Tuesday, September 03, 2019

Snowball Church, Daniel Lopez and the Pitfall of an Occultist


Snowball Church, Daniel Lopez and the Pitfall of an Occultist

How a minister at the Snowball Church headquarters apostatized from the evangelical faith to embrace Olavo de Carvalho’s fascist esotericism

By Julio Severo
One of the most bizarre things is to see some Catholics defending the Inquisition today, when even the popes — from John Paul 2 to Francis — have already distanced themselves from this defense and even apologized for the crimes of the Inquisition. It’s as bizarre as seeing a college professor defending the atrocities of communism.
Daniel Lopez selling the book The Inquisition — A Court of Mercy
Even more bizarre is to see a neo-Pentecostal (charismatic) minister defending the Inquisition, who tortured and killed multitudes of Jews and Protestants, embracing a Catholic fascism rejected even by popes.
Among the “interesting” books promoted by this minister is “The Inquisition — A Court of Mercy,” as if torturing, humiliating and killing publicly were an act of mercy, considering that the “crime” of both Jewish and Protestant victims was only to have different religious views from the binding doctrines of the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages.
To say that the Inquisition was a court of mercy is to say that Satan is the father of mercies.
Daniel Lopez, who is identified by himself on his website as minister of the Snowball (Bola de Neve) Church at its headquarters in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, has a virtual store called “Daniel Lopez Bookstore” in which he makes available several books defending the Inquisition.
The advocacy of the Inquisition has become such a sick obsession among right-wing fascist Catholics that they say the Inquisition “suffers slander” just like Trump does! It is a “creativity” worthy of the evilest mind.
I don’t know if Lopez is doing this because the Snowball Church, which is one of Sao Paulo’s largest neo-Pentecostal denominations and a church contextualized for surfers and young people, is embracing Catholic fascism with its immoral baggage of defending the Inquisition.
I do not know if Lopez left his prestigious post as a minister and left his denomination, as Snowball did not issue any statement about the spiritual state of its minister, who held or holds one of the most important posts at the denominational headquarters in São Paulo.
On Lopez’s Facebook fanpage, there is total silence about his recent pastoral activities and for the past six months he has not posted anything about Snowball, although he posted a little last year.
What’s on his fanpage is too much political and politicized speech. His fanpage has been soaked from the start with political content that in no way contributes to the salvation and edification of souls.
His most recent post shows him at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington posing with astrologer Olavo de Carvalho, at the ceremony in which the astrologer received the highest award from the Brazilian government. Lopez comments: “Undoubtedly, a day that came into history.”
Daniel Lopez and Olavo de Carvalho
No doubt it came into history. The whole ceremony was simply a glorification of Olavo de Carvalho. But for him who has spent many months on his page glorifying politics far more than Jesus, Christ, how strange? You can check out the glorification of astrologer Carvalho here: “The glorification of Olavo de Carvalho at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Glorifying at the Brazilian Embassy the greatest revisionist of the Inquisition in Brazil is a tremendous slap in the face of Jews, evangelicals and historians.
As an Olavist (adherent of Olavo), Lopez was delighted with the award for the astrologer, not unlike Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, who, knowing on April that a mesmerized Jair Bolsonaro would award their guru, immediately compared Bolsonaro with Jesus Christ.
This was not Lopez’s first meeting with the astrologer. He was at the astrologer’s house last April in an interview with the theme “How to defeat the left” — when in fact he needed a deep discipleship of “How to defeat occult influences in a pastor’s life.” If these influences are not defeated, the pastor obviously converts to these influences.
Although now on his website Lopez is keen to sell Catholic books, Holy Week, which is highly revered by Catholics, has been transformed by Lopez as “Olavo de Carvalho Week,” in which he promoted the astrologer’s books.
The “Daniel Lopez Bookstore” offers Catholic books, from Catholic apologetics to an entire section that Lopez dedicated to the “Most Holy Mary.”
His bookstore also sells several books of Scott Hahn telling his testimony of how he left the Presbyterian Church to become Catholic. Today, Hahn is a Catholic theologian.
What does Lopez intend with all this? Does he want ministers to do what he did, to abandon evangelical churches to embrace Olavist fascism disguised as Catholicism?
Interestingly, Lopez doesn’t sell evangelical books, even from Snowball!
Since Snowball has issued no statement, it is difficult to know if Lopez remains as a minister and if Snowball is also going through this strange transition. If Snowball did not approve of Lopez’s Olavist transition, then the question is: What kind of discipleship do they offer that does not resist the occult brainwashing of an astrologer?
Seeing one of its greatest ministers fall into the occult hole of Olavism is an immense humiliation.
