eavesdropping on Papal conversations...
The recent death of the Pope has stirred up quite a number of catholics to make pilgrimages to Rome to view the late John Paul II. Certainly, he was a towering figure in world history during his reign and will probably be remembered as one of the greatest Popes. All that aside, I was besided myself to hear Catholics, upon his death, declare with utmost certainty that Pope John Paul II was in heaven with Christ.
The reason why I was shocked to hear this is because it is doctrinally inconsistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to assert with certainty that that anybody has been blessed with the gift of perseverance or that one has even recieved the grace of God! The Council of Trent makes these assertions clear in several passges. For instances, Session 6, chapter 9 declares:
“But though it is necessary to believe that sins neither are remitted nor ever have been remitted except gratuitously by divine mercy for Christ’s sake, yet it must not be said that sins are forgiven or have been forgiven to anyone who boasts of his confidence and certainty of the remission of his sins…since no one can know with the certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God"
Chapter 12 of the same session declares: “No one, moreover, so long as he lives this mortal life, ought to regard to the sacred mystery of divine predestination, so far presume as to state with absolute certainty that he is among the number of the predestined…For except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God has chosen to Himself"
Canon 16 of Session 6 likewise declares: “if anyone says that he will for certain, with an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance even to the end, unless he shall have learned this by special revelation, let him be anathema"
These INFALLIBLE dogmatic statements by Rome and are what the Pope represents! Personally, I think this is an example of how Catholics are willing to jettison their doctrines at the whim of emotions. After all, lets face it: Catholics, even Cardinals will make statements that are not in accord with official Roman Catholic dogmas in order to offer psychological comfort to their faithful. Makes you wonder how important dogma and infallible councils really are...
The reason why I was shocked to hear this is because it is doctrinally inconsistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to assert with certainty that that anybody has been blessed with the gift of perseverance or that one has even recieved the grace of God! The Council of Trent makes these assertions clear in several passges. For instances, Session 6, chapter 9 declares:
“But though it is necessary to believe that sins neither are remitted nor ever have been remitted except gratuitously by divine mercy for Christ’s sake, yet it must not be said that sins are forgiven or have been forgiven to anyone who boasts of his confidence and certainty of the remission of his sins…since no one can know with the certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God"
Chapter 12 of the same session declares: “No one, moreover, so long as he lives this mortal life, ought to regard to the sacred mystery of divine predestination, so far presume as to state with absolute certainty that he is among the number of the predestined…For except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God has chosen to Himself"
Canon 16 of Session 6 likewise declares: “if anyone says that he will for certain, with an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance even to the end, unless he shall have learned this by special revelation, let him be anathema"
These INFALLIBLE dogmatic statements by Rome and are what the Pope represents! Personally, I think this is an example of how Catholics are willing to jettison their doctrines at the whim of emotions. After all, lets face it: Catholics, even Cardinals will make statements that are not in accord with official Roman Catholic dogmas in order to offer psychological comfort to their faithful. Makes you wonder how important dogma and infallible councils really are...
posted by prchdaword at 2:29 PM
2 Comments:
well, I think we have to keep in mind that many members of Protestant denominations do not know what it means to be Protestant. They have an "identity crisis" as it were. I don't know how much we can hold them responsible for not knowing the past and what brought them to where they are. Also, most of the denominations that tent to call the Pope "Christian" and "godly" are probably a bit on the liberal or moderate side of theology. Thus, I wouldn't say that they are being doctrinally inconsistent, since they probably don't hold to the doctrines of Sola Scriptura nor do they understand the significance of the doctrine of Sola Fide.
Not that I am making an excuse for these people, but I think there is more to it than simply accusing them of calling light dark. In fact, lets just come out and say it: They are probably in the dark. Thus, the matrix that they operate out of is not light, but darkness as well.
For the most part, it is not Protestants abandoning their beliefs that I am concerned about in this blog. After all, I think R.C. Sproul said it best that the most prevalent doctrine of justification in the world today is not justification by faith and works, or by faith alone; rather it is "justification by death." That all one must do to get to heaven is to die and be recieved in to the everlasting arms of God. We see this in our own culture. When someone dies, we always hear people say, "he or she is in a better place right now..." when they could have lived the most sinful life, or even lived a decent life yet not have accepted the Gospel.
That all Protestants should know why they are Protestants is a great point. However, since about 1600 Protestantism has been on the decline with the introduction of Arminianism. Calvinism was once the ruling theology of the Christian world. Slowly but surely, for whatever reasons - whether the doctrines were not maintained by pastors, taught affresh, or simply neglected and assumed on Christians - it has declined. May God, indeed, cause His Gospel to thunder in the world as it once did. Until then, most Christian do not care for the lable "Protestant" nor do they understand its significance in church history and in world history as the recovery and re-discovery of the true Gospel of God that was distorted by the Roman Catholic Church and her Popes. God help us.
you know what else is funny about all this? Many Roman Catholics are pushing for John Paul II to be declared a saint....
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