terrible con-
agration (50 million) were surpassed by what I have
just set out.
Do you know how many children die in the world popu-
lation segment considered underdeveloped as a conse-
quence of decient medical and food conditions? Over
six million children a year.
57
I remember that on one occasion I was listening to an
interesting lecture on the extremely important scientic
and cultural contributions the world had received from
outstanding people.
But the unfortunate thing about the situation is that the
main cultural works and contributions are those that were
never done, those that were NOT done because of the
astronomical number of people that lacked an adequate
environment of culture, medical care, food and family
and, therefore, could not develop all their potential.
Therefore, they returned to the earthmany premature-
lywith almost all their potential intact and of course
not unused.
On whom does this responsibly fall? On those of us who
did have this possiblity, but were not sufciently skilled
to create the appropriate conditions.
But, how could we create such conditions if restrictions
are imposed that negatively inuence society? And if, to
top it all, such impositions are contrary to the religious
and human principles they state they are defending?
57
POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU. World population watch.
(Washington USA)
58
As I mentioned, I do not doubt for a second the excellent
good will of many people who believe in the gure of a
pontiff, but would it not be better and safer to follow
the instructions of He who is not mistaken, that is, God?
Let us analyze for a moment and take a different path.
Might it not be a simple trap and a guaranteed route to
arrive at another place that is not the right one?
If we go back in history, we will realize that this mistake
made by guides from other eras of Christianity was not
casual, but a product of ambushes and traps cunningly
designed by the father of lies.
His objective to deceive us thus had a perfectly delimited
and precise aim. You see, if we return to the example of
the boat, where if that boat wanted to get to its destina-
tion, the only viable option was to follow the route and
exact coordinates. Another directionany direction at
allwould obviously take it somewhere else, dont you
think?
In our world, like the best compasses or maps, the Lord
has also left us a route, which is in His Word. There is
no second or third option.
But what I am saying, my esteemed reader, about the
enemy of God and manwho I spoke of at the begin-
ningis that he knows this perfectly well, but wants
Gods project to fail and also knows that the sure route
to derailment is to have things done differently.
That entity knows very well that if things on earth are
done according to limited human parameterseven with
supposed good intentionsthe route and destination will
be different from those traced from above.
THE PERFECT TRAP
59
That is why when Jesus Christ was on earth he left us
precise instructions, one of which is included in that
wonderful example of prayer, known as Our Father. You
will recall that in one part the words are the following:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
58
I am fully convinced that one of the reasons why things
work perfectly in Heaven is because everything is done
according to the Word of God. There is no second route
in the universe, believe me.
I could give you so many quotes, but will just say the
following:
On one occasion that enemy of whom I speak dared to
tempt the Lord Jesus Christ himself when he knew he
was hungry after a prolonged fast,
59
and said to him:
If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.
But what I am more interested in now is in highlighting
the response he gave. Observe:
Man will not live from bread alone, but from all the words
that come from the mouth of God.
That, esteemed reader, is not only the route, but the com-
plete future of man and the entire universe: the Word
and the Will of God. The rest are tricks and false routes
that will lead somewhere else.
And one difference between a mistake and a trick is that
the mistake is involuntary, but the trick is deliberate; it
is a despicable trap that pursues other purposes.
58
Gospels according to St. Matthew 6:10 and St. Luke 11:2.
59
Gospels according to St. Matthew 4:3, St. Mark 1:13 and St. Luke 4:3.
60
That is why I believe that what is described in this chap-
ter was a trick, a despicable trap with other intentions
and some other ambushes, which will be outlined in the
following chapters.
THE PERFECT TRAP
61
CHAPTER III
INTERCESSORS
PLACEBOS
Earlier on, I had set out the hypothetical case of a ship
that believed it was going in the right direction.
In that example I had asked you to imagine that, had
there been a sufciently evil character to plan for that
ship to never arrive at its destination, the only thing he
would have to do would be to provide a false route or
faulty compass.
But let us say that on the ship the steersman and captain
are usually guided at night by the stars, and as the stars
cannot be moved by human will, tell me something: what
do you think that evil person could do to confuse them?
If that person knows that sailors, when they are in the
northern hemisphere, are guided by a star called polar
star and when in the southern hemisphere by a constel-
lation known as the southern cross, and given that, as
I was saying, it is not possible to change the location of
said stars at will, what could he do?
Make them think that they should use other celestial
objects as their basis. They must somehow be made to
take different stars as their basis on the assumption that
they are the right ones.
I will not deny that the trick is very simple and effective,
dont you think? Even though the problem whoever is
doing it has will be to look for something that, to limited
human sight, is similar to what the person is looking for.
62
And this is where something we could call placebos
comes into play. You surely already know its dictionary
denition: substance or thing without value, which one
deliberately tries to pass off as the original.
How do I make something false pass as something origi-
nal? In medicine, a placebo must be given the same ap-
pearance and consistency as the original substance. In
other elds, the behavior will be similar, even though
for such trick to work, it must be made to look like the
same thing it aims to replace.
You could tell me that on spiritual terrain, things change,
since no one could present one thing for another.
Good grief, you will think. Id practically need to be a
magician to trick people like that. However, if we take
a look back in history, we will see that in reality it has
been very easy to do that, simply by saying that it was
going to arrive at the same place, albeitand this is im-
portantvia a different, supposedly better, even quicker
or more effective route, by using so called intercessors
or mediators.
But they dont exist, you will say. The problem for the
trickster is not whether or not they exist, but rather that
someone believes in them.
Ingenious, isnt it? There is no doubt that the trickster I
was talking about deserves his title of master and father
of lies. But let us analyze the trap par excellence that has
been created in this respect.
INTERCESSOR
History has shown that one of the best ways of success-
fully manufacturing placebosespecially in believers
THE PERFECT TRAP
63
who are not very familiar with the Biblehas been
through the creation of intercessors.
Obviously, that intercessor function, outside the Lord Je-
sus Christ himself, does not exist in the Word of God. It is
limited to the Lord, as you will see from his own words:
I am the way, the truth and the life: no man come tho
unto the Father but by me.
1
Here we need a small clarication. Though among live
beings, the job of intercession is recommended through
prayer (invoking the name of Jesus Christ), in the case of
a person on our planet, who addresses an angel or any
other person who is not with us (outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ) believe me, that is something contrary to what is
stipulated in the Word of God.
And let me add something else, both in that and any other
respect. If something is done differently from what God
says, that action becomes an extraordinary risk because it
can be a simple trap, though, as I was saying, it will surely
be disguised as a shorter or more effective route.
Nevertheless, before I continue, lets take a tour of the
best guide for human beingsthe Bible.
The most notable thing about this intercessor phenom-
enon is that those who say they are successors of Peter
recommend things that are different from what this great
Apostle said, and I can demonstrate this to you.
On one occasion, the Apostle Peter
2
clearly and conclu-
sively expressed the following:
1
Gospel according to St. John 14:6.

2
Book of Acts of the Apostles 4:11. In this case the person talking is St. Peter
64
This is the stone which you, the builder, rejected but which
has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation,
for of all the names in the world given to men, this is
the only one by which we can be saved.
I wonder, how could someone pretend he is a successor of
St. Peter if he is not even proposing to do things as he said?
If Jesus Christ says, I am the way, the truth and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father but by me and Peter, in turn,
corroborates with all his letters that there is no other name
under Heaven given to men, under which someone can be
safe, other than the name of Jesus Christ, how can someone
dare think of adding another?
Nevertheless, someone might say, perhaps St. Paul, the
great Apostle of the Gentilesof whom you and I would
begave us a recommendation or the slightest of hints
for us to get close to God through the other intercessor
or mediator outside of Jesus Christ?
On the contrary my esteemed reader, and as proof of this,
I quote from his own words:
3
For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men,
the man Christ Jesus.
Nevertheless, such has been the insistence of some to
recommend intercessors, that if I may, I would like us
to delve deeper into the matter.
The word intercessor comes, like the vast majority of
Spanish words, from Latin, specically from the word
intercedere, which means to put oneself in between.
3
1st Letter from St. Paul to Timothy 2:5. And I repeat that this is a pastoral
letter, that is, addressed to the guides and pastors of a church.
THE PERFECT TRAP
65
And what could be the Biblical fundament for this sup-
posed intercessor role? It does not exist. And as I men-
tioned, not only is there nothing in this regard, but it is
excluded.
So, would there be any practical fundament that justied
the manufacture of characters of this nature?
If someoneanyone at allin Heaven or on earth decided
to make the extraordinary mistake of trying to do things dif-
ferently from what God says, I would feel obligated to tell
him he is making the most important mistake of his life.
4
But if, despite that, someone insists anyway on analyzing
this intercessor role, with the aim of nding some sup-
posed advantage to it, let us, then, analyze the matter.
The rst requirement for a supposed intercessor to work
effectively would be to know in advance whether the
proposed matter is suitable or worthy of being pre-
sented to God, and for this, it would be indispensable for
it to be very familiar with a series of factors that would
be out of its reach.
What do I mean? Well, on certain occasions our won-
derful Lord of Heaven allowsperhaps much to his re-
gretan apparently adverse or negative situation in a
persons life, but this has a specic purpose known only
to God himself.
4
To the people who fall into this transgression, I present two quotes from the
New Testament:
a.- Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Words of
Jesus Christ quoted in the Gospel according to St. Matthew 5:19.
b.- For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is
guilty of breaking all of it. Words of the Apostle Santiago, Universal Letter from
Santiago 2:10.
66
And that apparently adverse situation can perform a
certain purpose to make someone react in a certain way.
For instance, I know a person for whom, when he had
a problem, that same juncture of conict was the de-
termining element to get closer to the Lord, which also
transformed his life.
I can assure you that had that person not gone through
that conict, this mysterious catalyst that only God knew
about would not have come into play. And I know of
many such cases.
But, let me give you another example, this one based on
the same historical context of the Bible. At a certain time,
the great Apostle Paul suffered a great conict, which is
detailed very clearly in his 2nd Letter to Corinthians.
5
I
quote it literally:
By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations,
that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to
me a thorn in the esh, a messenger of Satan to torment
me, that I should not be exalted excessively.
Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that
it might depart from me. He has said to me, My grace is
sufcient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.
Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take
pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses, for Christs sake. For when
I am weak, then am I strong.
5
2nd Letter from St. Paul to Corinthians 12:7.
THE PERFECT TRAP
67
When we see this clear and profound thought of Paul,
we realize the great capacity the Lord had placed in his
understanding, because he understood this Apostle per-
fectly, the catalyst role performed by the weaknesses or
the problems which, on occasion, the wonderful Lord of
Heaven allows in certain cases.
And observe, my esteemed reader, how human beings
are so fragile that when things go wonderfully we are
foolishly lled with pride and we forget key aspectsto
guide everything around the Lord.
Believe me, we are so ighty in this respect that we look
like a paper kite even the slightest breeze could take away
ying only to be lost in space. Therefore, this kite needs
to be tied to a stone, and that stone is kindly placed by
the Lord.
And do not think that this singular human characteristic
is limited to the spiritual context. Let me mention a case
from universal history.
When a Roman Caesar entered Rome along the main
street, feeling acclaimed by the crowds and wearing a
crown of laurels on his forehead, a slave had to get into
his carriage, whose only peculiar mission was to whisper
in his ear,
6
Remember you are mortal.
On countless occasions, that slavein the gurative
sensegets into the carriage of our life through certain
conicts to highlight other more important things. That
fullls a specic function.
6
LIBRO DE LOS DOCE CSARES (BOOK OF THE TWELVE CAESARS),
Book I., Suetonio. Editorial Grolier. (Mexico)
68
Now, I ask you: can anyone pretend to be wiser than
God, to the extent that they can decidebetter than
Himwhen it could, or not, be justiable to put a
person to the test?
Could a supposed intercessorif he existsdare put
himself in between God and man in order to ask himor
impede himto carry out his Holy Will on someone or
something, thus interfering in his plans?
If we delve a little deeper into this specic case of Paul,
you will remember how the Lord called him on the way
to Damascus. And Paul, or Saul, was not even remotely an
admirer of Christ, much less a believer in the Lord. On the
contrary, he was a erce persecutor of the Christian cause.
Nevertheless, the Lord called him to his service, not
without rstand this is importantgiving him a little
wake-up call and leaving him blind
7
for three days, dur-
ing which he did not drink or eat. And it was only when
this time has passed that the Lord sent a third person to
return his sight.
The Lord knew exactly how much time Paul needed to re-
ect and to spiritually see all that he was blind to before.
Now, let us imagine for a moment that a third person
intervenesa so called intercessorand, without the
Lords authorization, tries to inuence and put himself
in betweenthe etymological meaning of the termand
tries to make the Lord not act in this way.
Do you honestly think that this intervention would have
been to Gods pleasing?
7
Acts of the Apostles 9:9. Pauls conversion is described in the whole of Chapter
9 of this same book.
THE PERFECT TRAP
69
But then another question arises. If you and I are im-
mersed in a serious problem, are we going to ask God for
help? Of course! The Lord foresaw these kinds of things
before our time, but he also established the precise way to
do it, addressing Him directly, not through third persons.
Analyze the best example we human beings have, which
is none other than the life of the Lord on earth, which is
described in the Gospels.
As we turn to the scriptures, tell me something: when
the Lord asked his Father in Heaven for somethingas
happened in the prayer in the orcharddid he make his
request by asking for the intervention of Moses, Abra-
ham, Elias, the Archangel Gabriel, John the Baptist
8
or
any other character from up there?
No, he asked God directly, but note that before every-
thing he fully submitted to his Will. That also constitutes
an example for us, since the only one who in reality
can know everything and know all the implications and
consequences is God.
I can assure you that no one could be wise enough to
know all the implications of any matter because let me tell
you something: on occasion there could be cases where
a supposed good thing could lead to an evil thing and
vice versa. What do I mean?
Allow me to mention a case from history in this respect.
Christopher Columbus had already managed to convince
the Portuguese Crown to nance his westbound voyage
to the Indies.
8
John the Baptist was already dead by that time. (Gospels according to St.
Matthew 14:10, St. Mark 6:27 and St. Luke 9:9.
70
At that point, the Portuguese receive some news that is
not just good, but pretty extraordinary: a new route is
discovered to the Indies bordering Africa via the south.
