WWUTT Wednesday - What Does the Bible Say About The Pope?

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church (AKA the Magisterium) believes that it is infallible. Seriously, it's in the Catechism that they wrote, they believe that they received this charism (spiritual gift) of infallibility directly from Jesus. Paragraph 889 of the  CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) states in part:

... the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. (emphasis mine)

I'm not going to pretend that Protestants are better at morals than the Roman Catholic Magisterium, nor will I say that Jews, Muslims, and Atheists have a closer shot at being infallible than Mr. Pope - we are all sinners (emphasis God's, see Ecclesiastes 7:20 for details) not one of us is capable of not sinning, even when ex cathedra. 

I've been told by several people knowledgeable in the dogma of the catholic church that we Protestants do not understand papal infallibility, this gift only happens when the pope is speaking ex cathedra which they tell me means when he's acting as the head of their church. However ex cathedra really means when he's being infallible. So in other words if someone tells you "he's only infallible when he's ex cathedra" really means "he's only infallible when he's being infallible" 

So confusing, let's turn to the bible... what does the bible say about Mr. Pope?

WWUTT Wednesday - Papal Perfection Pettifoggery

As we come closer and closer to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation we have to keep in mind one of the main driving causes of the Reformation; the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, the Primate of Italy, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, the Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, the Servant of the Servants of God.

We know him as Mr. Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the self styled "unbroken succession" of Bishops (ignoring instances of popes being involuntarily deposed and instances of contention over the papacy by two or even three popes simultaneously, accompanied by multiple colleges of cardinals and bishoprics) seated in the "Chair of Peter" to rule over people who should instead be ruled over by God. The only history of Peter being in Rome was a letter written over 120 years after his death yet this church claims to be founded by Peter in Rome. How do we know that's true? Because Mr. Pope says it is.

Emergent Monday - The Immaculate Conception May Not Mean What You Think It Means

In the liturgy of the Catholic church December 8th is the feast  of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation. A holy day of obligation is a day which those faithful to the RCC are required to attend Mass. That is unless December 8 falls on a Sunday, then the feast is transferred to December 9th because the Second Sunday of Advent outranks the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Keep in mind that not all countries have the same Holy Days of Obligation. Italy for example has six, while the primarily Muslim country of Indonesia has ten, and the incredibly Catholic country of the Philippines has three. I suppose this is due to to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has an advantage (they claim) over protestantism - that they have a pope to rule them and make sure that everything is standardized. (That wasn't meant to sound sarcastic, but how can it not?)

Here in the United States the average Protestant would recognize a few of the holy days of obligation: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Solemnity of All Saints (All Saints' Day), Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), then there's the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Notice that this is not the Immaculate Conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary, I can't find evidence that the romish church celebrates that actual miracle. Instead they invented one; the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the conception of Mary in her mother Anne's womb immaculate and free from all forms of sin.

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means, but God acted upon her soul keeping her "immaculate" at the time of her conception. In other words she was born without original sin. Therefore, being free from original sin from her conception Mary received the sanctifying grace that Catholics believe comes with infant baptism. Not only that but she remained sinless though the rest of her life. The biblical references for this are: 

Spurgeon Thursday - Is The Pope The Antichrist?

During Spurgeon's lifetime there were three popes, Gregory XVI, Pius IX, and Leo XIII. Pius IX was the last absolute theocratic monarch of the papal states, an area of Italy that was ruled by the popes for over one thousand years. Like the Byzantine Empire and World War I, the Papal States is one of those fascinating bits of world history that are ignored in American schools for some unknown reason. 

Spurgeon really didn't like the popes and everything the popes stood for. I'm sure that the popes being theocratic monarchs of a sizeable chunk of european real estate that covered a good portion of Italy and even a chunk of France (Avignon ) didn't help much either. 

The political climate of Europe at the time was tumultuous, one could safely say that there was a state of warfare in europe from the start of the French revolution (1789) until the end of WWII. In 1848 Pope Pius IX actually fled Rome in disguise (some said in a woman's dress) and requested political asylum in England while the Italian Army reclaimed Rome and the Papal states. He returned to Rome in 1850. The Italian government made peaceful overtures to Pius IX but Pius responded with anger and insults. I'm sure none of that escaped Spurgeon's notice. 