Before Catholics celebrate a possible conversion of Lopez to Catholicism, the Daniel Lopez Bookstore also offers books of Eastern religions, such as Zhao Bichén’s “Taoist Inner Training,” and Lao Tse’s “Tao Te Ching: The Book of Revelation.” Not to mention that no real Catholic turns Holy Week into “Olavo de Carvalho Week.”
If books sold by the Daniel Lopez Bookstore indicate Lopez’s conversion, it was not only Catholicism that was benefited. Eastern religions too. Such a result is perfectly expected in adherents of astrologer Carvalho. They engage in syncretic Catholicism with its traditional blend of esotericism and the occult. The pope of this Catholicism is the astrologer himself.
From the standpoint of evangelicalism, Lopez is not well, even though he has a history of being a minister of one of the largest evangelical churches in Sao Paulo. Defending the Inquisition and Eastern religions is 100 percent incompatible with evangelicalism. But it is perfectly compatible with religious fascism.
From the standpoint of Catholicism, Lopez is not well, although he is defending Most Holy Mary. Defending Eastern religions is 100 percent incompatible with Catholicism. And defending the Inquisition is a stance only compatible with medieval and fascist Catholics, not with modern popes, much less with Jewish and Protestant historians.
Lopez’s passion for Carvalho is leading him to immense nonsense.
In the philosophy book section of “Daniel Lopez Bookstore,” Olavo de Carvalho’s books occupy prominence.
His present appearance of Catholic devotion is sheer illusion. If today he can make Holy Week into “Olavo de Carvalho Week,” what would the surprise be if he ever mumbles that Carvalho was crucified, killed and resurrected on the third day?
Lopez never seems to have paid due attention to what God’s Word says about the charms of philosophy:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 NIV)
“Make sure no predator makes you his prey through some misleading philosophy and empty deception based on traditions fabricated by mere mortals. These are sourced in the elementary principles originating in this world and not in the Anointed One (so don’t let their talks capture you).” (Colossians 2:8 The Voice Bible)
Even Lopez’s politics-soaked speech is fraught with misinterpretation. Following the astrologer, in 2018 he praised Ricardo Vélez’s appointment as minister of Education in Brazil. It was a terrible indication from the astrologer and supported by Lopez, because at that time I warned that Velez was a fan of leftist Hillary Clinton and Trump’s opponent. If Lopez had read my blog, he would not have fallen into the astrologer’s mistake or flattered his misinformation.
President Jair Bolsonaro himself eventually fired Velez for incompetence.
Lopez also flattered the astrologer’s indication in 2018 of Ernesto Araújo as foreign minister. It was a terrible indication from the astrologer and supported by Lopez, because at that time I warned that Araújo publicly praises Julius Evola, who inspired Nazism and fascism with his books defending the right and witchcraft at the same time. If Lopez had read my blog, he would not have fallen into the astrologer’s mistake or flattered his misinformation.
Before cessationist Calvinists, the so-called “Reformed,” proclaim that Lopez’s spiritual confusion is the result of neo-Pentecostalism, at the astrologer’s ceremony at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington was Dr. Steve Turley, a Reformed American. At the very least, Turley’s personal Facebook page makes a point of showing prominently that he studied theology at the Reformed Theological Seminary.
Olavo de Carvalho and Steve Turley
Turley and other American Reformed Christians were invited to the ceremony of Olavo de Carvalho. Why and who paid Lopez’s airfare ticket to be at the event in Washington nobody knows. If he was used by the astrologer only as a piece of propaganda to show American Reformed Christians how “Olavo de Carvalho is loved by Brazilian evangelicals” is only conjecture.
If it was a piece of propaganda, it worked. Reformed Turley ended up interviewing Carvalho. But if he reads “The glorification of Olavo de Carvalho at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington D.C.,” he will surely understand a lot. That’s why I publish so much information in English about Carvalho. Americans do not understand the mire of confusion that is in and around Carvalho.
The fact is that Carvalho, who has already totally confused Lopez’s head, is now seeking to confuse the heads of American Reformed Christians.
Thanks to the enchantment and smooth talk of Carvalho, neo-Pentecostals and Reformed Christians have fallen into the same pitfall of confusion.
These are predictable falls when a Christian reads more books by Carvalho or recommended by him than the Bible.
These are predictable falls when a Christian focuses more on Carvalho and his occult conspiracies than on Jesus Christ and His Word.
Amateur and shallow ministers who think that everything that is praised in the right have automatic support from God need to read the Bible again. They need a conversion. Carvalho’s bifurcated tongue is a danger to amateurs.
I have warned Brazilian evangelicals about Carvalho’s dark spiritual influence. Evangelicals who follow him are so enchanted and dumbed down by his bifurcated smooth talk that they eventually place political affairs above God’s Word and fellowship with Jesus. The end result is predictable: a minister of a large neo-Pentecostal denomination serving as a doormat of propaganda for an astrologer’s hidden and occult interests, including the immoral advocacy of the Inquisition. Indeed, there are already several ministers, both Reformed and Pentecostal, who have drifted away from the Gospel to follow Olavist fascism.