Due to this good news, they decide to cancel Columbus
project.
9
So Columbus, disappointed, is obligated to turn to the
Spanish Court, and the Portuguese, spurred on by such
good newstheir new routegot lost without realizing
it, which would represent for them the most extraordi-
nary event of their entire history.
10
Now, let me give you some news. One of Columbus
caravels was faulty, therefore, they lost many days on an
island repairing it.
Columbus complained bitterly about this problem, but
we now know that had it not been for that, instead of ar-
riving in Americathe Caribbean regionon October 12,
he would have arrived in early September, when there are
more cyclones, which would have increased the chances
of failing, considering the fragile vessels they used.
11
One more case: on one occasion I met someone who
tried to improve the nancial circumstances of one of his
clients, who was in a desperately bad nancial situation.
And as his efforts to help that client were crowned by a
resounding success, the person whose nancial situation
9
THE ADMIRAL OF THE OCEAN: The Life of Christopher Columbus. By Sam-
uel Eliot Morison. Editorial FONDO DE CULTURA ECONMICA. (Mexico)
10
It was not until this event that the Portuguese, through the Treaty of Tordesil-
las, originally signed by representatives on June 7, 1494 and ratied laterbe-
fore Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgiathat they could compensate part of
that extraordinary loss they had suffered and, thanks to said agreement, could
seize only part of the new lands discovered (Brazil). Item.
11
Item.
THE PERFECT TRAP
71
he transformed also changed his attitude andsurprise,
surprisewhen his nancial situation became surprising
buoyant his moral or spiritual behavior dropped, and
on the day he died quickly from a stroke, he was with
another woman who was not his wife.
I wonder, and I ask you the same thing: can any human
being be more knowing than God, to the extent of know-
ing when a situation of wellbeing or limitation suits
or does not suit such and such a person?
Nobody; not on earth or in Heaven. No one can know
better than God what is, specically, suitable in each
particular case.
And if no one, not even in Heaven, can get close to that
great ability to judge, what can we expect from the ex-
traordinarily limited knowledge of a human being?
Just to give us a slight idea about the levels we human
being are used to, compared with those who are in
Heaven, Ill mention a case quoted by the Lord Jesus
Christ himself.
12
Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not-
withstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven
is greater than he.
At the time that phrase was expressed, my esteemed
reader, Peter, Mary, John, Santiago and all mentioned
in the New Testament had already been born and Jesus
Christ was placing them all as less than John the Baptist.
12
72
Now, let us consider that, if not even John the Baptist or
anyone in Heaven is assigned the role of intercessor or
mediator for humans and, most importantly, if that is the
Lords desire, we would need to be sufciently foolish to
act in another way.
I must warn you too that one of the deceptions most
used by the trickster is to appeal to an apparent earthly
kinship with Jesus in order to thereby try to justify to
some that supposed intercessor labor.
But, you see, the Lord again, as if anticipating such an
eventuality, expressly claries that earthly kinships are
below the following of His Word and, if you like, I will
quote the specic part where it is mentioned.
13
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother
and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with
him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and
thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with
thee.
Responding to this being said to him, he said: Who is
my mother and who are my brethren? And offering his
hand to his disciples, he said: Behold, my mother and
my brethren. Because whoever does the Will of my Fa-
ther who art in Heaven, is my brother and my sister
and my mother.
In other words, those three Gospels, in a clear and specic
manner, perfectly establish the fact that following Gods
will is high above any kinship of an earthly kind.
13
This episode is quoted in the rst THREE Gospels: St. Matthew 12:46,
St. Mark 3:31 and St. Luke 8:19.
THE PERFECT TRAP
73
But to reiterate it even more, on another occasion there
were plenty who wanted to highlight this kind of kinship,
however, when it happens, the Lord makes things clear.
14
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain
woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him,
Blessed is the womb that bear thee, and the paps which thou
hast sucked. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they
that hear the word of God, and keep it.
I am completely convinced that Mary herself was the rst
to realize the true situation: that the true Father and cre-
ator of all is God alone. She also knew of the pre-existence
of Jesus Christ since before the world existed, and also
realized that only she had been a mediumcreated by
Godso that the power and mercy of the Lord could be
manifested among us.
I am going to predict something. More than one person
will try to confuse you. There is someone who assures
us that it is necessary to address Mary because she is the
mother of God and this confuses many. But the real
situation is different.
One of the arguments they will give will be the follow-
ing: Was Jesus Christ God? Yes or no? And you would
obviously have to say yes.
And the next question will be: So, if Mary was his
mother, Mary is the mother of God. And with that, they
try to stop justifying the intervention of Mary in her
mediator role. Nevertheless, as I said, the real situation
is different.
14
Gospel according to St. Luke 11:27.
74
Human nature certainly coexisted in Christ alongside his
divine nature but the key to all thatso as not to confuse
youlies in the following:
Man was not rst to later become Godin which case
those who called her Mother of God would be rightbut
exactly the opposite. He was already God since before
the creation of the world,
15
and only became smaller by
turning into a man to reach us, to be among us and to pay
a kind of price so that you and I could have an afterlife.
He himself already knew that human natureor in other
words eshis not the greatest thing, and what we see
is not truly valuable. Remember what he himself said
on one occasion:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the esh proteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life
16
Even though in reference to a hypothetical situation of
human kinship, he himself assigns no value to that, as
I have shown.
But let us just analyze how wrong the supposed interces-
sors are. Let us return to the requirements that a supposed
15
Among so many parts we could mention, just look at a quote relating to the pre-
existence of Jesus Christ (Gospel according to St. John 17:5): And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before
the world wash.
And as for the true creator of all, I will quote two more: (St. John 1:3): All things
were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
And (St. John 1,12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the fesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
16
THE PERFECT TRAP
75
intercessor should have. Another essential condition
would be goodness.
I wonder, do you think that there could be someone
kinder than the Lord, so that he could advise him or
inuence him in our favor?
Id like us to turn to the actual scriptures. On one occasion
there was a great multitude that had followed the Lord
and as there was little chance of eating, did the disciples
really intercede with Jesus so that he would help them?
Carefully analyze their behavior in the following text.
17
And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he
received them, and spake unto them of the Kingdom of God,
and healed them that had need of healing. And when the
day began to wear away, then came the twelve, [observe:
the twelve] and said unto him, Send the multitude away,
that they may go into the town and country around about,
and lodge, and get victual: for we are here in a desert place.
Surely you have already seen that those possiblefor
someintercessors, instead of begging the Lord on
behalf of the multitude, instead of advocating for them,
they asked him to send them away. It was only the Lords
kind attitude that got them out of trouble.
But, let me quote another case, also from the New Testa-
ment. On one occasion, a woman of Canaan approaches
the Lord and says:
18
17
18
Gospels according to St. Matthew 15:21 and St. Mark 7:24.
76
Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter
is grievously vexed with a devil.
At the end, after putting her to the test, the Lord helps
her but what I want to highlight is the attitude or willing-
ness of those who surrounded Christ, who were his own
disciples, no less. What did they do? Did they advocate or
intercede for her? Let me literally describe what they said:
Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Analyze this other case: some children were taken to
the Lord for him to bless them, but the disciples, instead
of advocating or interceding for the little ones, tried to
banish them. But the Lord of goodness realized this and
reprehended them.
19
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to
place his hands on them and pray for them, but the dis-
ciples rebuked them. Jesus said, Let the little children
come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom
of Heaven belongs to such as these.
Therefore, my esteemed reader, if there is no one better
than the Lord, it is incomprehensible how someone could
even consider the possibility of turning to a third person.
But, if that were not enough and, continuing with the
practical impossibility of this supposed intercessor labor,
I will set out one more requirement that is indispensable
for the performance of this labor.
He would need to fully know the matter on which he aims
to intercede, because if he does not know it in depth,
huge mistakes can be made.
19
Gospels according to St. Matthew 19:13, St. Mark 10:13 and St. Luke 18:15.
THE PERFECT TRAP
77
And to know something as it should be known,
it is necessary to have the authority of the all-
knowing.
20
Because if the entire context of any matter is not fully
known, the brilliant intercessor could do more harm
than good.
And even worse, because it is not only indispensable
to know the whole case in the present, but in the past
and future too, and to interrelate it with all its external
circumstances or elements.
In all honesty, who could even dream of being able to do
such a thing, apart from God? The rst interested party
someone would choose to support himself in his work
of helping human beings would be precisely the Lord,
butand this is importantif He does not arrange it
thus, this is for a specic reason: that only He can do it.
If that were not enough, an additional requirement for
any intercessor or mediatorif permitted, which is not
the casewould be to have the gift of OMNIPRESENCE,
that is, to be present in several places simultaneously,
and be able to attend to many matters at the same time.
For a moment let us suppose, without granting, that such
and such a person constitutes a kind of intercessor and
receives, in a second, 2,000 requests at the same time
from different corners of the globe.
20
This word has Latin roots: OMNI: All, and SCIRE: Knowledge. BREVE
DICCIONARIO ETIMOLGICO DE LA LENGUA CASTELLANA (ABBREVIATED
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF CASTILIAN SPANISH), Joan Corominas,
EDITORIAL GREDOS (Spain) and BREVE DICCIONARIO ETIMOLGICO DE
LA LENGUA ESPAOLA (ABBREVIATED ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF
THE SPANISH LANGUAGE), Guido Gmez de Silva, Editorial FONDO DE
CULTURA ECONMICA. (Mexico)
78
Would this hypothetical mediator have the ability to
listen, evaluate, judge and decide on the supposed prov-
enance, or lack thereof, of a certain request in order to
then channel it to whomever it may concern?
I think that considering such a possibility is simply fool-
ish because I do not know in your case, but personally, I
cannot even speak on the phone with two people at the
same time.
Nevertheless, the Lord in heaven does have the power
of OMNIPRESENCE, and when the time is right we will
nd out more about it, but in the meantime the best we
can do is to behave as God tells us, dont you think?
Do not think, my esteemed reader, that this labor of
mediating is simple because, aside from the attri-
butes I have mentioned, and the many others that this
book would not manage to describe. Let me mention
another: it must be truly infallible
21
and not be subject
to making mistakes or being tricked.
Why am I telling you this? Imagine for a moment that
our brilliant mediator is raising a deliberately falsied
matter; in the best case scenario, a matter containing
signicant errors.
21
I mean true, not false INFALLIBILITY, such as was articially fabricated with
Pope Pius IX at the First Vatican Council called in 1869, where, at an rst vote,
the participants of the Council DENIED the possiblity to be declared infal-
lible, but in a cunning maneuver they would leave the most skillful politician
far behind, a second vote was carried out when almost all the opponents had
retired, and that was how they obtained it.
EN EL NOMBRE DE DIOS (IN THE NAME OF GOD), David Yallup, EDITORIAL
DIANA, (Mexico). A more complete description on the matter can be found
in another book by the same author called LA RELIGION SECUESTRADA
(SEQUESTERED RELIGION), written under the pseudonym of Giovanni
Torricelli. SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFA Y ESTADSTICA. (Mexico)
THE PERFECT TRAP
79
So the intercessor naively and diligently prepares to
present that cause before the throne of God. Dont you
think that is absurd?
A person is subject to being wrong, as all human beings
arewe may make mistakes, thereby dragging others
down the wrong path. That is precisely the objective of
the enemy I mentioned who, knowing this, tries to make
humans think we would be excellent guides.
Since we are now talking about the possibility of mak-
ing mistakes, there have been deliberately forged cases,
both from the Biblical point of view and the historical
or anthropological point of view, such as the case of the
supposed apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in
Mexico where, not being infallible, they made the mis-
take of considering said event to be real, which is what
happened to Pope John Paul II.
So, how did he make such a mistake? What happened
was the following: given that the sanctifying reasons
were already fallible and intrinsically inadmissible, Pope
John Paul II, in order to supposedly make them simpler,
simplied them by removing requirements.
Therefore, from his papacy a true stream of people and
cases, which beforehand were rejected for lacking, on
occasion, even historical supportas in the case of the
Virgin of Guadalupesuddenly received approval.
22
Therefore, that mistake stemming from the understand-
able lack of infallibility resulted in the fabrication of
a new saint or possible intercessor in the person of
Juan Diego.
22
A more detailed and complete description of such events can also be found
in the book by this author indicated in the above note.
80
But now that we are talking about saints, let me tell
you that this custom, which lacks Biblical bases, has
constituted an excellent source of intercessors.
SAINTS
The word saint, in the strict sense, comes from the Latin
term sanctus, but the curious thing is that this term is,
strictly speaking, a verbal form in the past participle of
sancire, which mean sacred, sanctied or remote.
23
The rst observation I would like to make is the follow-
ing: it is important to note the verbal form.
Why? When we talk about a past participle, this means
that a third person or external action participated. What
do I mean?
Well, to clean (innitive) is not the same thing as
cleaned (past participle), nor is to purify the same as
puried or to transfer the same as transferred.
I said that in this case the verbal form is very important
because, even though from the etymological perspec-
tive, the use of this verb in the past participle is more
commonwhere a third person participatedfrom a
doctrinal point of view, using the formal verb quoted is
even more suitable. Why?
The reason is obvious. Outside of God
24
no one is saintly
by themselves, nor are the rest of human beings, which
23
BREVE DICCIONARIO ETIMOLGICO DE LA LENGUA CASTELLANA (ABRIDGED
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF CASTILIAN SPANISH), Joan Corominas, EDITO-
RIAL GREDOS (Spain).
24
As proof of this, look at how the Lord answers when someone addresses
Him as good master where, as you will understand, he preferred not to give
evidence on himself at that moment, but it does apply to all the rest:
THE PERFECT TRAP
81
includes all those who would have effectively achieved
that condition of sanctied, which only God knows.
Do you know something? None achieved that condi-
tion by themselves, much less intrinsically. Rather, they
reached it through the power and mercy of God.
If someone had become a saint by himself, that is,
intrinsically, among other things, that person would
not even have required redemption to be able to be
considered a safe person.
25
And to better exemplify this need for redemption of all
human beings, I will set out the recognition of herself
that Mary herself makes.