Spurgeon Thursday - The Reason for the Reformation

We are one year from the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and with ecumenical-mania going on, a modern day counter reformation, one can only wonder if this will be the last anniversary of the Protestant Reformation to be celebrated.

Reunification with the Roman church is a movement that is quietly gaining steam. The biblically unqualified leader of a Lutheran denomination has declared:

"Though we have not yet arrived, we have claimed that we are, in fact, on the way to unity... This 'Declaration on the Way' helps us to realize more fully our unity in Christ with our Catholic partners, but it also serves to embolden our commitment to unity with all Christians

Charles Haddon Spurgeon probably wouldn't agree with Mrs. Eaton, and by "probably wouldn't agree" I actually mean "raging with the very fires of hell in disagreement" 

Charles was a loving man of God who was blessed with an incorrigible sense of humor, but the institution of the Roman Catholic Church and its papist heresies tested his patience, and when he spoke, he let his passion be known: 

It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description. 

WWUTT Wednesday - What Does The Bible Say About The Pope?

Mr. Pope recently came out and said

“Today the death penalty is inadmissible, no matter how grave the crime committed. It is an affront to the inviolability of life and the dignity of the human person, which contradicts God’s plan for man, society and merciful justice... [the death penalty] does not render justice for the victims, but encourages vengeance. The commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ has an absolute value and applies both to the innocent and to the guilty.”

You may or may not agree with Mr. Pope on the death penalty itself, but first of all, the bible does not say "Thou shall not kill, it says "Thou shall not רָצַח (ratsach)" which means to commit premeditated murder, a much different thing all together. And besides it is not unusual for God to use death as a form of justice. Ever hear of the Amalekites? They attacked the Israelites without provocation during the Exodus (Exodus 17:8, Deuteronomy 25:17-18), They later attacked Israel during the time of the Judges (Judges 3:13) and raided the Israelites' land leaving them with nothing (Judges 6:2-5). Eventually God dispensed justice through King Saul 

'Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Samuel 15:3)

Secondly, you may notice that Mr. Pope did not quote this from the bible:

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)

Being the King of the Vatican, Mr. Pope is a governing authority, so he can do away with his death penalty all he wants inside the Kingdom of the Vatican (and yes, until recently the Vatican did have a death penalty) but by Romans 13, those living in a country that has a death penalty are now in opposition to the ordinance of God if they listen to Mr. Pope.

Thirdly, what does the bible say about Mr. Pope?

Ecumenical Monday: Reformation? What Reformation?

I know of a fellow who says he loves God and Jesus but worships a dead woman. This fellow is full of all sorts of unique beliefs: he believes that folks who believe in justification though grace alone are crazy and should be damned, he believes that Christ's work was left incomplete on the cross, he believes that God isn't good enough to confess your sins to - you need to talk to a person instead. He also believes that the bible isn't enough and must be amended with tradition,  that you're not smart enough to read the bible, that God and Allah are the same, that Christ is not the only mediator between us and God, and even dead people can intercede for us. He even insists that salvation through grace is just crazy talk and that justification rests in specific measured works that must be accomplished before death. He also believes that when we die, we become Gods.

Oh, and he calls himself a Christian. 

The fellow is Mr. Pope Francis and not only unrepentant, he's set his sights once again on Christians. Years ago Mr. Pope's political ancestors took it upon themselves to wipe out biblical Christianity and insure that papistry ruled western theology. Starting in 12th century the Roman Catholic Church took it upon themselves to slaughter the Arnoldists, the Cathars, the Waldensians, the Fraticelli, the Husites the Beguines, and the Lollardists. Following the Reformation the Catholic Church declared war on Protestants, we were denounced as heretics and subject to persecution by the inquisition. The Roman Catholic Church's abject hatred of bible believing Christians caused eruptions of sectarian hatred such as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 where up to 30,000 Protestants were slaughtered.

