Wednesday, July 3, 2013

FEW WILL LISTEN

God Has Sent Warnings, but Few Listen, July 3
And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, “The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.” Zephaniah 1:12, NKJV. BLJ 197.1
We are near the close of time. I have been shown that the retributive judgments of God are already in the land. The Lord has given us warning of the events about to take place. Light is shining from His Word; yet darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them ...; and they shall not escape.” BLJ 197.2
It is our duty to inquire the cause of this terrible darkness, that we may shun the course by which men and women have brought upon themselves so great delusion. God has given the world an opportunity to learn and to obey His will. He has given them, in His Word, the light of truth; He has sent them warning, counsel, and admonition; but few will obey His voice. Like the Jewish nation, the majority, even of professed Christians, pride themselves on their superior advantages, but make no returns to God for these great blessings. BLJ 197.3
In infinite mercy a last warning message has been sent to the world, announcing that Christ is at the door and calling attention to God’s broken law. But as the antediluvians rejected with scorn the warning of Noah, so will the pleasure lovers of today reject the message of God’s faithful servants. The world pursues its unvarying round, absorbed as ever in its business and its pleasures, while the wrath of God is about to be visited on the transgressors of His law. BLJ 197.4

Our compassionate Redeemer, foreseeing the perils that would surround His followers at this time, has given them special warning: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:99, 100. BLJ 197.5

Saturday, May 11, 2013

ALUMINUM......