Through her own voice, Mary declares the need to be
safe herself. Carefully observe what she declares in her
own words:
26
Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he
said to him,
Why do you call Me good? No one is good, but One, that is, God.
(Gospel according to St. Matthew 19:16 and it is also referred to in that of St.
Mark 10:17 and St. Luke 18:18).
25
Aside, obviously, from following the commandments of the Lord. As it is said
in many parts of the New Testament, only three of which we quote:
a.- Gospel according to St. John 8:51. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep
my saying, he shall never see death (Entering the Kingdom of the Lord is the
equivalent of not seeing death, that is, being safe.)
b.- Gospel according to St. John 14:23. Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me,
he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him
and make our home with him.
c.- Gospel according to St. Matthew 7:21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord,
Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.
As you can see in these three and in many others, it is not only clear that
salvation is received from God, but that it is on condition of the fulllment of
his Word or Will.
26
82
My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my
savior, because he has placed his eyes on the vile deed of
his servant
And if Mary herself is declaring her own need to be safe,
believe me, if all the rest, whoever they are, manage to
achieve that condition, this is due rst to the grace and
goodness of our God.
Butand this is importantwhat we must never allow
is that the enemy, in a lying manner, make use of that
grace granted to some who, furthermore, only God knows,
in order to fabricate us a kind of intercessor, since we
would be basing ourselves on human parameters and
appearances.
Aside from everything, I would like to raise some con-
siderations in this regard.
Do you think that there is any basis for any human being
to judge another in terms of his lifes spiritual behavior
and that, in so doing, grant a kind of sentence, be it
sanctifying or condemnatory?
If we turn to where we should always turn, which is to
the Bible, we will see that from a human or material point
of view there is the possibility of judgmentlimited to
judges and specic authoritiesbut never in terms of is-
suing an approving sentence through a judge or group
of them. For instance, let us analyze what the Apostle
Santiago said:
27
There is one lawgiver and judge that is able to destroy
and to deliver. But who are thou that judgest thy neigh-
bor?
27
Letter from the Apostle Santiago 4:12.
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83
And if, despite this and other kinds of similar prohibi-
tions, someone were still to wonder about the reason for
the establishment of such juries, it is something complete-
ly aberrant. Let us analyze the following considerations.
The rst of them would be to reect on whether it is
valid to judgeeven from a human contextwithout
having full knowledge of the behavior of a person. I
invite you to analyze the following:
If a judge is going to issue sentence, what would be one
of the rst conditions for this? To know the facts.
If you do not know the facts, you are judging blindly.
And that judge would need to have impaired mental
faculties to issue a sentence under such conditions, dont
you think?
Now, given that no human being on earthnot even
everyone togethercould know what Juan or Juanita
Prez did or did not do one year ago at 3 pm, we know
that wed be judging them completely blindly.
But the situation does not end there. Let us assume, which
is not possible for any human being, that someone might
know what a person does for 24 hours, 365 days of the
year of his life. Tell me, could that supposed judge be fa-
miliar with and evaluate the thoughts, circumstances and
different internal and external factors that determined
his behavior?
I think that you are thinking the same thing as me: the
mere idea of judging one of our peers under such limited
conditions is as absurd as it is ridiculous. Shall I tell you
something? That is exactly what would be happening
now, in addition to improperly abrogating a prerogative
that only God has the right to.
84
Nevertheless, what for man is impossible from any point
of view, the Lord does simply because he DOES know
his past, future, motivations, circumstances, potential
and all he needs to then issue his judgment.
I ask you, why does such a foolish thing not surprise us
more? Aside from many peoples lack of knowledge of
the New Testament, its inuence has been that we have
always seen that behavior as a normal thing and has
been considered a kind of tradition.
Nevertheless, as happens with all traditions, it had a
principle, but the curious thing is that history shows us
that this principle did not originate in Christianity, but
rather in Paganism.
Some peoples in olden times, such as the Romans, had a
custom of deifying or elevating to the category of de-
ity some supposedly celebrated persons, such as Livia,
28

wife of Augustus Caesarmother of Tiberius Caesaror
Julius Caesar himself after his death.
29
When Julius Caesar died, there is a record that a comet
appeared, visible when it got dark, and it was taken for
granted that this heavenly object was nothing less than
Julius Caesar, who had been received in the gathering of
deities, as they believed the stars to be.
The error of this tradition is one thing, but another com-
pletely different thing is authentic Christianity based on
the Word of God. I invite any reader to try to nd the
28
Livia Drusila Augusta, wife of Augustus Caesar and mother of Ti-
berius Caesar, was deifed by Claudius, receiving the title of Augusta,
once her own son Tiberius Caesar refused to elevate her to such cat-
egory. LIBRO DE LOS DOCE CSARES (BOOK OF THE TWELVE CAESARS).
Suetonio, EDITORIAL GROLIER (Mexico).
29
Item.
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85
slightest hint that supports this process of sanctication
that is currently carried out.
The only feasible reason I can nd for this is to give cause
to the enemy so that some naive believers step over to
another side that is not the right one.
If the desire is to help the enemy in his process of icon
and lie fabrication, this is the path. If we want to look
for the Lord, the road is in doing what He says.
Let us analyze just one of these cases where some hu-
man courts judged a character from previous centuries
a saint.
ONE SAINT, TWO VISIONS
As Alexander the Great said: For that God gave us two
ears; with one we listen to one version and with the other
we listen to the other version.
Though in this case, it is also a good idea for us to see an
example of sanctication from two points of view. Let
us analyze the case of Roberto Belarmino,
30
and see rst
what the authorities that proclaimed him a saint say.
For those who consider him a saint, Robeto Balramino
was an archbishop and Jesuit cardinal, who admirably
and tenaciously defended the faith and doctrine of the
Catholic Church during and after Protestant reform.
30
Roberto Francisco Rmulo Belarmino was born on October 4, 1542 and died
on September 17, 1621. His saints day was set for September 17, He was
declared a saint by Pius XI in 1930 and the doctor of the church the fol-
lowing year. www.catholic.net/santoral/articulo.php?id-507
86
From a very young age, he stood out for his great intel-
ligence. He decided to follow religious life, but always
lived by the principles of simplicity recommended in the
Gospels, since his mother inculcated in him from a young
age the importance of scorning the ephemeral nature of
luxuries of earthly life.
That is why he opted for a religious order where he could
not be appointed Bishop or Cardinal. He taught at the
University of Leuven, where he made good use of his
time to study the scriptures in depth and the work of the
holy fathers.
Much to his regret, he allowed himself to be appointed
Bishop and Cardinal and, because of his great ability, was
appointed very distinguished member of the Inquisition,
where he could defend with great commitment and zeal
the correct doctrine of the Catholic religion.
But as you will imagine, there are also those who think
differently, though obviously, such opinions did not at
all hinder the declaration of sanctity being granted to
Belarmino.
Those who see things from a different perspective con-
sider that the rise of this priest to the high posts of the
Catholic hierarchy was not due so much to his great
intelligence, but rather to the fact that his family had a
good relationship with the high clergy, since Balarmino
was also the nephew of Pope Marcelo II, who was the
brother of his mother.
Since he later held such high positions in the Holy in-
quisition, he had direct responsibility for the death of
many people who, even within the stricter parameters
of human legislation, science and in particular, the Bible
itself, were in no way subjected to being condemned to
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87
death, as happened in the case of Giordano Bruno, and
even less in the way said sentence was executedbeing
burned alive.
31
They say he was elected for said position precisely for
the fanaticism and intransigence of his faith, as his own
writing shows, since if we carefully analyze his way of
thinking in his works, we can see a serious doctrinal
distortion, which is contrary not only to the Gospels, but
also to the most elemental principles of sociology, human
rights and common sense.
Let us analyze the following paragraph from one of his
works called De Romano Pontfce, which will enable us
to better understand his way of thinking.
32
The Pope is the supreme judge in uncertain questions on
faith and morals. If he errs, imposing sins and prohibit-
ing virtues, the church must consider such sins as good
and such virtues as vices; otherwise, it shall sin against
its conscience.
We said that this man burned Giordano Bruno alive, who
was one of the most outstanding cosmographers, philoso-
phers and wise men that humanity has ever had and who
obviously did not recantas Galileo did, a process (one of
them), in which Belarmino also participatedbecause Gior-
dano felt that if he did this, he would betray his principles.
One of Giordanos assertions, aside from the fact that the
earth was not the center of the universe was the following:
The universe is innite, as innite as the power of God.
31
GIORDANO BRUNO. (THE POPE AND THE HERETIC), Michael White.
JAVIER VERGARA EDITOR. (Argentina)
32
DE ROMANO PONTFICE, Roberto Belarmino. Quoted in the book LA
PUTA DE BABILONIA (THE WHORE OF BABYLON), Fernando Vallejo. Edito-
rial PLANETA (Mexico)
88
Nevertheless, if we analyze the declaration of Belarmino
I have just quoted, we will realize that it does contain
serious transgressions to the Gospels, given that it not
only ponders the opinion of a human being above all,
but also categorically and in an anti-Christian manner
establishes that the Pope has the power to turn virtues
into vices and vice versa.
Obviously, neither you nor I will be able to issue an
absolute or condemnatory sentence on Belarmino since
that, as we have established, can only be done by the
supreme judge.
What is clear to me is that a human declaration of sanctity
is not only superuous, unnecessary and subject to seri-
ous errors, but also usurps the power of Gods judgment.
And if that were not enough, it is helping many believ-
ers of good faith to turn erroneously to these kinds of
characters, believing they could assume the controversial
role of intercessors or mediators when, to begin with, no
human being could assure or deny that a certain man or
woman could pass or fail before the only valid, supreme
judge, who created heaven and earth.
Like I said at the beginning when I gave you the example
of a ship, that is, if someone wanted to make it get lost,
the solution would be to make the people navigating it
believe that the basis of their orientation was different
and not the true one.
So, here I have provided the perfect example of thiscre-
ating intercessors and mediators and trying to use them
as an easier path to get to God. And the worst of it is
that in many cases, the trick works and there are a great
many believers of good faith who fall for it.
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89
I also said thatetymologically speakingintercessor
means he who puts himself in between and now I will
ask you another question.
If you wanted to address your spouse, would you like
to do it through a person who, without you asking, puts
himself in between the two of you?
Or if you wished to address your son, daughter, father or
brother, would you like it if, instead of doing it directly,
you had to depend on a mediator?
What you are feeling now as you experience this possib-
lity was also known by the Lord before our time, which
is why by anticipating this trick of the enemy, a direct,
clear route to address Him was established.
As a display of Gods love for us, in the following chapter
I will describe what the Lord created for each of us so
that, in an amazingly simple manner, he could not only
listen to us, but help us.
But on that way established by God, you will see that
the enemy also made his way through deceit since, as
I mentioned, his objective is to break the relationship
between man and his God. If I may, I will describe it on
the coming pages.
90
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91
CHAPTER IV
COMMUNICATION
IMPORTANCE
Earlier on, we highlighted the crucial role of communica-
tion. I also said that intercommunication is so important
in every sense that even in the case of our own brain,
we will realize what its development has been able to
achieve thanks to its neurons connecting via tiny nerve
ramications.
And since we are discussing the topic, I do not know if
on any occasion you have wondered why it is so impor-
tant for there to be that ow of interneuron information?
You see, a single neuron gets lost, but with the due issue
and receipt of data from all of them, access to the supe-
rior powers of a human being, such as thought, speech
and other things, admirably takes place.
I can assure you that, without that neuron intercommu-
nication, our life will be reduced to that of a vegetable.
But there is something else. If intercommunication at
biological, social, political and other levels acquires a
similar signicance, and if we talk about communication
between human beings and their Creator, its signicance
increases to extreme levels.
This is why God, knowing so much about this and the
great number of human needs, provided us with a suitable
path that is none other than prayer. And it is important
to highlight that an absence of communication would not
harm God, but rather man, since it is us who need Him.
92
But as I also said, there is an enemy who goes around,
who wants things in the world not to work as they should.
Therefore, even though that evil entity is perfectly aware
of the extraordinary importance of communication be-
tween man and his Creator, he will seek to make use of
the means at his disposal so that this link is broken.
To do so he uses traps that, believe me, you cannot even
imagine. While he will say to some that God does not
exist, he will assure others that human beings have their
great intelligence so they can solve their problems, or
he will suggest alternative routes to the best intentioned
that he knows perfectly well do not lead anywhere.
In order to try to explain myself better, let me continue
with the example of the boat. Where an evil character
wants said boat to never arrivebecause he wants to steal
it entirely along with its crew and cargohe will say to
them that they do not need to call the port, since they
are sufciently astute to nd the way by themselves, or
can also suggest a wrong direction.
But the ideal complement to this would be if he managed
not only to break communications with the port, but also
something much better: to make them believe they have
a communication, when in reality this is not the case.
And how can their communication be broken? It is very
easy: any way that is not the right one, is wrong. He can
tell them to use a different radio frequency or convince
them that, as the harbormasters ofce is too busy,
other alternative routes must be used, supposedly much
quicker and more effective. The traps he will present
will be unlimited.
But before I tell you one of these supposed quicker or
more effective ways of communicating with God, let
us reect on the way established by the Lord.
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93
THE RIGHT WAY
If we are convinced that Jesus Christ is the way, the
truth and the life, and that we only come to God through
Him, tell me, who could, in Heaven or on earth, show us
another route? No one. There is no being in the universe
who can tell us something better than what He says.
Simple, isnt it?
Any other route or suggestion that comes from whoever,
regardless of how attractive it seems, must be put to one
sidebelieve mesince it is a simple trap.
But, despite knowing this, the enemy sows countless
doubts, one of which is the following: God already
knows what you are going through. He does not need
you to tell him. Let me tell you something, my esteemed
reader. Do not believe it. The Lord prefers you to tell him
in your own words.
Let me also add that the word to pray comes from the
Latin term orare, which means to talk, to ask or to
express oneself in ones own words and this is precisely
how the Lord wants to listen to every one of us, regard-
less of the unquestionable fact that He already knows.
And to show that desire of the Lord, in the sense that he
likes listening to things we say in our own voice, let me
discuss a case taken from the Gospels.