Oddly enough, 30,000 is the same number of Protestants that were persecuted in Catholic Spain between 1936 and 1975. Even though the Spanish Bill of Rights granted freedom of private worship, Protestants suffered legal discrimination and were not allowed to hold worship service in buildings which had exterior signs stating that it was a house of worship.

Mr. Pope's Take on Judgement and The Great Commission

"I want you to Shut Up!"

I've said in the past that while I'm inspired by good teachers, I am also inspired by bad teachers. I made myself an expert on First World War bombing tactics by a history professor who claimed that there were no heavy bombers used in the First World War. I studied the US Constitution night and day for weeks thanks to an English Professor who told me it was illegal to mention God in her classroom. Yet another history professor told me that Neville Chamberlain was right and that the Byzantine Empire had no bearing on the development of the west. Needless to say my term paper was on the failures of Neville Chamberlain and my future college plans included a major in Byzantine studies at the University at Buffalo. 

Now we have Mr. Pope re-writing the Great Commission.

First of all, he did this in a homily, which is different than a sermon. A homily is a "preaching event" that is informal, scriptures are used in a laid back kind of way. It's an attempt to inject a bit of scripture and dogma into the congregant's daily lives. A sermon on the other hand is a lesson in theology, a deep dive into the Word of God, and a plea to live our lives as Christ demands. Or, to be quicker and clearer, Joel Osteen gives Homilies, John MacArthur gives sermons. In my experience being raised in the Roman Catholic church and saved from that man centered institution by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; a homily feeds the goats and starves the sheep. A sermon feeds the sheep and chases off the goats.

Let's look at what Mr. Pope laid down in his homily.

Oops, I forgot Him again!

Giddy with the excitement of being the first Bishop of Rome to address a joint meeting of congress. Mr. Pope spoke on a good number of things, one of which was immigration.

When considering his stances on immigration, keep in mind that Mr. Pope is from a country that gladly received 5,000 Nazi war criminals, and now lives in a country that only allows immigration by royal appointment only, and that appointment can only come from the King of the Vatican, who turns out to be Mr. Pope himself. (Which explains why there's only 850 citizens of King Pope's country, and that King Pope's country has the highest GDP of any country on earth) And, surprise of surprises, there's no record of King Pope's country, the Vatican, accepting a single solitary muslim refugee. Then again, when did any pope ever chose to lead by example?

Again he spoke at length of social justice, climate change, the environment, abolishing the death penalty, abortion, limiting technology, political dialoging, weapons sales, families, children, and what he called the "harnessing of the spirit of enterprise" which is his way of saying socialism. He spoke of the US Civil War, the First World War, the Second World War, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and Moses. But the loudest thing I heard is what he didn't say

He Probably Just Forgot

Having read the transcript of his speech (sermonette?) at the White House I can see that Mr. Pope covered a lot. He spoke of immigrants, families, a "tolerant and inclusive" society, religious liberty, air pollution, climate change, Martin Luther King, and social justice.

The one thing that the Vicar of Christ forgot to mention: Jesus. Not one peep. God was mentioned twice, once was when he mentioned "the blessings of peace and prosperity which God wills for all his children" (Can someone supply me with the bible verse for that?) and the other time was "God Bless America"

But the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, and the Servant of the Servants of God never mentioned Jesus once. However Obama mentioned Jesus, peripherally. Go figure

Ecumenical Emergent Monday: The Purpose Driven Pope

The World Meeting of Families is a week-long international event of prayer, catechesis, and celebration that draws participants from around the globe. It seeks to strengthen the bonds between families and to witness to the crucial importance of marriage and the family to all of society.

I had to look up what a catechesis is, it turns out that when you remove all the extra syllables organized religions like to inject into a concept you find that a catechesis is training on a catechism, and a catechism is a tutorial of beliefs of a church written in Q&A form. Since the World Meeting of Families is a Roman Catholic organization, it is probably safe to say that the catechesis will not be based on the 95 Thesis. No, the Roman Catholic catechism is a summary of the official teachings of Catholic beliefs including creeds, sacraments, commandments, and prayers and not written in Q&A form, more in the form of a series of commandments.