 Dr Milton Teske, MD

 
On July 6, 1988 the worst mass-poisoning event in Britain’s history took place when a truck driver delivering 20 tons of aluminum sulfate to an unmanned water treatment facility accidently dumped it into the wrong tank (they used the same key for all the padlocks at the facility). The water supply to the town of Camelford became contaminated with high levels of aluminum.
Many of the residents developed urinary complaints, painful joints, blistering and peeling of skin, hair turning blue or green, vomiting and diarrhea, fibromyalgia, and short-term memory loss. When trying to clean the tank a few weeks later, they flushed it into the local river resulting in the death of over 60,000 salmon and trout. Aluminum concentrates in the bones and brain, and its main long term effects are seen here. Significant increases in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were seen over the following years and autopsies showed high levels of aluminum in the bones and brains of these victims.
A very common Substance
The element aluminum (atomic number 13) is the third most abundant element on the surface of the earth — only oxygen and silicon are more prevalent. 
It is an extremely reactive element so it rarely occurs in nature as pure aluminum metal but rather as some aluminum compound having already undergone some chemical reaction with other substances. Its properties as a soft, light weight, corrosion resistant, electrical conducting metal have led to its being extensively used in automobile and aircraft design as well as thousands of other products we use everyday.
Not For use in h u m a n s
In spite of its abundance in the world around us, aluminum does not naturally occur in the human body. Indeed we can find no life form on planet earth that uses aluminum. Although many trace elements are needed by various enzymes for special purposes, we can find no animal or plant or microbe that uses aluminum for even a single enzyme or chemical reaction. Apparently when God created life, he saw no use for this highly reactive element in all of the complex chemical reactions that make up life. Aluminum can actually be quite toxic inside of the body.  If taken into the body, the kidneys try their best to eliminate it in the urine as quick as possible. Patients with renal insufficiency or failure are at a much higher risk for aluminum toxicity. We know that aluminum compounds can be absorbed through the skin or from the food we eat or the water we drink or absorbed from the smoke of cigarettes, or they can be injected directly into the body. These compounds can be transported in the blood and concentrated in the bones and the brain where they do most of their long-term damage.  We find high levels of aluminum in the brains of patients with dementia.
Aluminum in vaccines
Vaccines are made from viruses and bacteria — usually killed and broken into pieces, but occasionally alive, and your body recognizes these as foreign invaders and builds up an immune reaction against them. Today, all modern vaccines also contain, in addition to these foreign particles, adjuvants. Adjuvants are toxic chemicals (such as aluminum, mercury, and MSG) whose purpose is to fire up the immune system to make it more reactive.  So a much smaller amount of the actual foreign particles need to be used to get an immune response — thus significantly decreasing the cost to the pharmaceutical company to mass produce lots of the vaccine. The aluminum compounds from the vaccine are absorbed and concentrated in the cells of the brain including the microglia. Microglias are the immune cells whose job is to support and protect the neurons. Aluminum hyper activates the microglia cells which begin to pour out large amounts of toxic inflammatory substances that can be damaging to the neurons.
A brain specialist, Dr. Blaylock, has written extensively on the risks to the brain from the aluminum contained in these injections in the development of autism and dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.  “Studies have shown that these adjuvants, from a single vaccine, can cause immune over activation for as long as two years. This means that the brain microglia remain active, continuously pouring out destructive chemicals. In fact, one study found that a single injection of an immune activating substance could cause brain immune overactivation for over a year. This is very destructive.” 
By the time a baby is 18 months old, they will have received 26 shots vaccinating them against 16 different diseases and will have been injected with 5,000 mcg (5mg) of aluminum.
Pharmaceutical companies and government agencies claim that these vaccines are safe and are well worth the risk. However, it must be noted in their favor that over the last century vaccines have probably saved more lives than all other medications combined. Small pox has been eliminated, and tetanus and polio are almost never seen today. These are devastating and deadly diseases. For example, consider polio — even if your child survived, they would be ruined for life with major paralysis and other permanent nerve damage — this is a disease so terrible that it is probably worth certain risks to protect against it. So before we rush to throw out all the vaccines, to be fair let us consider some other sources of aluminum intake …
Other sources of aluminum
Cooking acidic foods like tomato sauce in uncoated aluminum pans will release aluminum into the food exposing us to similar amounts of aluminum as in vaccines.  Smoking cigarettes will expose us to seven times more aluminum than vaccines do.
Aluminum paralyzes the cells that make cerebral spinal fluid — the clear liquid that surrounds our brains — but it also paralyzes the cells in our sweat glands that make sweat, and so now it is added to all  “antiperspirant” deodorants.  Using antiperspirant deodorants will expose you to 12 times more aluminum than getting all your vaccinations. 
Large amounts of aluminum compounds are found in antacids that are freely used to relieve the burning caused by gastritis and ulcers. The recommended dose of aluminum hydroxide on the label of Maalox Extra Strength is 8,000 mg/day. This is enough to seriously deplete body phosphorus levels (the aluminum hydroxide binds to phosphorus preventing it from being absorbed). If you drink a glass of orange juice or take a calcium citrate supplement with your antacid you will increase aluminum absorption into your blood by 10 times (1,000%).Shellfish, an unclean meat that should never be consumed, is very high in aluminum from contamination in the sea. Many baking powders use aluminum compounds to cause a chemical reaction, resulting in little gas bubbles to make baked goods rise. Aluminum compounds do not cause the bitter taste that regular baking soda does and so is more
frequently used. Foods with significant aluminum levels from baking powders are: flour tortillas, muffins, doughnuts, cookies, pancakes, waffles, cupcakes, cakes, pastries, etc. They typically contain about 5mg to 15mg per muffin or serving of cake.  Perhaps this may be one of the reasons why God instructed an angel to warn his remnant people that they should completely avoid the use of baking powder and that they were not to eat of these baked goods.
The greatest Source of aluminum is …
But the winner of the prize for the highest level of aluminum is American cheese! Sodium aluminum phosphate is the most common substance used as an emulsifying agent in the processing of all processed cheeses. Almost all cheese sold in the grocery store is a processed cheese. If it is a crumbly cheese, it is probably aluminum-free, but if you can slice it or grate it or melt it — it has been processed by emulsification. This process surrounds every microscopic droplet of fat in the cheese with a layer of this aluminum compound that gives the cheese that desirable, soft, smooth, easily-sliceable texture, and it melts soft without separating so it can be used in a grilled cheese sandwich or any other place you would like to melt or grate some cheese.
Sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP) has been labeled as GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by the FDA, meaning that no safety studies need to be done nor is there any regulation of its safety for use in food.  And because it is considered part of the processing of the cheese rather than as an ingredient, it is not required to be listed as an ingredient on the label. 
Processed cheese is typically 3% sodium aluminum phosphate — that makes it the number one source of aluminum in our diet. The average American will absorb 30 times more aluminum into his blood from eating cheese than he would get from vaccination injections. Giving your child a grilled cheese sandwich is about the same as injecting him with 12 vaccinations.
Perhaps this is yet another reason why God sent His angel to say to His people living in the last days of earth’s history:  “cheese should never be introduced into the stomach” and  “it is wholly unfit for food.” R e m e m b e r, aluminum has no place in the biology of any form of life on this earth. It would be well for us to avoid it as much as possible.
The Source of this article is: http://secretsunsealed.org

Friday, April 26, 2013

WHAT WE EAT WE BECOME......


Why did God allow Meat eating?   