On one occasion, two of Christs disciples were going
to Emmaus,
1
which was located around 7 miles from
Jerusalem, and while they talked amongst themselves,
without acknowledging it, the Lord himself approached
1
94
them and walked with them. But look at what is described
in the actual Gospel text:
Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes
were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, What
is this conversation that you are holding with each other as
you walk? And why are you sad?
Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, Are you
the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things
that have happened there in these days?
And to reiterate this, so you can see how God, even if
he knows everything, for some reason unknown to man,
prefers us to tell him in our own words. Because look at
what the Lord, in turn, answers:
What things?
I ask you, do you think he did not know if he himself
had experienced it? Of course he knew! But he wanted to
hear it from them. And I could cite a multitude of similar
cases. In the particular case of the way to pray that He
himself recommends, He also wants to hear it from each
one of us in our own voice.
And as far as the physical way of doing it goes, as we
said, the best example we have is that of Christs own
life. He prayed with his own words and out loud. Proof
of this, among many cases, is that at the prayer in the
orchard, his disciples could hear what he said, despite
being removed from him by several feet.
2
2
Gospel according to St, Luke 22:41: And he was withdrawn from them about a
stones cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
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95
On occasion, when he wanted to do it in private, he
took himself to the mount to pray alone. And he recom-
mended that when we pray, we do so in the privacy of
our own room.
3
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when
you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you openly.
And as far as the content of our prayer goes, he even gave
us an example
4
known as the Our Fatherand if we
analyze said example, we will see that with the wisdom
and simplicity of only God himself, he shows us the key
parts of all kinds of ways to address the Lord.
Look how it begins: Our Father who are in heaven, hal-
lowed by thy Name.
If we are observant, we will see that the cornerstone
of a prayer is to direct it in the only correct direction:
towards God through Jesus Christ, or directly to Jesus
Christ, which is the same.
5
It is important to say that any other form of prayer that
is not directed to the Lord, is out of place and does not
proceed as He says.
Then continue that example of prayer with the following
words:
Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come
3
4
Gospels according to St. Matthew 6:9 and St. Luke 11:1.
5
Gospel according to St. John 10:30: I and my Father are one.
96
With that phrase we express our sincere desire that the
wonderful name of God be exalted throughout the uni-
verse, and somehow we are unconditionally at his service
so that he may use us as instruments so that his Work
and His Word come into our life wherever we are.
We also express our desire that his kingdom of peace, love
and life come into our world.. In any case, as I was saying,
we put ourselves at his service as messengers of His Word.
It then continues:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
One of the things that tell us about the greatness of the
Gospels is that with a few words they say so much.
Observe what that very short phrase says. It exhorts us
to put ourselves unconditionally in Gods hands in every-
thing. We should put our time, resources, future, body
and practically everything before him, subject to his Will.
And with those same twelve words he also tells us some-
thing that we sometimes lose sight of, but that is funda-
mental: that up therewhere things work perfectlyall
those who are up there act exactly and precisely as the
Lord wishes.
Shall I tell you something? I do not see any other possible
way for things to work perfectly up there. I do not see
any other viable option other than following His Will
precisely. Let me add something else. That is and will
be what makes the Kingdom of God triumph throughout
the universe in its time.
With these twelve words, by exhorting us to do His Will
on earth as in Heaven, he also says, though very dis-
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97
creetly and we could say even pleasantly, that His Will is
NOT done here which, as I said, explains in passing the
reason for the worlds current situation.
That same phraseamazing that it says so muchis put
to us by the Lord Jesus Christ as an objective or goal on
earth to do things as they are done in Heaven, since it is
the safe route of future life which, among other things,
highlights the reason for our failure, which is the error
of our false route.
Now, where is His will? Might it be hidden in some se-
cret place? Might it be codied and only within reach of
a few? No, it is clearly, freely and openly in the Gospels
for all to read.
But, let us continue with that wonderful example of
prayer. We will now see what it says next.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Here it also shows that simplicity and profundity go
hand in hand. We are reminded of our gratitude to God,
for our daily bread, as well as for all the gifts received.
And with those two words, this day we are taught
something elseto not be greedy. Because, believe me,
there are people seeking, with sick eagerness, sustenance
for many years, when there are people who do not have
bread for today.
That gives more importance to other words of his:
6
But seek rst his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well.
6
Gospels according to St. Mathew 6:33 and St. Luke 12:31.
98
And in regard to our capacity to forgive others, we are
also surprised by the simple and profound manner in
which it is described. Observe:
And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our
debtors.
That phrase not only exhorts us to forgive all but, wisely
and intelligently, the forgiveness of God our Father is
conditioned to our own capacity to forgive our fellow
men, including our supposed enemies.
And as a corollary, it says:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
forever. Amen.
By making this request of our Father, that he keep us
away from evil, we are acknowledging that the true
source of sanctity in the universe comes only from God.
He is the only one who can prevent a situation of evil of
harm happening to us.
This is why this example of prayer, known as Our Fa-
ther and established by none other than Jesus Christ,
is a perfect prayer, since it includes all the key elements
with an astonishing simplicity.
And the reason for such perfection is not casual, since its
provenance is divine. But could there be ways of praying
that are not appropriate?
FALSE ROUTES?
It will get better in each particular prayer, provided we
focus on the basic points contained in this wonderful
example we have just quoted.
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99
Though everyone can pray using their own words and per-
sonal way of expressing themselves, depending on which
particular juncture they nd themselves at in that moment.
And on the contrary, if someone asked me about the
safety of following a false route, I would say that it would
be to say a prayer to any other place that is not directly
to our Lord.
If anyone wondered who is interested in us not communi-
cating with our God, I would remind you of the example
of the boat, where someone wants that ship to get lost,
since his goal to keep both the boat and its contents. He
attempts something similar in the boat of life.
This is why he will propose, by many means, better
and quicker routes, arguing that Godhe will sayis
very busy and it is, therefore, indispensable to follow
those alternative ways.
One of those routes is a prayer known as the rosary,
which has been widely recommended by different Popes
and Saints.
Before I talk about its provenance, let me mention some-
thing important. The term to pray is not the same as
to orate. To pray, as I said, is to express oneself with
ones own words and, to orate comes from the Latin
word recitare, which means to recite, recitation or
repetition out loud, that is, a different action.
If Don Juan Prez in traveling and wishes to speak with
his wife and children on the phone to nd out how they
are, and they, on picking up the receiver, instead of say-
ing something about their particular situation using their
own words, start reciting out loud a verse of Amada Nervo,
that expected communication is not going to take place.
100
Furthermore, if the person calling knows said verse very
well, it will be disconcerting to listen to these things over
and over again. Juan would rather know if they need
anything, about their experiences or projects, or to see
how he can help them.
But if every time Juan phones them he receives the same
verses, the situation for him will be frustrating and per-
haps even uncomfortable, given that Juan himself had
recommended that they do not act like that.
Juan knew beforehand that a nosey neighbor would try
to break up his family by interrupting their communi-
cations. And with that cunning objective would seek to
convince his wife and children, when they talked with
Juan, to not do so naturally, but by repeating phrases said
by other people under different circumstances.
But, returning to the desire of the Lord, I said that the ro-
sary is contrary to what He recommends. Why? If we read
St. Matthew 6:7, we will see that it says the following:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like Pagans, for
they think they will be heard because of their many words.
In other words, the Lord, rather than repetitions of some-
thing expressed by other people in completely different
circumstances, would like to hear out loud whatever each
person wants to express.
If that were not enough, this repetitive prayer that is the
rosary is mostly addressed to Marythat is, it is directed
elsewherethrough a prayer of human provenance
known as the Ave Maria.
Where did this prayer come from? The word ave comes from
Latin and means greeting. Many will recall the greeting in
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101
the Roman gladiators circus before combat: Hail, Caesar,
those who are about to die salute you.
7
And what does said prayer contain, aside from being
wrongly directed? Its rst part contains an almost literal
repetition of the greeting the Angel Gabriel makes to
Mary,
8
when he announces that our wonderful Father
in Heaven will carry out his extraordinary rescue of the
human race by using one of his own creatures, that is,
Mary herself.
Then, the same rst part continues with a portion of the
greeting that Elizabeth makes to Mary when she comes
to visit her.
9
The second part of this prayer puts Mary in the complete
and unrequested role of mediator
10
and, though we must
acknowledge that she was undoubtedly an extraordinary
woman and that all believers are convinced that God must
have a very special place in Heaven for her, forcing her to
carry out an intercessor role without God or Mary having
asked for it is an action without the slightest Biblical or
doctrinal fundament.
I would like to respectfully ask that, if any reader nds
the slightest hint in the words of Jesus Christ, Peter, Paul
or any other Apostle, or any quote from the Old or New
Testament containing the possibility both of this prayer
7
AVE, CAESAR, MORITURI TE SALUTANT.
8
9
Item. 1:42: And she exclaimed [Elizabeth] with a loud cry, Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
10
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
(Text from this prayer)
102
and of the role of mediator for anyone else, outside of
Jesus Christ, that they show it to us. So, where did this
emerge from?
THE ROSARY AND ITS TRUE ORIGIN
I would like to turn to the biography of a controversial
character, who was proclaimed a saint by the Catholic
church. His name is Friar Domingo de Guzmn.
This friar, born in Spain around 1170, died on August
6, 1221. He grew up in a Spain divided into several
kingdoms, some of which were ruled at that time by the
Arabs, who were called the Moors.
Domingo de Guzmn was the founder of the order of the
preachers
11
the Dominicanswho some time later, due
to their great doctrinal zeal, came to be in charge of a
sadly celebrated institution known as the Holy Inquisi-
tion, created to safeguard the correct doctrine of the
Catholic Church.
His congregation stated that one night this priest re-
ceived a revelation directly from the Virgin Mary, where
she conded that the rosary would become a powerful
weapon to gain alms.
This statement was backed up by a great many papal docu-
ments. He was canonized Friar Domingo de Guzmn by Pope
11
Religious order approved by Pope Honorius III on January 21, 1217, as the
order of the preachers and commonly known as the Dominicans. HISTORIA
DE LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY OF THE CHURCHOF CHRIST), Jos Luis
Montecillos Chipres, EDITORIAL EL CAMINO DE LA VIDA (Mexico). LA
INQUISICIN, EL LADO OSCURO DE LA IGLESIA (THE INQUISITION: THE
DARK SIDE OF THE CHURCH), Primitivo Martnez Fernndez. EDITORIAL
LIMUSA (Colombia-Mexico).
THE PERFECT TRAP
103
Gregory IX in 1234, with the Pontiff saying, I am as certain
of the sanctity of this man as I am of the sanctity of St. Peter
and St. Paul.
But there are also those who see things from a different
point of view. Friar Domingo de Guzmn, having grown
up on the Iberian Peninsula, was on the one hand very
inuenced by Arab culture, and on the other by the in-
evitable transfer of customs between Europe and North
Africa as a result of the atrocity known as the Crusades,
and must have been familiar with an article called the
tasbih, which was often used by Muslims and consists of
a closed chain of small beads.
In some way, that article known as the rosary is none
other than a bad copy of the tasbih made for Catholics.
And I say it is a bad copy because if it can have a func-
tion or reason for being in Islamit is said that as you pass
along each bead a thought on Allah must be issuedfor
a follower of Jesus Christ it would not have the slightest
doctrinal fundament.
And to top it all, something that Friar Domingo de
Guzmn surely did not realize either is that the tasbih is
in turn a derivation of a Buddhist practice that is 2,500
years old, known in that religionor philosophy as some
consider itas malla.
12
Nevertheless, the basic problem does not reside so much
in clarifying its true anthropological background, but
rather in that such custom or prayeror means of com-
munication with God, no lesshas no doctrinal base.
12
In Appendix C you will find more information on this. HISTORIA DE LAS CREENCIAS
E IDEAS RELIGIOSAS (HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND IDEAS), Mircea Eliade
(1907-1986). EDICIONES PAIDOS (Spain)
104
I do not seek in any way to minimize the gure of Buddha
or Sidartha Gautama, whom I consider an outstanding
philosopher, nor Mohammed, but they were human be-
ings like us. Conversely, the Lord Jesus Christ, for those
who believe in Him, is something else: God, no less, who
came down to earth.
That difference is so vast. You see, one of Buddhas rec-
ommendations to his followers was Keep searching for
the truth. But the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as being
God, is Truth himself.
13
I wonder and I ask you, too, my esteemed reader, might
this way of prayingthe rosarynot be a route deliber-
ately designed so that many believers of good faith think
they are addressing Heaven, when in reality it does not
happen thus?
What consequences might modifying the way of praying
or communicating with the Lord have? Can this articial
modication have a negative effect on our world? What
will its personal and social impact be?
Believe me, though it seems to be an innocent modica-
tion, its basic problem is that is prevents true communi-
cation between the believer and his God and, of course,
the consequences will be huge.
13
Gospel according to St. John 18:37: Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou
a King then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I
born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
If only Buddha and the worlds other great philosophers had known that Truth,
because I think they would have been the rst to adhere to it. But why would
those of us who have known it through his Word have to change our Christian
teachings for something else?
THE PERFECT TRAP
105
When Edgar
14
was full of anxiety and in a spiritual
vacuum, not knowing the correct route to Gods true
peace, he sought refuge in drugs, which almost destroyed
his life and that of those around him. Do you think that
nding the correct way to address God could have been
helped him?
And would nding the true way of addressing God
through prayer have helped Enrique
15
and his wife and
children, who he left to live with another woman?
How many completely destroyed lives and unsatised
needs could have been prevented if people had been able
to follow the direction shown by God?
Do you think that interpersonal and even international
relationships would improve if we did everything accord-
ing to Gods orders?
For a very large percentage of the worlds population,
things are not done that way. And if this is phenomenally
unfortunate for the planet and causes misery and a del-
uge of problems, this makes one person, with different
goals, happy. His objective is the complete opposite of
what God, you and I want.
14
Fictitious name of someone who was about to commit suicidealong with
his girlfriendhaving become completely trapped in a drugs problem.
15
Item. Fictitious name of another real case.
106
THE PERFECT TRAP
107
CHAPTER V
THE WAY
THE COMMON DENOMINATOR
The list of transgressions that has been presented in dif-
ferent congregations throughout history is very exten-
sive. You must not think that such doctrinal deviations
are limited to the Catholic Church, but rather to a large
amount of groups.
