Yesterday's news of the resignation of pope Benedict XVI at the end of this month came as a complete surprise to virtually everyone - myself included. There is hardly any great tradition of papal resignations. - indeed, the last time a pope resigned was nearly 600 years ago.
At one level, I can only sympathise with this increasingly frail old man, only two months short of his 85th birthday, and cannot blame hime for deciding that he ought to step down as doesn't have the strength to cope with the demands of his job. However, it is another matter when one looks at the nature of that job and how he has carried out his task. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and was taught that in the 16th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel, when the Lord Jesus said, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church" that he was consecrating Peter as thr first pope - inaugurating a line that has continued ever since.
When I was 16 years old, God wonderfully saved me through Sovereign grace. It took a further three years before I totally understood the very substantial differences between true, Biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Having unquestionably accepted Roman Catholicism in my childhood, there is a lot of unlearning for anyone leaving the chuch of Rome to do. Later, having an enquiring mind, I developed a desire to find out how Roman Catholicism had started to deviate from Apostolic Christianity, which led me to study church history - a subject which still fascinates me. Consquently, only after I had left the Roman Catholic Church did I learn about the scandaolous lives of some of the popes. Reading the lives of most of the men who held office between 882 and 1046 is an horrific experience - Google Sergius III, Benedict IX or John XII if you don't believe me. The latter was reputed to have drunk the health of the devil, invoked the names of pagan gods while gambling at cards and to have died of a fit of apoplexy aged only 27 or 28 in bed with a married woman.
The Roman Catholic defence of this sordid period in ths history of the papacy - that it must be of divine origin to have survived he pontificates of such unsuitable individuals, is hardly convincing. The bottom line is that even the reform of the papacy under Gregory VII in 1073 did not address the biggest problem of Roman Catholicism - it preaches another gospel. Sadly, Benedict has only carried on this false teaching. While rightly oppising homosexuality and abortion, he has not moved the theology of his church towards the great Evangelical truths which his predecessors so roundly rejected at the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Consequently, the millions of Roman Catholics around the world remain in darkness. In all my years as a Roman Catholic, I was never told by why Jesus went to the cross. It was never explained to me that his death was sufficient to pay for my sins, and that no other sacrifice was necessary. Indeed, I was not told that I was a hell-deserving sinner. By the standards of this world, I was a reasonably "good" person, and as a child, a most zealous Catholic. I never heard from any Roman Catholic priest what I needed to hear - a sermon on Romans 3:23 that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
I am so thankful that God mercifully put me in touch with Christians while I was at boarding school, and through them I heard the great truth which "shall set you free." A true Christian can be assured of his salvation, as it rests on the finished work of Christ A Roman Catholic cannot. They can only hope. In his book Roman Catholicism, Loraine Boettner narrates the account of the last hours of pope Pius XII in 1958, and how an article written by his personal physician, Dr Galeazzi-Lisi, was suppressed by the Italian media, as it mentioned the dying pope's "fear and insecurity for the future." All the ritual and pomp of the papal office could no bring peace with God to this man in his dying hours, even though he claimed to be Christ's vicar on earth.
This morning, my Bible reading was the first three chapters of Paul's epistle to the Galatians. How appropriate for this period when Rome is in the spotlight to read, "If any man preach another gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Yes, sadly, even this frail old man in his mid-80s. He has presided over a false church and preached a false gospel. However, while he lives, there is hope - hope that in his retirment years he may see the emptiness of the ritual of Roman Catholicism and turn to Christ alone for salvation, and that he may die the death of the righteous, rather than face eternity with the same fears as his predecessor 55 years ago.
At one level, I can only sympathise with this increasingly frail old man, only two months short of his 85th birthday, and cannot blame hime for deciding that he ought to step down as doesn't have the strength to cope with the demands of his job. However, it is another matter when one looks at the nature of that job and how he has carried out his task. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and was taught that in the 16th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel, when the Lord Jesus said, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church" that he was consecrating Peter as thr first pope - inaugurating a line that has continued ever since.
When I was 16 years old, God wonderfully saved me through Sovereign grace. It took a further three years before I totally understood the very substantial differences between true, Biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Having unquestionably accepted Roman Catholicism in my childhood, there is a lot of unlearning for anyone leaving the chuch of Rome to do. Later, having an enquiring mind, I developed a desire to find out how Roman Catholicism had started to deviate from Apostolic Christianity, which led me to study church history - a subject which still fascinates me. Consquently, only after I had left the Roman Catholic Church did I learn about the scandaolous lives of some of the popes. Reading the lives of most of the men who held office between 882 and 1046 is an horrific experience - Google Sergius III, Benedict IX or John XII if you don't believe me. The latter was reputed to have drunk the health of the devil, invoked the names of pagan gods while gambling at cards and to have died of a fit of apoplexy aged only 27 or 28 in bed with a married woman.
The Roman Catholic defence of this sordid period in ths history of the papacy - that it must be of divine origin to have survived he pontificates of such unsuitable individuals, is hardly convincing. The bottom line is that even the reform of the papacy under Gregory VII in 1073 did not address the biggest problem of Roman Catholicism - it preaches another gospel. Sadly, Benedict has only carried on this false teaching. While rightly oppising homosexuality and abortion, he has not moved the theology of his church towards the great Evangelical truths which his predecessors so roundly rejected at the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Consequently, the millions of Roman Catholics around the world remain in darkness. In all my years as a Roman Catholic, I was never told by why Jesus went to the cross. It was never explained to me that his death was sufficient to pay for my sins, and that no other sacrifice was necessary. Indeed, I was not told that I was a hell-deserving sinner. By the standards of this world, I was a reasonably "good" person, and as a child, a most zealous Catholic. I never heard from any Roman Catholic priest what I needed to hear - a sermon on Romans 3:23 that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
I am so thankful that God mercifully put me in touch with Christians while I was at boarding school, and through them I heard the great truth which "shall set you free." A true Christian can be assured of his salvation, as it rests on the finished work of Christ A Roman Catholic cannot. They can only hope. In his book Roman Catholicism, Loraine Boettner narrates the account of the last hours of pope Pius XII in 1958, and how an article written by his personal physician, Dr Galeazzi-Lisi, was suppressed by the Italian media, as it mentioned the dying pope's "fear and insecurity for the future." All the ritual and pomp of the papal office could no bring peace with God to this man in his dying hours, even though he claimed to be Christ's vicar on earth.
This morning, my Bible reading was the first three chapters of Paul's epistle to the Galatians. How appropriate for this period when Rome is in the spotlight to read, "If any man preach another gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Yes, sadly, even this frail old man in his mid-80s. He has presided over a false church and preached a false gospel. However, while he lives, there is hope - hope that in his retirment years he may see the emptiness of the ritual of Roman Catholicism and turn to Christ alone for salvation, and that he may die the death of the righteous, rather than face eternity with the same fears as his predecessor 55 years ago.