The first time the children of Israel ate meat after the exodus is recorded in Numbers chapter 11. Let’s examine this chapter and note the events that transpired therein:

“And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?”
(Num 11:4)

“We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick”
(Num 11:5)

Through the many years as slaves in Egypt, eating flesh meat became a common thing to do. If you notice, they mentioned the fish, and then they mentioned some vegetables, but their question shows what they really wanted:

“Who shall give us flesh to eat?”

Again they cried at Moses, “give us flesh, that we may eat” –verse 13.

One will notice while reading through this whole chapter that God did not really want to give them the flesh meat for their diet. In fact, as they cried in their lust for flesh meat, God told them that they will get their desire; in fact, they will get a whole month of meat, even until it leaks from their noses (verses’ 19-20). So the Lord blew a strong wind, and in came the meat they so desired. Verse 31 says that the Lord brought them quail, and while the meat was yet in between their teeth, the Lord sent a plague, and they all died (verse 33). Take note reader, that the meat these people ate was not unclean meat, but rather clean meat according to the clean/unclean laws of Leviticus 11. Would God give them an unclean animal to eat? Yet, to show them he did not want them eating meat at all, whether clean or unclean, he allowed them to have the lust of their hearts, and they reaped what they sowed, sickness and death.


The clean/unclean foods: Laws God did not desire

Within the writing of the prophet Ezekiel, we read the following:

“Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.” (Ezekiel 20:25)

What would you say were the laws God gave to the children of Israel that he did not really want to give them? Let’s look at three of the most basic of those laws and see if these are it:

The Sabbath: Because the immediate context of the whole chapter of Ezekiel 20 seems to be more about the Sabbath, I decided to comment on this one first.

Was God displeased with giving them the Sabbath day law? The verses in this same chapter immediately say “no.” First, the verse says “statutes” and “judgments” in the plural sense. There is only one seventh day Sabbath. Second, verses before show how God really did want them to observe the Sabbath, because it was to be a “sign” that God is the one who sanctifies them (verses 12; 20). The Sabbath is also seen to continue on forever. Evidently, the saints of God will forever observe it even in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Isaiah 66:23). This is proof that the Sabbath has not been abolished, and that God in Ezekiel 20:25 is not speaking about the Sabbath. How could God regret giving them the Sabbath but allow it to continue forever?


The 10 Commandments: These laws, recorded first in Exodus 20, set moral rules for the believer to live by. “Thou shalt not murder” and “thou shalt not steal” are certainly laws we wouldn’t dream of saying God did not want to give. Each law within the 10 commandments has a moral application to everyone of us. When we violate the first four of these laws, which most recognize as laws referring to mans relationship with God, we sin against our selves, because it is a sin to break Gods law (1 John 3:4). When we sin against ourselves we risk damaging our relationship and we offend God who made us in his image, thus losing our salvation because we have not turned away from sin. When we violate the rest of the 10 commandments we commit sins against our neighbors, which will again cause us to hurt ourselves spiritually and most of the times physically in the process. Was God displeased with giving these laws? The logical answer is no.

The Feast days: Time and place must be considered. When God through Ezekiel penned those words in Ezekiel 20:25, the feast days, while God found more pleasure in obedience (1 Samuel 15:22), he did in fact wanted them to observe them as laws because he desired them to see something special within these feast days, namely, that Jesus is the true lamb of God, which would be sacrificed for them in the not so distant future (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Today, these feast days can still teach us much, but we know that they have all found their end at the cross, as Jesus is our paschal lamb, and so on. Yet in the times of Ezekiel, God wanted them to observe these feasts.

The only possible laws the Lord must have been speaking about in Ezekiel 20:25 would have to be the laws of clean and unclean meats as listed in Leviticus 11. The following are the reasons why this must be so:

-Reason 1: God has never desired the death of any of his creatures.
-Reason 2: As shown in Numbers 11, God does not desire our eating or neither clean nor unclean animals.
-Reason 3: Animal eating has never been part of the original plan for mankind’s health, and God desires we return to his original plan.

Every other law, for that time, were laws God ordered to be kept for some reason as to maintain order within the theocratic nation of Israel (as in the civil penalty laws -we believe God did not desire these as well) or for moral issues relating to salvation. The clean/unclean animal’s laws have nothing to do with the maintaining of a nation, nor with anything moral at that. Simply put, animal eating is just not necessary. We can get sufficient nutrients from the natural foods of the earth without eating flesh meat. The most convincing evidence is in the fact that meat eating came into the picture after the fall, and not before.
Source:  http://adventist-defense-league.blogspot.com

Friday, February 15, 2013

Who can find a virtuous woman?