1
This book has underlined the mistakes of the Catholic
Church, given the signicance it still has in Latin Amer-
ica. But let me add something else. It is not the authors
intention to harm that congregation, but rather to basi-
cally exhort its leaders to truly, and in the name of Jesus
Christ, rectify their mistakes.
1
One of these cases of fanaticism and intolerance strangely does not come
from the Catholic Church, but from Calvinist Protestantismfortunately there
were few cases. It was the execution of Miguel Servet, who was burned alive
in Switzerland in 1553.
Servet had managed to rst escape the French Inquisition thanks to the help of
a guard and since the court of the holy ofce could not judge him in person,
he was sentenced in absentia and, therefore, was only strangled and burned
as an efgy.
He ed and sought refuge in Switzerland, where Calvin had a great deal of
inuence and with whom he had a very serious theological confrontation that
culminated in his execution.
The unfortunate sacrice of this scientistwho discovered blood circulation
through the lungshighlights the great danger of religious intolerance and
fanaticism, from whichever side it may come from, since we must always be
aware that God himself, even though he shows us the correct way, grants us all
freedom of belief and if the Creator himself acts this way, human beings must
not act differently, and even more so considering that we have been prohibited
from acting differently.
LA INQUISICIN, EL LADO OSCURO DE LA IGLESIA (THE INQUISITION,
THE DARK SIDE OF THE CHURCH), Primitivo Martnez Fernndez. EDITO-
RIAL LUMEN (Colombia-Mexico).
108
And even more so if we consider that said doctrinal devia-
tions were committed by their guides from other previous
generations, and that current leaders and faithful have
no reason to endorse them, since they would go above
the only one who is not mistaken, who is God.
Aside from everything, I have had the pleasure of know-
ing countless very valuable people in the Catholic Church,
who could become important elements for the Christian
cause, once they adjust their waywith respect to the
Gospelsfor the benet of not only them in particular,
but also the entire world community.
2
I extend a similar invitation to that religious community
who believes in Jesus Christ and does not adhere to that
shown in His Word.
Among other congregations that have deviated in several
aspects from the way, I will only mention one other church,
due to space limitations, which is known as that of the
Mormons,
3
which also can retake the way of Gospels and
of history, since neither man or prophet can replace it.
You might be wondering what the parameter for detect-
ing with certainty whether a certain congregation is or
is not heading in the right way might be. As you will
understand, we could not think of any other parameter
other than the Gospels themselves, where the words of
Jesus Christ are written incredibly clearly.
2
Throughout the centuries, there have also been very sincere and outstanding
friars and people, whose actions will be valued by the only true Judge. The
list consigned by history is very extensive, but surely the number of those
of whom there is not even the slightest human memory will be longer, but
nothing escapes the memory of God. Nevertheless, the basic doctrine of that
congregation must be adjusted with respect to the Gospels for its own benet
and that of its faithful.
3
I invite you to read a synopsis of this church in Appendix D.
THE PERFECT TRAP
109
Therefore, I exhort you to become familiar with them and
you will be easily surprised at how we can do so many
things perfectly well. You will also realize whether your
own particular congregation faithfully follows the Word
of God as it should.
What we must safeguard under any circumstances is that
in relationships between Christians, regardless of the name
of their congregation, we always maintain the spirit of un-
derstanding and consideration that the Lord has ordered:
4
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
The reason for our insistence in preserving the exact
sense of the message is due to the fact that if its content
is modified only a little, that will bring us to some other
completely different place, and will trip us up.
The only sure way is precisely that one, which must
become the common denominator or cornerstone of all
believers in Jesus Christ. When you have seen a locomo-
tive you will realize that the viable option for it is none
other than to follow the tracks. In the life of man, those
tracks were wisely designed for our benet from above.
Following is so important that, by way of an example, if
we take a retrospective look at history, we will see that
in absolutely all cases of large mistakes made by humans,
there was ALWAYS a lack of following what God says.
To put the importance of following Gods Will more
clearly, I will turn to a very simple example from every-
day life.
4
110
Now that I am writing this book, I am using a computer,
which must digitalize and record onto the disc the exact
precise keys I press on the keyboard. Imagine a different
situation for a moment, if you will.
What kind of project, book, lecture or essay could any
of us write if you type something and your computer
decides to record something else?
What would happen if you typed m and your keyboard
recorded z or you typed e and it recorded o? Could
you or anyone do a moderately coherent job under such
conditions? It would seem a little aberrant and laughable,
but that is exactly what happens in our world.
And if we, being so limited and subject to so many mis-
takes, wanted to write or design something and the tools
at our disposal did something else. What would we say
about a perfect Being such as God, who designs some-
thing only for it to do something completely different?
Believe me, only Gods innite goodness could have
tolerated us thus. I cannot understand it any other way.
Imagine the following for a moment.
If every one of us, with our behavior, reected in all our
actions what we were told to do, our world would be dif-
ferent. But the great drama of the world, which explains
the sad current situation, is a simple reection of the fact
that Gods great project on earth is not being carried out
as the Creator wants.
WAY
That is why, my esteemed reader, I frankly say to you
that the only viable option for man lies not in nding
some new philosophical route or scientic discovery,
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111
because true science is that which is portrayed in the
Universe around us, most of whose function we do not
even understand.
The true way lies in doing things as the author of all
wishes; any other direction means making a mistake.
I also feel obligated to tell you something: the desire of
our Lord will be fullled with or without us. What would
be put at risk is not the nal result of Gods project, but
rather our personal inclusion in it.
Why? If I may, let me return to the example of the com-
puter that records different letters to those typed. What
would you do? If your keyboard or any other tool you
have does not work, are you going to give up your project
because of this? Or rather, will you replace your keyboard
with another?
Something similar will occur in our world. The Lord
kindly invites us to join his work. He, as our Creator,
who knew every one of us before our time, invites us to
join his project. But I can assure you that his nal work
will be done with or without us.
It is true that there is someone who wonders about who
wants things done differently from how God desires, but
we must not listen to him. In time, this entity will have
to be put completely to one side and the enemy himself
knows this perfectly well.
5
5
He knows it so well that on one occasion, a possessed person says to the Lord Jesus
Christ, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come
hither to torment us before the time? Gospel according to St. Matthew 8:29. From
these three words before the time we can deduce that the enemy already knows
that they will be destroyed and that his plan will not work, but his only option is a
desperate measure to try to bring down Gods work on earth.
A more extensive explanation on the motives and strategies of he who is conscious
and will lose, and already possesses something we could call the loser syndrome
is found in Appendix E.
112
Now, for human beings, where does the reason for be-
ing, or the why of doing things according to what God
wants derive?
In the previous chapter, I said that in the example of
the prayer commonly known as Our Father, one of its
central parts goes like this:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
These apparently simple words contain no less than the
key to the transformation, harmony and very future of
the world. If I may, I invite you to reect on the extraordi-
nary importance of doing things precisely and accurately.
PROJECTION TOWARDS OUR WORLD
I would like to reiterate to you, rst, a passage containing
a key answer provided by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
6
And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son
of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth
of God.
Whysome will saymight the simple Word or the Will
of God would be so important? The reason is the follow-
ing: the heavens and earth, you and the entire universe
were made because of his Will and his Word.
And when we talk about His Will, the matter is not as
simple as it seems, since it is the exact operating guide-
6
Gospel according to St. Matthew 4:3 and there are also similar references in
the Gospels according to St. Mark 1:12 and St. Luke 4:1.
THE PERFECT TRAP
113
line of the entire universe. I will try to explain it rst
from a physical point of view.
If we go to the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis,
we will see that it says the following:
7
In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth is form-
less and empty.
When we talk about something formless, my esteemed
reader, it is the unique and wonderful guideline of God
that somehow has not yet been fully fullled. And we do
not know the exact degree of the physical following of
the atoms, gravity, photons (of light), neutrons, neutrines,
positrons, etc. to that divine Will.
Because from the moment when these or any type of
particles that make up matter, DO NOT follow a certain
set of rules, the most absolute disorder will reign.
Now, the fact that all the things in the universe are made
to operate under certain guidelines, according to a certain
Willthat of Godwhat follows not only orders it all,
but if that Will is wisely designed, it will even enable
life in the universe.
Why? There are very interesting studies that reveal that the
laws of physics seem to have been adjusted specically to
enable life
8
because if the expansion of the Universe had
been developed slightly differently from how it currently
occurs, complex elements could not have existed and,
therefore, life could not exist, at least as we know it now.
7
First Book of Moses, Book of Genesis 1:1. There are some believers who do
not take this and other similar passages from the Old Testament literally but
rather symbolically, but in some cases, the effect will be same for that which
I want to set out to you now.
8
THE ATHROPIC PRINCIPLE, Lee Strobel. ZONDERVAN (USA).
114
And let me emphasize something important. Not only
is an order required that enables the operation of the
key elements of the universe, but also a certain specific
and exact order becomes indispensable, in other words,
of the way it operates now because, otherwise, life as we
know it would simply not be possible.
Nevertheless, while an atheist will say to us that this spe-
cic order, perfectly and wisely designed so that life was
accidentally created for me and for you, too, I hope, it is
very clear that it was deliberately designed and ordered
by the Will of a Supreme Being who is God.
But returning to the words of Christ, when he says that
our objective on earth is for things to be done as in
Heaven, I will tell you: do not think that he is basically
alluding to the physical because that was already ordered
by God. He is in fact referring to our actions.
Someone might ask: will things truly be done in Heaven
exactly as the Lord says?
From the moment the Lord put it to us as an objective to
be done on earth, the answer is obviously yes.
Furthermore, as I said in the last chapter, there is no other
viable option for things to work perfectly up there, other
than by following the wise direction of He who created
everything.
And to try to clarify a little more, if in effect things up
there are followed to the letter, I invite you to look more
attentively at certain events, not without rst clarifying
that this reasoning is mere speculation and a product of
the authors imagination and that the following case is
not described in the Bible.
THE PERFECT TRAP
115
Imagine for a moment that an angel witnesses a murderer
about to commit another crime. He gets ready to strangle
a poor old lady with an electric cable to take what little
money she has.
Perhaps one impulse of this angel would be to turn that
murderer into dust in a fraction of a second, but he does
not do this. Why? For the simple reason that he has been
orderedfor nownot to intervene for reasons only
known to the Lord. This angel knows it is not his place
to judge, but to only obey and not participate.
Now I will give you an extreme example from Mount
Calvary, no less, on the day of the Crucixion and death
of Christ. The scene was as follows: the Lord suffered to
an extreme degree at levels unknown to man.
To exacerbate his suffering even more, those standing
below him mocked him and also challenged God to re-
lease him
9
. For a moment, let us imagine that a group of
angels were present though invisible to humans.
On viewing a similar spectacle of mockery, suffering,
cruelty and injustice at those levels, would you not have
wished with all your might to intervene to release the
Lord and destroy in a matter of seconds all your enemies?
Now, why do you think there was no intervention? The
reason is very simple. They respected the Will of God and
knew perfectly well that above all, it was NOT what they
wished for, judged or wanted, butand this is impor-
tantwas ordered from above. But, I insist and excuse me
for repeating myself, but even the strong forces of nature
seemed to feel an extraordinary tension before such act.
9
Event described in the Gospels according to St. Matthew 27:39, St. Mark
15:19, St. Luke 23:35 and St. John 19:17.
116
Why am I telling you this? Let us remember that darkness
fell, stones broke, there was an earthquake and even the
temple was torn down. But what was the key element
that contained everything? The Will of the Lord.
And as you know perfectly well, the Lord of Heaven
knew what he was doing because after that apparent
defeat, God transformed him into a triumph that reached
humans.
Now, let me ask you something. Would it have been to
Gods liking that a celestial being appeared of its own
accord. Of course not and this, my esteemed reader,
highlights that in Heaven the Holy Will of God is fol-
lowed to the letter.
For that exact reason, the Lord Jesus Christ challenged us
to do his Will on earth just as it is done in Heaven. And
for the record, this recommendation must be followed,
not only as a mere show of obediencewhich in and of
itself is sufcientbut rather because if He says it thus,
it is because that is the route that suits us all.
And so, let us look at things from a different perspective:
Gods Will in our world.
DISORDER
Could it be so important to do what the Lord orders
down here? Well, the faithful following of Gods Will is
not only important, but it is everything.
But the problem for us is that not even we realize the
extraordinary importance of following him faithfully.
I cannot let myself get carried away with all the examples
that would perfectly illustrate what I am saying, so I will
THE PERFECT TRAP
117
limit myself to two real situations, both discussed from a
sociological point of view. The rst of these is the following:
There have been authors
10
who have stated that human
being have two types of underlying interests. Some are
called rational interests because they say they are par-
allel, that is, the good of one is automatically the good
of the other, and the example given is of a father and his
son or a husband and his wife, where the interest of one
runs parallel or goes hand in hand with the interest of
the other.
11
But there is another kind of social interrelationshipac-
cording to themcalled irrational interests, where the
interests are in a kind of confrontation sincesuppos-
edlythe interest of one harms the other.
And at that time, these sociologists set out the case of an
irrational interest of a boss and a worker, where the
interest of one, they said, harms the other, since the boss
wants to pay less and get more work done and the worker
wants exactly the opposite. Is this real? Do these kinds of
opposed interests really exist amongst human beings?
There are those of us who think not. Though I clarify
that we cannot blame said sociologists for coming to
these kinds of conclusions becauseand this is impor-
tantsupercially speaking, this might seem to be thus.
Nevertheless, if we analyze this interrelationship a little
more deeply, things change.
10
Opinions from authors such as William G. Ogburn, Eldridge and Asociados,
Erich Fromm, Lauretta Bender and J. S. Sullivan quoted in the book SOCI-
OLOGA (SOCIOLOGY), Luis Recasens Sitjes. EDITORIAL PORRA. (Mexico)
11
In some way, this vision is not exclusive to these sociologists. They simply
put that particular thought on an extensive sector of the population in writing,
and not very well analyzed it has to be said.
118
I mentionin parenthesisthat granting validity to such
conclusions has led to the proliferation of false social,
economic and political theories that generated many
subsequent conicts.