And Rick Warren is going to be in the thick of it. Appearing live with Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley at 10:30 Am on September 25th, Rick Warren will be giving a keynote address  "The Joy of the Gospel of Life"

So what's a nice protestant minister doing at an all catholic get-together? Could it be making Pope Puppets? Bowling with the Bishops? Maybe the Swing with the Sisters dance party? Having gone to a strict Catholic school, that last one sounds explicitly terrifying, and yes, these are all real events planned for the World Meeting of Families. Each event has supporting references from the Roman Catholic catechism, not the bible. Surprised? Don't be.

Basing Dogma on a Lie

Here's a problem that should have most popefans heads spinning - what is going to happen when Mr. Pope bases his New World Order on a bald faced lie?

According to Catholic Online, Mr. Pope plans to publish an encyclical on the horrors of Global Warming. An Encyclical is a letter written by the pope on whatever is important to the self proclaimed governor of the world. The encyclical is second in importance only to the highest ranking document used by popes, the Apostolic Constitution. Since this communication comes from the pope, the contests are officially Catholic doctrine upon its publication, regardless if he's announcing a new inquisition or making public his grocery list.

Mr. Pope is fired up on Global Warming. so fired up he plans to make the battle Catholic Doctrine. On December 11, 2014 Mr. Pope in a message to the UN Convention on Climate Change said the following:

The effective struggle against global warming will only be possible with a responsible collective answer, that goes beyond particular interests and behavior and is developed free of political and economic pressures … On climate change, there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical imperative to act … The establishment of an international climate change treaty is a grave ethical and moral responsibility.

Unfortunately for Mr. Pope and popefans around the world, Global Warming Is All A Lie.  The London Telegraph has displayed that Global Warming is not just a myth but a scam. Temperature reading from weather stations  around the globe have been "adjusted" up by a full degree  to make it look like Global warming really exists. In the business world people would go to jail for fudging the numbers like this. And the size of the adjustment has been called "breathtaking" - the NOAA has increased the data by a whopping 35%.

So the pope is right, global warming is man made... or better stated, man made-up.

The Pope Advocates Violence

Mr. Pope has done it again. As the worlds best example for the necessity of the reformation, Mr. Pope regularly opens his mouth and stuffs it full of gold shod foot. His unending unbiblical gaffes have Vatican spinmeisters working over time to retell what he actually said into something that doesn't sound so wrong. This time they're really earning their pay.

On his trip to the Philippines Mr. Pope had to open his mouth about the slaughter in Paris recently conducted by the Religion of Peace on the staff of Charlie Hebdo. Rather than point out the sinfulness of the murderers actions, Mr. Pope actually defended them:

"If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others... there are so many people who speak badly about religion or other religions who make fun of them... who make a game of the religions of others. They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother." -Pope Francis. 

Papal Power Grab

This is the Triregnum, the papal tiara, symbol of the office of the papacy. This understated little beauty is encrusted with gold, silver, pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other rare and valuable gemstones and valued at a minimum of $10,000 a sum of which can provide 77,000 meals for the needy. According to the Vatican this symbol of the papacy is three crowns symbolizing the three powers of the pope: Father of Kings, Governor of the World, Vicar of Christ. 

Of course the power the pope wields is the power that the world gives him, or what he is able to grab for himself. There's no biblical references or requirement for a vicar of Christ, there's no election for Governor of the World, and the whole Father of Kings thing, well that's possible considering the sexual excesses of past popes. However the bible says the requirements of a an overseer of a church or denomination are: 

1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (1 Timothy 3:1-4)

That's really about all the bible states for a leader of a church, and the Pope household falls a bit short of wife and children to be considered a biblically compliant overseer. The office of the pope is primarily concerned with their own trinity: Power, Money, and Getting More of Both.  And it's becoming obvious that the Vatican has figured out how to reclaim it's past glory. 

The Pope Gets His Theology From Cartoons

Happy To Be A Catholic Dog

I'm glad I visited Rome when I did, back in the late 70's. Not because it was a wonderful time, for those of us in the military it wasn't all that wonderful, but because it wasn't so weird in Rome back then.