Proverb:31:10: Who can find a virtuous woman?  for her price is far above rubies.
:11: The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
:12: She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13: She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14: She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
:15: She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
:16: She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
:17: She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
:18: She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
:19: She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
:20: She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
:21: She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
:22: She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
:23: Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
:24: She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
:25: Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
:26: She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
:27: She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
:28: Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
:29: Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
:30: Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
:31: Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

RAPID PUSH TO THE END!!!!

 

 While the world sleeps, the prophecies of the greatest book ever 
(the Bible) are being fulfilled.
Too many of  God's people are are in the same sleepy attitude,and unless they awake out of their slumber the Lord will come to them as a thief in the night.For those who study the word of God, the announcement from the pope is no surprise as it was foretold, and now my friends, this to me is the last call for all to get their house in order; that which is to happen, will happen...(Revelation 17...Read)

1-5 (chs. 13:11-17; 18:1-5; 2 Thess. 2:7-12). 
Deceiver of All Nations.--In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. [Rev. 17:1-4 quoted.]  {7BC 983.3}
     Thus is represented the papal power, which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, by outside attraction and gorgeous display, deceives all nations; promising them, as did Satan our first parents, all good to those who receive its mark, and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies. The power which has the deepest inward corruption will make the greatest display, and will clothe itself with the most elaborate signs of power. The Bible plainly declares that this covers a corrupt and deceiving wickedness. "Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth."  {7BC 983.4}


What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath (Letter 232, 1899).  {7BC 983.5}
     13, 14 (chs. 13:11-17; 16:13-16). A Confederacy of Satan's Forces.--[Rev. 17:13, 14 quoted.] "These have one mind." There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces. "And shall give their power and strength unto the beast." Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.  {7BC 983.6}

 In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth (MS 24, 1891).  {7BC 983.7}
     14. Christ Glorified in the Last Crisis.--As Christ was glorified on the day of Pentecost, so will He again be glorified in the closing work of the gospel, when He shall prepare a people to stand the final test, in the closing conflict of the great controversy (RH Nov. 29, 1892).  {7BC 983.8}


Pope's sudden resignation sends shockwaves through Church


Pope Benedict XVI attends a consistory at the Vatican February 11, 2013, in this picture provided by Osservatore Romano. Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfil the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step. REUTERS-Osservatore Romano
VATICAN CITY | Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:02pm EST