A deeper analysis of this interesting social interrelation-
ship will incontrovertibly show that all the interests of a
human being on earth, at a certain subsequent time, will
become a rational interest, that is, they will be paral-
lelusing the actual terminology of said sociologists. And
the interest of anyone on our planet, sooner or later, will
undoubtedly become the interest of all others.
But the problem in our world is not that this social phe-
nomenon operates thus, but rather that most do not per-
ceive it thus. Because, as I said, looking at it supercially
gives the impression that there are in effect opposing
or irrational interests.
To this I must add that the trickster of which I spoke does
not act over real situations, but rather over appearances
and he is only interested in supercial perception. Let
me give you a few examples of what really happens.
If a boss pays an employee badly, in the immediate term,
the worker would surely seem to be to only party harmed.
However, such act will revert back to the employer him-
self in many very different ways and, on the contrary, if
the party seeking to harm the other is the worker.
Another case is when a politician harms his constituency
by doing a corrupt job and causing social damagethink-
ing that he is very smart. Of course he will harm his
community in the rst instance, but such behavior will
also, in time, revert back to him.
A similar interrelationship, though in a positive sense,
will exist if that politician acts impeccably. The good
THE PERFECT TRAP
119
generated will benet the entire community, of which he
himself and his descendants form part. And the interests
of all will go hand in hand.
If a manufacturer of a certain product swindles the public
with something defective or low quality, thinking that he
is pulling their leg, said harm will undoubtedly come
back to him in a multitude of ways, including harming
his own country, of which he and his children form part.
And exactly the same thing will happen, though in a posi-
tive sense, if he behaves responsibly. He and his family,
employees and country will reap the benets.
I could give you thousands of similar examples which
would show that all interests of man on the planet are
rational interests, and run parallel, and I repeat, the
drama is not that this interesting sociological phenom-
enon operates thus, but that the vast majority do not
even realize it.
It is as if in ones own body a group of sick cells do not
understand that the goodor badin the cells of any
other tissue will irretrievably inuence the rest.
Of course, the good in ones brain cells or muscle cells
will benet the rest and, on the ip side, the harm a
group of cells suffers in, for instance, a left toe, right
retina or part of ones digestive system will harm them
all. Thisinexorable interrelationshipwill occur in any
society, or even in the world.
The aberrant thing it that it is not understood thus, dont
you think? You see, it is very commonunfortunately for
usthat people believe that someone can harm others
when, not only does this in effect damage them, but also
such harm will come back to them.
120
Why does this erroneous perception exist? The human
analytical capacity is very limited and the vast majority
of our actions are analyzed myopically and supercially.
This is why I perfectly understand the symbol also de-
scribed at the beginning of the Book of Genesis,
12
where
God tells Adam and Eve not to open the doors of knowl-
edge of good and evil. Why? God knew perfectly well
that when our eyes were opened, on seeing humans, on
being supercial and limited, we would not make wise
decisions, but rather be guided by mere appearances, as
in the case quoted and many others.
Here we have a perfect example of what I was saying: a
distancing from the Will of God generates a multitude
of adverse effects and not only in the eld of human
relationships, but also in all our behavior.
With respect to that example I have just given, think for a
moment about this: had we been sufciently obedient to
do things according to the Will of the Lord, seeking the
good of our fellow man, let me tell you that this good
would not only have been benecial to others, but would
also have been disseminated in all respects, irretrievably
coming back to everyone.
But from the moment when these two elements join, a.- a
limited understanding generates a poor capacity to make
decisions and b.- a certain dose of malice is created due
12
Book of Genesis 3, where you can see that the enemy starts acting through the
serpent. Observe the deceptive manner of its ancestral behavior: Did God really
say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the
serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You
must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must
not touch it, or you will die. You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the
woman. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
THE PERFECT TRAP
121
to the supposed knowledge of good and evil, and the
result is completely different from that designed by the
Creator with very visible consequences.
But now let us move to a second example, which illus-
trates even more the negative consequences of following
different ways from the one ordered by the Lord, as well
as some of its collateral effects.
In some forums we have been told that we should not be
so literal or take what God orders so literally, but believe
me, I do not conceive of any way of following what the
Lord commands, other than trying to adhere to His Word.
But you yourself decide, taking as a base this second case
from real life. When we combineas I saidthe limited
human vision of our surroundings with a certain dose of
malice that supercially explains things and, to com-
plete the picture, the sowing of discord by the enemy,
what will it give us as a result? Judge for yourself:
We have created all kinds of divisions between people and,
where they had no reason to be, we have manufactured
barriers of all kinds, invoking racial, religious, economic
and political reasons only limited by our imagination.
It, in turnlogical consequencecreated an element that
was erected as the most formidable obstacle to progress
and advance throughout time, which was all the intermi-
nable series of battles and conicts we have fallen victim
to. These led to an extraordinary number of resources
being used to protect ourselves from each other, instead
of being channeled into development, which fed back
hatred and social damage.
Such has been the number of conicts that human his-
tory, instead of constituting, as it should, a chronicle of
122
the progress of man through the centuries, seems an
interminable relationship of absurd wars and conicts,
where we have fought, as I said, for all kinds of imagin-
able reasons, even over the racial question.
Today, human science tells us that all inhabitants of the
planetwithout exceptiondescend from the same ge-
netic ancestor
13
and the different characteristics of each
human group are merely a biological response to certain
external determining factors, such as climate, food, life-
style and others.
But you see, unfortunately, human reason, in and of itself,
does not possess sufcient force to convince us that we
are members of the same team we call the world.
I confess that a few years ago I thought that if human
reason was not sufcient to favor the integration of what
never should have been disintegrated, perhaps need could
achieve it.
I thought that perhaps a growing global need to together
confront the phenomenal challenges of economic de-
struction, palpable malnutrition in a signicant sector of
the world population, insufcient education, sources of
polluting energy and many other problems would be the
catalyzing element that would drive global integration.
Now I doubt it. And for us to have a supercial idea of
the damage we have done with our short sightedness and
supercialitywhich, in turn, caused disunityI repeat
what I told you earlier on.
13
Fortunately, what in olden times people had barely realized, is now, since
Aristotle and later Hernando de Soto and others, possible to solidly and incon-
trovertibly scientically prove thanks to the discovery of the human genome
map, which proves that all living beings are descended from the same genetic
ancestor.
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123
The greatest works and contributions to human develop-
ment and growth were not those that effectively existed,
since they constitute an insignicant part, since in a few
people, circumstantially, the basic elements of health,
food, education, proper attitude and other key elements
combined.
The bad thing about the matter is that the greatest works
are those that were never made; the greatest scientic
and cultural contributions are those that were never
made and remained latent in all those billions of fellow
citizens in the world, who returned to earth with almost
all their potential unused.
This was primarily due to our inability to provide the
basic elements to everyone for their proper develop-
ment. Because, believe me, the mind of every human
being contains an underlying wealth that is unexploited
in some respect, which our clumsiness did not let see
the light of day.
While that was happening, humans remained occupied
by their conicts for all kinds of reasons.
ORDER
As a member of the European Parliament said on one
occasion, There is no future without a common future.
This is a reality of the size of the world.
But I also said that with human reason on the one hand,
and global need on the other, plus mutual convenience,
the limited sense of human solidarity and other positive
factors would not be sufciently strong in themselves to
include what should never have excluded. What, then,
could achieve this?
124
There is a basic element, not only on earth, but through-
out the universe, that is the only wonderful guideline
that transforms all.
That element was foolishly put to one side by man, which
led to the current state of things. What is it?
If I may, I am going to dust down the centuries old wise
words of an old prophet, Isaiah, no less, who in his time
said the following:
14
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie
down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling
together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and
the bear shall graze, their Young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child
shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child
shall put its hand on the adders den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain:
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as
the waters cover the sea.
These words, written around 2,700 years ago with the
powerful Spirit of God, foresaw not only the coming of
the Messiah, but also, if we are observant we will see
that those words: the wolf shall live with the lamb, the
leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion
and the fatling together also coincide with the following:
The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea.
If this situation has not happened in previous centuries, it
is precisely because this condition has not existed due to
14
Book of Isaiah 11:6.
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125
different situations, some of which have been described
in this book. An exception is made for a minority of the
worlds population, which has remained faithful to the
Word that came in its time to the world.
Earlier on, I gave the example of a human brain, where
I said that only when all its neurons intercommunicated
with each other could its true dimension be achieved.
What do you think could have prevented interneuron
integration and union, which would have caused irrevers-
ible damage or mental retardation? It is very simple: if
someone had made the neurons believe they are differ-
ent from each other and should not be integrated. That
apparently insignicant position would have caused them
to act in accordance with other patterns of development
different from those designed by their Creator.
In the case of our world, exactly the same thing happens
and the enemy feels that he possesses a kind of perfect
trap to prevent there being order, harmony and universal
development, which would disseminate extraordinary
opportunities for all, which is why he fosters divisions,
hate, discord and countless problems.
Do not think that this lying entity needed much imagina-
tion or intelligence to arrive at that formula for failure
since, as I was saying, just as a locomotive has no other
viable option than to follow the tracks, for human be-
ings, believe me, no other road exists either, other than
to follow the instructions of He who created everything.
Though, when we see countless tricks to make us do
things differently, we must understand that this is the
route of personal and social failure. Nevertheless, know
that if it was very easy for the enemy to design that false
road, it is even more simple and safer to follow the only
and perfect guideline of the universe.
126
Therefore, I dare to assure you that we have not paid
much attention to that kind of cell of limitations into
which humanity has fallen, but outside there is a key
that is activated and could constitute the key to personal
and social transformation.
That key consists of following what we always should
have followed.
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127
EPILOGUE
One of the manifestations of living in a plural world is
the diversity of opinions we can, fortunately, hear in all
their different forms.
On one occasion I was talking with a writer who did not
believe in God, who said to me, I dont believe in God be-
cause if he existed, he would be almighty and would have
destroyed the devil so that he wouldnt cause problems.
Could this be so? Not necessarily. Personally, I have a
different opinion which, if I may, I will describe to you
via a story from my far-off childhood.
On one occasion, when I was walking with my father
through a farm eld, I was looking, with great curiosity,
at a man who was working in a very peculiar way.
He had in front of him a large pile of wheat and for a
long time had been shoveling it up and just letting it fall
, and repeating this movement again and again. I thought
that this did not make sense. My curiosity got the better
of me and I asked my father.
Whats that man doing? Hes been shoveling that wheat
into the air for a while and lets it fall only to do the same
thing again
Hes cleaning it, he says. By shoveling it upwards, the
wind removes the chaff and after a while the wheat is
clean.
1
1
It is very likely that this procedure has been used for centuries or millennia. If we
look at the Bible from a historical perspective and open the Gospel according to St.
128
In our world, my esteemed reader, the Lord in Heaven, in
his innite and surprising wisdom, toleratesfor now
the action of this negative element so that it makes use
of the wind and, as in the story I mentioned, removes
the chaff eventually leaving only the wheat.
In other words, that action is toleratedwe do not
know for how longin this process of purication or
selection that, among other different elements, makes
up the world we now see.
On another occasion, also at a ranch, I remember that I
was analyzing the operation of a threshing machine, into
which large bunches of already dried plants containing
beans were inserted. The selected beans came out at one
end, and the chaff at the other.
I wondered: how could this machine make that selection
so quickly?
After covering myself in dust, including my eyelashes, I
began to see that everything passed through small sieves
that had holes of a certain size, where only the beans
would t, leaving out any stones or twigs.
Then I thought that if those stones or twigs could talk,
they would say, That machine is badly made because
I, a stone, do not t. They had not realized that it was
the exact objective.
Luke 3:16, we will see that John the Baptist, referring to whoever would come later
(Christ), would clean the wheat by using a similar device, observe: I indeed baptize
you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fre, His winnow-
ing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out His threshing foor and
gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaf he will burn with unquenchable fre.
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129
At the start of this book I said that the world, as we see
it now, is only part of a process. But what would be one
of the differences between a successful and an unsuc-
cessful process?
It would be the ability to select useful and useless ele-
ments. For instance, if at a car factory, where thousands
of parts, such as lamps, windows, seats, brakes, etc. are
assembled, only one of those small parts fails, for example
the transmission or brakes, the user will not say, the
supplier of such and such a part didnt check its quality
properly, but rather will say, this car is not good quality.
So, what does an efcient assembler have to do? Subject
each prototype part to an extremely rigorous operating
test so that if there is the slightest possibility of a fault
in its design, the error is detected by the laboratory and
not the end user, when it would already be too late.
Believe me, though many do not interpret it as such, our
world is not just part of a wise selective process, where
in a certain sense and, among other things, it operates
like a test laboratory.
I can assure you that this apparent obstacle or test,
which many now go through in lifewhich some inter-
pret as errors or the twisted lines of God, as someone
else saidare nothing other than events permitted for
carrying out that wonderful selective process.
In whatever follows life, there will not be enough room
for all those who, at the time of the test, were not up to
the challenge of the circumstances.
At the start of this book, I also gave another example where
someone tries to steal a boat with its entire crew and cargo
and deliberately sends it in a different direction.
130
What that enemy does not know is that, at the time, said
boat was to be redirected by its owner in the right direc-
tion. He will even appear personally on the actual boat.
The apparent crisis inside will merely be used to evalu-
ate and select the personnel who will continue working
with him in the future. Notes are being taken on who is
and is not behaving correctly.
In other words, neither the boat nor its cargo will be lost,
only the current situation is used to know who will be
able to work in any future project once all personnel is
subjected to a crisis situation.
One of the things most worthy of admiration of the owner
of the boat is that each person will be evaluated individu-
ally, regardless of the behavior of those around him.
Those who abused their position of captain or steers-
man will be evaluated separately by paying attention
to voices that advised on a different direction, along
with those who were convinced that it was necessary
to be guided using other parameters, and those who
assured that it was necessary to address supposed
leaders or intermediates.
And do not worry, they will be judged in a fair and bal-
anced manner.
But, you seefor better or worsethe voyage is still not
over. The boat keeps making progress and the behavior
of the personnel is still signicant. Therefore, if I may, I
will make some suggestions.
One of the owners basic rules was consideration and
respect for his fellow man. Because the enemy of all,
who feels like a true genius of discord and lies, will try
to take advantagesurprisinglyof the same traps he set
in order to divide all personnel and to ruin the voyage.