Facing Carvalho’s smooth talk and enchantment is not for amateurs, including amateur ministers. Marco Feliciano, who is one of the greatest ministers in the Assemblies of God in Brazil and a congressman, can be one of the greatest amateur ministers when it comes to dealing with an occultist’s smooth talk.
Ministers are still deluded, and converting, even after the astrologer said that “the evangelical churches have done more harm to Brazil than the entire left.” Of course, he knows this is a blatant lie, but he spreads it to try to defeat what he sees as the sole competitor for his desired glory: to be held solely responsible for the anti-Marxist resistance in Brazil.
One of the last and only sermons of Lopez at Snowball headquarters in Sao Paulo, as recorded on his Facebook fanpage, was about the devil. Lopez quoted in his message: “Be sober and watchful. The devil, your adversary, walks about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).
Through the charms of Carvalho’s occult-esoteric philosophy, the devil walked more and more around Lopez. What he preached to others he could not apply to himself.
A single astrologer, adherent of Guénon, was sufficient for Lopez to be devoured.
In 2013, Lopez published his book “The Biblical Vision of Catholicism.” Lopez himself presented his book saying:
“The Biblical Vision of Catholicism provides a manual on how to confront Catholic doctrine through Scripture, and how to answer the questions posed by its adherents. Today, more than ever, this knowledge is fundamental, because the Church of Rome is, for the first time, under the leadership of a member of the Society of Jesus, an order created to stop the advance of Protestantism in the world. It is therefore a powerful tool for anyone who wishes to heed Jesus’ call and defend sound doctrine in these troubled times.”
By getting Interested in the astrologer’s anti-Marxist “philosophical” discourse, Lopez was led not only to value the doctrine of the Most Holy Mary, but also the Inquisition, Taoism, and Carvalho himself, who became his main “philosophical” and spiritual reference.
If anti-Marxist speech could turn a man into a saint, the holiest of all would be Catholic Adolf Hitler, who had an anti-Marxist speech that deceived millions of Catholics. And let not Lopez and other Olavists tell me that Hitler was neither Catholic nor anti-Marxist, for Julius Evola, who advised Nazism, is praised by such Olavists as Ernesto Araújo. More than that, Evola was the greatest disciple of the Islamic occultist René Guénon, who is the guru of several “Catholics” deified by right-wing populism, including Steve Bannon and Carvalho.
The resurgence of admiration for Evola is a Brazilian phenomenon occurring only within Carvalho’s movement. Only people affected by Olavo de Carvalho’s ideas end up praising Evola. Even affected evangelicals succumb. On May 2019, evangelical writer Thiago Cortes quoted a statement from Evola: “Be radical, have principles, be absolute, be what the bourgeoisie calls extremist.” It is a right-wing statement made by a right-winger with Nazi ties.
Cortes has a history as a columnist of major Brazilian evangelical websites such as GospelPrime and GospelMais. On early 2016, I scolded him for cursing foul-mouthed Carvalho. But later, the curses turned into a passion for Carvalho. Today, everything about Cortes’s rightism, including Evola, is Carvalho’s influence. Cortes’s passion for Carvalho has guaranteed him a high political job: He has become Secretary General of the Liberal Social Party in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the boss is Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is the son of the Brazilian president. One of the things Eduardo does most is propagandizing Carvalho. The result of the meeting of two similar propagandists was Cortes getting a very well-paid political job. As long as he goes on flattering Carvalho, his job is guaranteed.
He changed from evangelical writer who criticized Carvalho to well-paid political activist fawning over Carvalho and Evola. With this, the Kingdom of God suffered loss, and the kingdom of political darkness gained. The intellectual submission of evangelicals to Carvalho has sickened their minds. Cortes is an example. Lopez is another.
In a 2016 sermon, Lopez asked the audience “Who is your Master?” Today the audience at Snowball and other churches in which he preached should ask him, “Who is your Master?”
Is Lopez alone in this or not? Has Snowball Church, which has not yet made declarations on his apostasy, also been duped by the astrologer’s anti-Marxist “philosophical” discourse?
Will Snowball defend the Inquisition, Taoism and Carvalho himself?
Will Reformed Americans, duped by Lopez’s presence as a sign that “Carvalho is loved by Brazilian evangelicals,” also end up embracing fascist esotericism with its baggage of immoral defense of the Inquisition, Most Holy Mary, Taoism and political astrology?
In Moses’ day there were many astrologers and occultists in the Egyptian government, but Moses was not duped by any of them and their charming political “philosophies.” Because Moses did not follow them, God exalted him above them.
In Daniel’s day, there were many astrologers and occultists in the Babylonian government, but Daniel was not duped by any of them and their charming political “philosophies.” Because Daniel did not follow them, God exalted him above them.
What is happening to today’s ministers who instead of following the example of Moses and Daniel prefer to follow astrologers and occultists with their charming political “philosophies”?
Recommended Reading:
Recommended Reading about the Inquisition:

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