Mr. Pope, who really isn't a James Bond villain, just made one of the most nonsensical, unbiblical, pronouncements since he began his attack on the bible in March 2013. 

"One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures." - Mr. Pope

Before discussing Mr. Pope's statement, let's look at the bible verses that he based his statement on: 

Mr. Pope: Evolution is Creation, Littering Is Sin

Pope Francis continues to stretch the limits of credibility by coming out of the closet and announcing his faith in Evolution and the Big Bang theory. Personally I expected him to back up the big bang theory because the Big Bang Theory is a Jesuit plot, but to throw creation under the bus for an unproven and fraud ridden hypothesis like evolution is ridiculous, But for the current Mr. Pope, this is just par for the course. What Mr. Pope doesn't realize is that while atheists denounce miracles and anything miraculous, they also believe lizards turn into dogs, mice turn into horses, and salamanders turn into cows which turn into whales, all without any proof what so ever.

“God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life... Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.” - Mr. Pope October 28, 2014

It's quite clear that Mr. Pope does not believe in the bible, which says

God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25)

If you read carefully you may be shocked to discover that it does NOT say "God created a barren rock and things just appeared without cause" it, amazingly, says something completely different. But as I've said before, this is not the first time Mr. Pope has turned his back on the word of God. My suspicion is that Mr. Pope hasn't read the bible in a very long time, and finds it more important to glorify unbelievers than to Glorify God.

He follows up his statements by saying that it is a "grave sin against God the creator" to harm the environment. Is that a worse sin than harming children Mr. Pope?

Joel Osteen Meets With Pope - A Spiritual Wolf Pack Is Forming

The Christian blogosphere is abuzz with the fact that Pope Carver Francis met with Joel Osteen and other protestant ministers last Thursday, but why are people so surprised? Joel Osteen has proven over and over again that he doesn't understand the bible, and so has the pope. Besides the Pope and the pope of prosperity, the ecumenical meeting included Sen. Michael Lee representing the Mormon church, Tim Timmons, a pastor and author based in Newport Beach, Calif., and Gayle D. Beebe, president of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"Joel Osteen has joined the rank of all other popular ministries in bowing his knee to the anti-Christ system, and those that blindly follow his leadership will be the first ones in line with their hand out to be marked by the beast. Any Protestant ministry that links up with the pope and Catholicism is betraying the sacrifice of millions of faithful Christians that have died at the hands of this brutal, dictatorial and oppressive religion that has never represented the Church of the Living God as outlined in New Testament teaching." - Pastor Mark Herridge Sr. of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Livingston, Texas to Christian News Network.

Pope Francis: The Church Is A Woman

Today the pope let us know that the church is a woman. Obviously he hasn't read "A Woman Rides The Beast"




Thanks to The Berean Call

The Pope To Teach The World Idolatry

Pope Francis intends to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 13, 2013. I'm not sure if anyone told the Pope but the world is not his to consecrate. "Consecration" is used in the Catholic Church as the setting apart for the service of God of both persons and objects. Now God did make the world (and the universe it's in) for his own purpose, how glad God must be to see that Pope Elliot Carver Francis agrees with him.

Unfortunately Pope Francis is not consecrating the world to God, he's consecrating the world to the carved image of a dead woman.

Pope Pushes Unchristian Values, Calls Christianity "Nonsense"

I didn't say Satanic in the headline, instead I said Unchristian, but I will say "Satanic" here. Because he did, and he is. 

In a recent interview with an Italian atheist reporter Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Frank came up with even more outrageous claims, one of which is this when asked by Scalfari if the pope was going to try to convert him:

"Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense."

For those of you unfamiliar with the word, proselytism means 'religious conversion'. Just for fun, let's compare what the self proclaimed "infallible" vicar of Christ said to an atheist reporter with what our true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said to his disciples: 

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is where the eleven faithful disciples became the eleven Apostles. (Disciples means "followers", Apostles means "People who were sent to do something") Jesus commanded them, and us, to convert all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. However pope Frank says "That's nonsense."