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131
For example, those who believe his lies will try to harm
them with deceptions against those who are strict in their
original instructions.
And paradoxically, on the other hand, in a dual labor,
those who remain faithful to the Will of God will be told
they must consider those who were victims of traps as
their enemies.
All positions are lies since, if anyone observes the origi-
nal order, he will see that it says that those who end up
falling into traps must not be attacked or despised, but
considered to be what they arevictims of a deception
and must be helped.
One of the things that must be taken into account is that
the owner is interested in a direct, personal relationship
with each one, established for everyone as a form of com-
municating with him, because he wishes to help them
individually with their difculties or tests.
I cannot end without rst saying that you, as in the ex-
ample of the boat, I and everyone also have a basic and
simple instruction manual left by the Lord in his own
words, which can be found it the Gospels.
His word is waiting to surprise you with the exact solu-
tions you have been eagerly seeking in many other places.
That Word, ignored by many, contains the power to trans-
form you, your family, your country and the worldmuch
more than you can imagineand not only that, it also
contains the guidelines of something much more impor-
tant: access to his other projects, which must surely must
be great, like Him.
132
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133
APPENDIX A
ONE OF THE MOST LIKELY PLACES WHERE
PETER ALSO PRACTICED HIS MINISTRY
Once historical evidence shows that the Apostle Peter was
not in Rome, in which cities might he be more likely to
have practiced his apostolic ministry?
You will remember that in Christs time, Aramaic was spo-
ken. Why Aramaic and not Hebrew? In the 6th century BC,
the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were
captured and taken to the region of Babylonia, where the
ofcial languageby decreewas Aramaic. Once the As-
syrian Empire was destroyed by Alexander the Great, (3rd
century BC) a signicant percentage of the Jewish people
remained in Babylonia and another part was displaced to
the region of Jerusalem, but continued speaking Aramaic,
which was also the language spoken by Peter.
But the signicance of Babylonia as an urban center and
a religious education center of the Jews did not decrease
until much later than the 5
th
century AD (probably up to
the 9
th
or 10
th
century) since, even after Titus destroyed
the temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD and other sub-
sequent conicts, many Jews emigrated to other regions
including Babylonia. Proof of this is that the Babylonian
Talmud was not completed until the 5th century AD and
that extremely important book of the Hebrew people is
considered even more important than the one of Palestine
(or also known as the one of Jerusalem).
Though if we consider that Paul dedicated himself to
ministering to Gentiles, the logical thing would be that he
went to places where they would congregate and Peter, in
turn, would minister to Jewish communities. Peter must
have carried out a large part of his ministry, in that exact
city, where his own language was also spoken: Aramaic.
134
Paul, for his part, could practice his ministry in different
Gentile cities because he spoke several languages well,
and not only that, he was a Roman citizen by birth.
As an additional piece of information, observe how in the
First Letter from the Apostle Peter 5:13 Peter himself says
goodbye:
The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you,
saluteth you, and so does my son Mark.
Now, many might wonder: why, then, did no one object
when the myth emerged about St. Peter supposedly being
in Rome? First of all, let us remember that in most past
centuries very few people could read the Bible in their
own language, and did not realize things such as what I
have shown in this book.
Had they been able to read it, the enemy would not
have been able to confuse so many people with regard to
pontiffs, intercessors, saints, images, indulgences, sup-
posed apparitions, and countless other things because
his leaders would have been openly questioned by the
entire congregation.
Furthermore, if we want to understand why this great
mistake was not detected on time, consider the follow-
ing: the papacy was created in the 8th century and
the consequent fabrication of the myth that Peter lived
in Rome, trying to make himwithout his consentthe
rst Pope was even later, when Babylon had lost all the
importance it had as an urban center and religious educa-
tion center for the Jewish people, and in those centuries
no one considered his presence there feasible.
Source: HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, ELI BARNAVI
SCHOKEN BOOKS, NEW YORK, USA.
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135
APPENDIX B
THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
The Donation of Constantine was used for the rst time
in 752 by Pope Stephen II when he arrived in France to
ask for help against the Lombards. The presentation of
such document fullled its mission and in both this case
and many others that followed, it managed to convince
the vast majority of kings and emperors for just over six
centuries.
As an example of this, I cite the case of Pope Gregory VII
(Hildebrand of Tuscany, who was Pope from 1073 to 1085
and was later declared a saint). This pontiff wrote a letter
to all the princes who want to travel to Spainruled at
that time by the Arabsto exhort them to recover those
lands from the hands of indels and Saracens and return
them to their rightful owner, St. Peter, that is, the Pope.
We know very well, he said, that the Kindgom of Spain
since olden times was the jurisdiction of St. Peter and
that territory, though it has been occupied for so long by
Pagans, still belongs by the law of justice to the Apostolic
Holy See only, and not to any other mortal.
Then, this same pontiff sent another letter addressed to
the King of Castille and Len, Alfonso VI, warning him
that God the Almighty has given Peter and his successors
all the principalities and powers of the land.
And you might wonder: what was that and other similar
aims based on?
In an imperial decree attributed to Constantine I, drawn
up around 315 AD, through which not only is the Pope
144
136
recognized as sovereign, but Constantine the Great do-
nates the city of Rome, along with the provinces of Italy
and the rest of the Western Roman Empireno lessto
the Pope and his successors in gratitude for having
cured him of leprosy.
For several centuries, as I said, such document contrib-
uted to increasing the power of the papacy in political
and material matters. The problem arose when it was
discovered that said document was fake and that every-
thing had been a product of a phenomenal fraud, prob-
ably fabricated in the mid-8th century.
Today, it is estimated that this decree was one of the
greatest frauds in history.
In 1440, the then papal secretary and canon Laurenzio
Vall (or Lorenzo Valla, as he is also known) discovered
that said document was just a clumsy fake. Nevertheless,
due to fear of reprisals by the Pope, his report did not see
the light of day until around 1519, more or less around
the time that Martin Luther also pointed out a lot of the
Catholic Churchs errors.
Nevertheless, despite this denouncement, the Catholic
Church continued defending the authenticity of this docu-
ment until the 19th century, when its defense became
untenable.
Lorenzo Valla who, despite not having current advanced
scientic proceduressuch as carbon-14 analysisat his
disposal to prove the falsity of this document, maintained
that said donation had been a fraud, since it contained
serious inconsistencies.
Among them, many historians have cited the follow-
ing: when said document was issued, supposedly from
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137
Constantinople, the city had not yet been founded and
still bore the name Byzantium. Furthermore, in the 4th
century, the Bishop of Rome was still not considered to
be the Pope. That happened almost three centuries later.
If that were not enough, said decree made reference to
temples that did not yet exist. Furthermore, Constantine
never had leprosy, along with many other inconsistencies.
From any perspective, the falsity of this document is
patently obvious since, among other things, Constantine,
judging by his actions, was far from the sincere and
convinced emperor of the Christian faith that some have
aimed to portray him as. We can deduce from his actions
that he was an ambitious, merciless military man.
He came to power through an extensive series of internal
struggles and murders. He was even baptized a few days
before dying. He continued to celebrate Pagan festivities
his entire life and some say that when he was baptized,
at the request of some people close to him, this was done
with the intention of cleansing many of his past actions,
including the murder of his wife and child.
On one occasion, before a battle, he stated that he had
had a kind of Christian revelation. But many historians
say that these kinds of revelations are common in some
leaders, who use them to try to instill trust and bravery
into their troops since, on another occasion, Constantine
had used this same recourse, stating that he had received
a similar message from the God Apollo.
The list of inconsistencies in the supposed decree is long.
During the years it was supposedly being written (around
315), Constantine was not absolute emperor, but rather
his reign consisted of three periods.
From 311 to 313, political power was shared by three
emperors. From 314 to 326, through a plot between
138
Constantine and Licinius, only those two remained, and
from 326, Constantine, once he ordered Liciniushis
brother-in-law and co-governor, whose life he had pub-
lically promised to respectto be strangled, he became
absolute emperor.
But putting the historical inconsistencies to one side, if
we just consider his ambition for power and total po-
litical rulecommon in those kinds of peoplewe can
see that he stopped at nothing, not even killing a close
family member. Tell me, do you think it is possible that
Constantine could have made such a donation?
But in the 15
th
and 16
th
centuries, the discovery of such
deceit highlighted that the objective of such a forgery
was something else: to increase the material and political
power of the Catholic Church.
But the most serious thing was not so much the docu-
mentary or historical inconsistency, but rather the total
inconsistency with regard to the attitude of generosity,
commitment and love that Jesus Christ always showed,
not only with his Words, but also with his own life.
Nevertheless, this and other serious mistakes made by
leaders of other previous generations do not need to be
rectied by todays leaders or faithful in good will, since
an overwhelming majority of them do not even know
of the existence of such a fraud, nor of its purpose and,
therefore, would not have endorsed it.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Lord of love, for-
giveness and peace, would receive with great pleasure
both the leaders and all the faithful of good faith of the
Church, who accept to faithfully follow the way shown
in the Gospels.
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139
Therefore, here is my sincere exhortation to those people:
the labor of sincere commitment that many undertake at
this time will be exponentially used if it is done on the
true way: that shown by God.
Sources: HISTORIA DE LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO (HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
OF CHRIST), Jos Luis Montecillos Chipres, EDITORIAL EL CAMINO A LA
VIDA (Mexico).
LA INQUISICIN, EL LADO OSCURO DE LA IGLESIA (THE INQUISITION: THE
DARK SIDE OF THE CHURCH), Primitivo Martnez Fernndez, EDITORIAL
LUMEN (Mexico, Colombia).
140
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141
APPENDIX C
MALLA. Age: around 2,500 years. It consists of 108 beads
for meditation. It is still an instrument used in the Bud-
dhist religion in the Tibetan tradition. Its 108 bead are
used to invoke a mantra for each bead that is passed.
Mantra is a word of Sanskirt origin made up of two terms:
manah and trayate, which are translated as mind and
freedom respectively, that is, the mantra would be an
instrument to release the mind from the constant flow
of thoughts that confuse it.
APPENDIX C
142
TASBIH. Age: around 1,300 years. It is also known as a
masbaja or misbaha. It is traditionally used by the faith-
ful of the Islamic religion. It is thought that the tasbih
was inspired by the malla of the Buddhist religion.
The tasbih consists of 99 beads and each one represents
one of the names and attributes of God (Al or Allah).
For example: 1. Allah: God; 2. Arrajman: The Benefac-
tor, the merciful; 3. Arrajim: The compassionate one; 4.
Al-malik: the King; 5.- Al-quddus: The Saint; and so on.
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143
THE ROSARY. It is thought to be around 800 years old
and was inspired, in turn, by the tasbih. It consists of
55 beads in its central part, 50 of which are for the Ave
Marias with the other ve for the Our Fathers said
repetitively through 15 stations in three series of ve
stations each. In the nal part a litany is prayed with
different names, though the vast majority of them are not
addressed to God, like the tasbih, but to Mary.
144
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145
APPENDIX D
SYNOPSIS OF THE MORMON CHURCH OR
CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS
Obviously, as you will understand, a church that calls
itself Christian will not be such just by using the term,
and even less so because it is outside the Catholic Church,
but rather because it is operates inside evangelical pa-
rameters.
As proof of thissince it is not possible to show many
similar groupsI invite you to become familiar with the
Mormon Church which, while there is no doubt about
the good will of many of its members, does not adhere
sufciently to not only the Gospels, but also to the same
history. But I invite you to analyze this for yourself.
The founder of this church was a North American man
named Joseph Smith (1805-1844). His parents belonged
to the congregation of the Presbyterian Church and when
this young man was a little older than 10 his family was
living near New York.
He was always a very peculiar boy, since his family said
that he loved looking for hidden treasure, based on vi-
sions he said he had. There is no proof that at any time
he found something by using his gift for divination.
On September 21, 1823aged 18he directed his rather
unsuccessful gifts elsewhere and said that an angel called
Moroni had appeared before him, who supposedly told
him that the true Gospel would be restored through him.
According to him, the Angel Moroni told him that at a
certain place a book written in a language called re-
formed Egyptian was hidden, which contained the
146
eternal gospel in full, as Jesus Christ had taught it to
the inhabitants of America since, according to him, Jesus
Christ had also been to several parts of America.
This barely 18-year-old boy, with supposed, albeit unsuc-
cessful gifts for divining the location of treasure, also
said that together with these golden tablets were some
precious stones called urim and tumim, and that these
stones had to be placed on the eyes as glasses so he could
translate the hieroglyphics of reformed Egyptian.
So, this young man put himself behind some curtains
and without showing anyone the supposed book with the
golden tablets or the glasses to translate them, started
reading out loud what he said this book contained.
Joseph Smith must have had great powers of persuasion
because he found six people who believed his story and
helped him write down his dictations, and that was how
one of the books that forms the basis of Mormonism was
born, which is known as the Book of Mormon and was
nished on March 26, 1830.
Ten days after that date, the Church of Jesus Christ of
the Latter Day Saints was ofcially established in a city
near New York.
Due to the cool reception it was given and the animos-
ity displayed against it, which stemmed from supposed
revelations on polygamy, they had to move to different
cities, and with the passing of the years their nal destina-
tion would be Salt Lake City in the current State of Utah.
But the divine manifestationsas Joseph Smith said
continued and he said he had received more revelations
with more questions relating to polygamy, so he wrote
one more book called Doctrines and Agreements. Those and
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147
other positions were directly opposed to Christian theory,
therefore, in 1844 the jail where he had been imprisoned
was attacked by a mob and he died.
Nevertheless, his death led his followers to consider him
a kind of martyr. After that event, they were ordered
to leave the state, which is how they came to Salt Lake
City which, at that time, was outside the United States.
However, due to the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Peace Treaty
between Mexico and the United States, signed in Febru-
ary 1848, that territory again became part of the United
States, whose government was not convinced by Mormon
ideas on polygamy.
The government was pressuring them on this matter and
in 1899 they decided to observe North American law and
renounced polygamy. It should also be mentioned that after
Smiths death, this congregation split into several groups.