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church on Monday when he announced he would stand down, the first pope to do so in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to carry on.
Church officials tried to relay a climate of calm confidence in the running of a 2,000-year-old institution, but the decision could lead to uncertainty in a Church already besieged by scandal for covering up sexual abuse of children by priests.
The soft-spoken German, who always maintained that he never wanted to be pope, was an uncompromising conservative on social and theological issues, fighting what he regarded as the increasing secularization of society.
It remains to be seen whether his successor will continue such battles or do more to bend with the times.
Despite his firm opposition to tolerance of homosexual acts, his eight year reign saw gay marriage accepted in many countries. He has staunchly resisted allowing women to be ordained as priests, and opposed embryonic stem cell research, although he retreated slightly from the position that condoms could never be used to fight AIDS.
He repeatedly apologized for the Church's failure to root out child abuse by priests, but critics said he did too little and the efforts failed to stop a rapid decline in Church attendance in the West, especially in his native Europe.
In addition to child sexual abuse crises, his papacy saw the Church rocked by Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was accused of leaking his private papers.
In an announcement read to cardinals in Latin, the universal language of the Church, the 85-year-old said: "Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of St Peter ...
"As from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours (1900 GMT) the See of Rome, the See of St. Peter will be vacant and a conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."
POPE DOESN'T FEAR SCHISM
Benedict is expected to go into isolation for at least a while after his resignation. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Benedict did not intend to influence the decision of the cardinals in a secret conclave to elect a successor.
A new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics could be elected as soon as Palm Sunday, on March 24, and be ready to take over by Easter a week later, Lombardi said.
Several popes in the past, including Benedict's predecessor John Paul, have refrained from stepping down over their health, because of the division that could be caused by having an "ex-pope" and a reigning pope alive at the same time.
Lombardi said the pope did not fear a possible "schism", with Catholics owing allegiances to a past and present pope in case of differences on Church teachings.
He indicated the complex machinery of the process to elect a new pope would move quickly because the Vatican would not have to wait until after the elaborate funeral services for a pope.
It is not clear if Benedict will have a public life after he resigns. Lombardi said Benedict would first go to the papal summer residence south of Rome and then move into a cloistered convent inside the Vatican walls.
The resignation means that cardinals from around the world will begin arriving in Rome in March and after preliminary meetings, lock themselves in a secret conclave and elect the new pope from among themselves in votes in the Sistine Chapel.
There has been growing pressure on the Church for it to choose a pope from the developing world to better reflect where most Catholics live and where the Church is growing.
"It could be time for a black pope, or a yellow one, or a red one, or a Latin American," said Guatemala's Archbishop Oscar Julio Vian Morales.
The cardinals may also want a younger man. John Paul was 58 when he was elected in 1978. Benedict was 20 years older.
"We have had two intellectuals in a row, two academics, perhaps it is time for a diplomat," said Father Tom Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. "Rather than electing the smartest man in the room, they should elect the man who will listen to all the other smart people in the Church."
Liberals have already begun calling for a pope that would be more open to reform.
"The current system remains an 'old boy's club' and does not allow for women's voices to participate in the decision of the next leader of our Church," said the Women's Ordination Conference, a group that wants women to be able to be priests.
"GREAT COURAGE"
The last pope to resign willingly was Celestine V in 1294 after reigning for only five months, his resignation was known as "the great refusal" and was condemned by the poet Dante in the "Divine Comedy". Gregory XII reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant to the papacy.
Lombardi said Benedict's stepping aside showed "great courage". He ruled out any specific illness or depression and said the decision was made in the last few months "without outside pressure". But the decision was not without controversy.
"This is disconcerting, he is leaving his flock," said Alessandra Mussolini, a parliamentarian who is granddaughter of Italy's wartime dictator. "The pope is not any man. He is the vicar of Christ. He should stay on to the end, go ahead and bear his cross to the end. This is a huge sign of world destabilization that will weaken the Church."
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to the late Pope John Paul, said the former pope had stayed on despite failing health for the last decade of his life as he believed "you cannot come down from the cross."
While the pope had slowed down recently - he started using a cane and a wheeled platform to take him up the long aisle in St Peter's Square - he had given no hint recently that he was considering such a dramatic decision.
Elected in 2005 to succeed the enormously popular John Paul, Benedict never appeared to feel comfortable in the job.
"MIND AND BODY"
In his announcement, the pope told the cardinals that in order to govern "... both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."
Before he was elected pope, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was known as "God's rottweiler" for his stern stand on theological issues. After a few months, he showed a milder side but he never drew the kind of adulation that had marked the 27-year papacy of his predecessor John Paul.
U.S. President Barack Obama extended prayers to Benedict and best wishes to those who would choose his successor.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pope's decision must be respected if he feels he is too weak to carry out his duties. British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "He will be missed as a spiritual leader to millions."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the worldwide Anglican communion, said he had learned of the pope's decision with a heavy heart but complete understanding.
CHEERS AND SCANDAL
Elected to the papacy on April 19, 2005, Benedict ruled over a slower-paced, more cerebral and less impulsive Vatican.
But while conservatives cheered him for trying to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity, his critics accused him of turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and hurting dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians.
After appearing uncomfortable in the limelight at the start, he began feeling at home with his new job and showed that he intended to be pope in his way.
Despite great reverence for his charismatic, globe-trotting predecessor -- whom he put on the fast track to sainthood and whom he beatified in 2011 -- aides said he was determined not to change his quiet manner to imitate John Paul's style.
A quiet, professorial type who relaxed by playing the piano, he showed the gentle side of a man who was the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer for nearly a quarter of a century.
The first German pope for some 1,000 years and the second non-Italian in a row, he traveled regularly, making about four foreign trips a year, but never managed to draw the oceanic crowds of his predecessor.
The child abuse scandals hounded most of his papacy. He ordered an official inquiry into abuse in Ireland, which led to the resignation of several bishops.
Scandal from a source much closer to home hit in 2012 when the pontiff's butler, responsible for dressing him and bringing him meals, was found to be the source of leaked documents alleging corruption in the Vatican's business dealings.
Benedict confronted his own country's past when he visited the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Calling himself "a son of Germany", he prayed and asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, most of them Jews, were killed there.
Ratzinger served in the Hitler Youth during World War Two when membership was compulsory. He was never a member of the Nazi party and his family opposed Adolf Hitler's regime.
(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Barry Moody, Cristiano Corvino, Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, and Dagamara Leszkowixa in Poland; Editing by Peter Graff)