There are several questions that arise. Once young Joseph
Smith decided to combine his failed divination gifts with
issues of a religious nature, would he not have realized
that the Bible expressly prohibits those kinds of things?
Everything seems to indicate that he was not even very
familiar with it, because if he had been, he would have
realizedas in all the other doctrinal deviations of other
groups throughout timethat both his revelations and
other practices were in opposition to what was set forth
in the Bible.
A simple reading would have shown him that any rev-
elation, even if it supposedly comes from angels, that
promoted a different Gospel is strictly prohibited.
That can be clearly readamong other partsin that
expressed by Paul in his Letter to Galatians 1:8, which
literally reads as follows:
148
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them
be under Gods curse!
And why was this different? Just considering the matter
of polygamy, I quote another letter from Paul (1
st
Timothy
3:2) and remind you that this is a pastoral letter, that
is, addressed to the guides or pastors of the Churches:
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospital-
ity, apt to teach.
In other words, the most serious part of this church is
its doctrinal transgression, since it even puts the Book
of Mormon above the Bible itself.
Other serious mistakes made by this congregation include
the large amount of lies they tell their followers that do
not stand up to the most supercial historical, archeologi-
cal or anthropological analysis, such as when they state
that there was a certain earlier civilization in America,
of which no archeologist or sociologist has the slightest
idea. It must be said that a civilization could not just dis-
appear like that without trace, as in this supposed case.
For those people who say: Where are his remains? Where
are the books used as a basis for the Book of Mormon?,
would that evidence, the most important archeological
proof in the world, not increase the number of its faith-
ful to an unbelievable amount? Why do they not display
it? Because it only existed in the fertile imagination of
young Joseph Smith.
Now, why might Joseph Smith have chosen that language
reformed Egyptianto invent his story, instead of choos-
ing languages that did exist, such as Hebrew or Aramaic?
THE PERFECT TRAP
149
There is a very simple explanation for that. At that time
Egyptian was fashionable. If we go back to 1823, when
the restless imagination of Joseph Smith came up with
the idea of creating all this, the Rosetta Stone had recently
been discovered. What was that?
On an expedition by Napoleon to Egypt in 1799, in a little
town called Rashid (which the French pronounced as
Rosetta, which is where the stones name comes from),
a stone measuring 39 inches long by 28 inches wide and
weighing around 1,676 lbs was found.
At rst sight, it didnt seem like a big deal, but the im-
portant thing about his archeological piece was not only
its age, but that it concerned a decree by Ptolemy V, but
translated into two languagesGreek and Egyptianand
written in three different types of writing: hieroglyphs,
demotic and Greek capitals.
That archeological piece was the cornerstone of the trans-
lation of a large amount of ancient hieroglyphs, BUT, note
that even though it was discovered in July 1799, it was
not deciphered until what year do you think? 1822.
But when it was successfully deciphered, this gener-
ated a wave of news that crossed the entire world and,
because of its importance, it made all matters Egyptian
fashionable.
That happened in 1822, but if we relate this to Mormon-
ism, you will remember that it was in 1823 that the then
young Joseph Smith invented the apparition of the Angel
Moroni and, since Egyptian hieroglyphs were so fash-
ionable, he liked that language and declared that those
golden tablets were in reformed Egyptian, a language
that no archaeologist or anthropologist in the world knew
anything about.
150
And what was the Churchs leaders response to all the
objections of a doctrinal, archaeological, anthropologi-
cal and historical nature that were quite rightly made?
What did their leaders answer? The best response they
came up with was that each person should judge from
his heart whether what they say is true or not. In other
words, they invoke the credibility and good faith of its
members and many accept their statements.
This is why I dare to say the following to them: it is the
obligation of every Christian to carefully analyze his
doctrinal fundaments, because what is at stake is much
more than you and I can imagine to simply leave it in
the hands of a kind of intuition or preference taken with
a pinch of salt.
If this Joseph Smith were watching us now, do you know
what one of the things he would most desire would be?
That his errorsor traps the enemy set at his feethad
not been followed by anyone. He cannot do anything to
correct such a situation, but you can. Therefore, if you
are part of that congregation, I exhort you to analyze
that it is the perfect time to make the right decision and
discover how the original Gospels hold the true answer
to all your questions.
THE PERFECT TRAP
151
APPENDIX E
THE LOSER SYNDROME PERSPECTIVE AND MOTIVES
In an electoral, military, commercial or any other kind of
contest, there is a type of conduct that is unfortunately
very frequent on the part of the leadership. When things
are not going well, despite the fact that the leaders are,
deep down, almost certain they will not win, they still
pretend to everyone else that they will.
The reason for this kind of behavior is understandable,
albeit not justiable. It is understandable because if they
did acknowledgeor even hintthat everything seemed
to be lost, not only would their despondency increase,
but they would also lose their strength as a group and
internal cohesion.
But it is not justiable because in some way it constitutes
a kind of deception, since on many occasions the unrea-
soned trust of some could be disastrous.
Let me give you an example. In electoral contestshopefully
those of a military nature will one day be erradicated from
the planetthe candidate who knows he is going to lose com-
monly does not act honestly and we do not see him making
pronouncements, such as: We are down in the polls and if
we dont have your support well most likely lose. Have you
ever seen a statement like that? Not many, Im sure, and that
is a consequence of a series of psychological and political
motivations.
Therefore, the most common thing for them will be to
present to the public a slightly unreal situation, on oc-
casion even altering polls to try to show everyone that
victory will be theirs.
152
Though this lack of honesty can appear anywhere in the
world, it is more common in underdeveloped countries
where, on occasion, even when voting has closed, the
count has been done and the victory of the winner has
been determined by the competent authority, the loser
still insists that he is the victor and has been the victim
of a robbery.
Given that it is impossible to comment on many cases that
could tell us something about this interesting sociologi-
cal phenomenon, in which leaders are perfectly familiar
with the real situation, and despite this, present another
panorama to their followers, I would like to just discuss
one such case concerning a military contest: the attitude
of Hitler during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Though at the start of this unfortunate outbreak, Hitler
was convinced deep down that they were going to win
the war, this perception had to change. Why?
In late 1942, the situation had already changed. Once the
United States had joined the war, and throughout that
same year, they were able to help the then Soviet Union
with very signicant amounts of key supplies and the
Russians, showing extraordinary heroism, successfully
stopped the German advance on the then city of Stal-
ingrad, causing them to retreat. I very much doubt that
from that winter of 1942 the German leader was thinking
they could win the war.
I think that, deep down, they had a presentiment that
they had lost and that it was only a question of a little
more time. And if some were still not certain of defeat
at that point, their perception must have changed in the
following months.
But the most important thing Id like to do now is invite
you to observe the attitude of the leaders and, more spe-
THE PERFECT TRAP
153
cically, the person who had the political situation of his
country in his hand: Adolf Hitler. Did this dictator come
to accept the slightest possibility of defeat? No. He always
maintained that they were temporary problems and that
they would eventually be victorious.
Nevertheless, I think that his discourse did not agree with
his internal perception. A simple arithmetical calculation
by a high school boy with the necessary information
could have shown him that they were heading towards
complete catastrophe.
I have a question: would such dishonest behavior with his
followers be the product of a reasoned decision? Or would
it rather be a simple automatic self-defense mechanism?
Many of us would lean in either direction.
But, putting aside any internal motives a future loser
may have, what is clear isand this is importanthis
extraordinary effect on third parties. The consequences
of those who decide to follow causes that are not only
lost, but also unjustiable from an ethical and human
perspective, will be that they will pay dearly for their
errorsometimes the price will be too highfor trusting
those they should not.
Earlier on, I gave the example of an enemy who at any
cost tried to derail the project of the owner of the boat,
where I said that those who believed his tall stories
could not imagine that that enemy believedor said
he believedthat he could achieve something with his
deceitful behavior, when the only thing that happened
in reality was that he was imbued with that same socio-
logical phenomenon that we could callamong other
thingsloser syndrome, which, unfortunately, manages
to hook many in.
154
Nevertheless, if on human land, in any conict, one of
the contenders might actually have at least a slight chance
of changing the nal resultwith the occurrence of an
unexpected eventwhen we are talking about a confron-
tation where the Lord of the Universe participates, I can
assure you that whoever stands in opposition does not
have the slightest chance of achieving something.
And if, at the moment, that entity is permitted to inter-
vene in a certain sense, this is due to the fact that the
Owner of all is probably putting his own people to the
test so that each of them rates their own behavior.
But putting these considerations to one side, it is not
just as simplistic as being on the side of the winner, but
rather truly following the one who believed in us, who
has tolerated us with our countless mistakes throughout
the centuries and then rescued us. But the decision on the
side that everyone must takeand it has been determined
thus by the Lordis completely personal.
THE PERFECT TRAP
155
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION
The vast majority of the observations that have been
made with all due respect throughout this book have
mostly been directed at mistakes made by the Catholic
Church.
This does not mean that the risk of falling into these kinds
of traps is limited only to said Church, since if the Church
of Christ had had another name, the enemy would also
surely have tried to do his thing there among them.
But, what would have been the determinant element that
would have allowed them to make similar mistakes? The
distancing or neglect of faithfully followingin every-
thingthe Will of the only being who is not wrong: God.
Anyone who distances himself from what God sayseven
if it is in seemingly insignicant thingsexposes himself
to experiencing similar problems. That is why I most
respectfully exhort that we all go in only that direction.
I also trust that my indications are not misinterpreted,
nor much less taken as a form of aggression. I act thus
because I feel obligated to reiterate to you what you
already know, though let me remind you of something:
The enemy, inside his evil objectives, aims to use any-
thing, arguing any differencereal or imaginary
among humans, to do what he usually does: sow more
seeds of discord with the aim that things to not work.
Nor is the enemy permitted to say that if anyone tries to
follow the indications of God, this is due to that person
believing he is better than you or other such errors.
156
Personally, I declare myself to be the most insignicant
of the Lords servants, having been subject to mistakes
and all the limitations of anyone.
The only difference is that I have had the chance to
know and recognize the wonderful Word of God and
that fact has transformed my life in the same way as it
can change yours.
On the other hand, also consider that many enemies will
try to tell you that you cannot betray your traditions
when the truth is different. Let me give you an example.
If someones ancestors had perished as victims of some
kind of trap, does this mean that the descendents would
be obligated to perish in the same way?
I think that the situation is exactly the opposite. What an
already dead person would least want would be that his
descendents make the same mistakes or fall into the same
traps. But that person, who no longer possesses the gift
of life, wherever he is now, can do absolutely nothing.
A passage from the New Testament
1
comes to mind about a
person who is no longer with us:
And he said: Then, father, [Abraham] I beseech thee, that
thou wouldst send him [Lazarus, who when he was alive was
a beggar] to my fathers house, for I have ve brethren. That
he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place
of torments...
But he was not permitted.
Believe me, the great desire of all those persons who came
before useven those who, having been tricked, caused
1
THE PERFECT TRAP
157
mistakesis that we do not follow them, no matter how
much they espouse traditions.
I am convinced that their desire would be that we follow
not so much a human person in particular, and much
less what the author of this book says, but rather that
indicated by God, while there is still time.
One of the distinctive features of a good congregation
guide is precisely that people do not follow him as a per-
son, but that they follow Jesus Christ through His Word.
Therefore, having analyzed this from different perspec-
tives, I have taken the liberty of giving you my point of
view: the way is in the Word of Jesus Christ that is in his
Gospels. That is the only route that can transform you,
your family, your country and the world.
158
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to the historians Jos Luis Montecillos
Chipres, Antonio Muiz Pajn and Jacobo Konigs-
berg, to the physicist Juan Pedro Ochoa Ricoux,
to Griselda Samaniego Barrn and to the graphic
designer Luis Tovar, without whose valuable help
this book would not exist.
THE PERFECT TRAP
159
THE PAINTER WE DO NOT SEE
What kind of painter is that
Who, making something from nothing
Had prepared with love
A painting full of stars?
Who let a strangers hands
Paint the light black
On a nished painting?
Who on xing his destroyed work
Sees a chance to separate
Good material from bad?
And on that ruined painting
Uses his science so well
That with love and great patience
Promises a changed painting!
Who transformed death into life
Dresses black in white
And changes tears into laughter?
If lies distress you
If evil harms you
Trust the painter
Who transforms death into life!
If you wait a little
You will see a changed painting
And will enjoy forever the color
The trap had robbed!
Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres
The SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFA
Y ESTADSTICA was founded in 1833 by
Valentn Gmez Faras.
Its members have included many of Mexicos
most distinguished intellectuals, scientists
and politicians, such as Andrs Quinta Roo,
Mariano Otero, Melchor Ocampo, Jos
Mara la Fragua, Manual Orozco y Berra,
Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Leopoldo Ro de
la Loza, Ignacio Ramrez (El Nigromante),
Gabino Barreda, Santos Degollado, Justo
Sierra, Joaqun Garca Icazbalceta, Luis
Bolland Kumackl, Vicente Riva Palacio,
Flix Palavacini, Miguel Schultz, Guillermo
Prieto, Antonio Caso, Emilio Portes Gil,
Jess Silva Herzog, Jess Reyes Heroles,
Daniel Coso Villegas, Julio Zamora Btiz,
Ignacio Chvez, Miguel Alemn Valdez, Jos
Clemente Orozco, Alfonso Reyes, Adolfo
Ruz Cortines, Adolfo Lpez Mateos and a
large number of distinguished characters, by
virtue of which this meritorious institution is
considered a precursor to the nations cultural
independence.
Its founder, the physician Don Valentn
Gmez Faras, while Interim President of the
Mexican Republic, dedicated part of his free
time to attending to the victims of a cholera
epidemic that invaded Mexico City.
4
EL FUTURO CHATARRA GUSTAVO CRUZ SANTIAGO JUAN M. OCHOA T.
Why do things not function well in the world? What
might be the reason for wars, hatred, drug addiction,
hunger, violence, ecological damage and countless
other problems?
Could it be that the world is badly designed? Or
maybe, as others say, there is no God in the Uni-
verse, because if there was, everything would work
perfectly?
Is it right that I have setbacks and problems in my
own life?
In this book, you will fnd a point of view that you
perhaps had not considered on these and other ques-
tions. But we warned! After reading it, you will see
things from a completely different perspective.

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