The primary thing every Protestant needs to understand is that the election of a new Pope is not good news and no he is not a humble person. The election of a Pope is the carrying on of a false understanding of both early Church History and the Bible's teaching. There is no one person who is "head" of the Church (c.f. Matthew 16:18... Not in Rome but in Context).
Yes, I understand Roman Catholics believe the Holy Spirit really is the vicar of Christ, Christ really is the head of the Church, etc. But have we not heard disturbing claims of the Papacy before?
I quote now from The Bull of Pope Boniface VIII, entitled Unum Sanctum, which can be found in many Catholic reference books:Not to mention Pope Pious IX's statement,
“We declare, affirm, define, and pronounce it to be necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” Cardinal Manning, certainly an authority, states that this decree is “infallible, and beyond all doubt, an act ex cathedra.”1
“I alone, despite my unworthiness, am the successor of the Apostles, the Vicar of Jesus Christ. I alone have the mission to guide and direct the Barque of Peter. I am the way, the truth, and the life. They who are with me are with the Church; they who are not with me are out of the Church. They are out of the way, the Truth, and the life. Let men well understand this, that they be not deceived or led astray by soidisant Catholics who desire and teach something quite different from what the head of the Church teaches.”2It seems, then, that the claims of the Papacy have not been, "I'm a leader under the influence and leadership of Christ through His Holy Spirit", but actually, "I am Christ on earth".
No where in Scripture do we find any such sentiment that there is the installment of a particular person with succession that is to be the visible head of the Church. It's just simply not there. There is no one who can take the place of Christ.
Let's take the first perspective of who Christ is. Christ is the High Priest of His Church. It would logically follow that anyone who would "take His place" or even be His "visible representative" that He would have to have the same qualifications to fulfill His role/function. Such would obviously be the case. And yet when we turn to the pages of the Book of Hebrews we find that there is only one Person holding the qualifications of a Melchizedekian High Priest:
For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.” (Hebrews 7:14–17 NAS95)Which Pope has God ever said this to? The only one according to book of Hebrews who can function as the High Priest, the Head of the Church, is Jesus Christ Himself and He does so permanently:
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER’”); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.The idea of having human priests was set aside "because of its weakness and uselessness for the Law made nothing perfect)". Thus the emphasis on the Pope as the vicar of Christ on earth is a weak and useless system of salvation. Why would Christ do this? The perfect Savior who saves perfectly would not replace Himself with a visible leader on earth who is weak. Christ's priesthood even from Heaven is the only effective way of Salvation. He "holds" His priesthood permanently. He never gives it away nor extends it to someone else. And THE Holy Father will not change His mind on who gets to be the Priest of His people. The one-time sacrifice and offering of Christ is enough to perfectly save forever those who draw near to God through Jesus Christ (c.f. Hebrews 10:10, 14).
The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:18–25 NAS95)
God saves no man who tries to draw near through the Pope.
We just saw from Hebrews 7:23 the problem of the former priest. They were imperfect and they could not continue to hold their office because they were prevented from continuing by death (like the Popes). Why would God ever take an imperfect system, replace it with Christ in a perfect system, just to then re-establish an imperfect system by establishing the Pope as the visible head on earth? That makes no sense.
Furthermore notice the Hebrews 7 qualifications of the Melchizedekian Priesthood:
“For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.” (Hebrews 7:26–28 NAS95)
Can any Pope honestly claim to be holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who is sinless? Hardly.
If you haven't picked up on another difference yet between the appointing of Christ and the appointing of men as priests you can definitely see it as this: the Law appointed men, the Father appointed Christ. The Father is done appointing anyone to the office of High Priest. It is the creation of law from men to appoint another man unto that position.
Secondly,
Who did Christ install as the one through whom He would vicariously function? If we first recognize that Scriptures give no preeminence to any man, we see who Christ installed as His Vicar. This becomes an issue of Advocacy.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1–2 NAS95)
The word "Advocate" here is a familiar word to some. This is the Greek word παράκλητος (Parakletos). The basic meaning would be "one who appears in another’s behalf, mediator, intercessor, helper".3
This becomes very interesting considering the fact that Christ calls the Holy Spirit another Parakletos. Notice,
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Parakletos, that He may be with you forever; “But the Parakletos, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:16, 26 NAS95, My Emphasis)
The connection that is clearly shown here is that Christ is the first Parakletos, the Holy Spirit will be another Parakletos that will be sent in the name of Christ. It's important to note, it's not "another of the same kind". He has the role of teaching and bringing to remembrance everything that Christ already spoke. No person could ever fulfill the roles the Son and Spirit have.
The advantage that Christ promised us we would receive when He left was not a sinful person. I couldn't even imagine the despair that would have brought the disciples to know that they were left with Peter as their comforter. Christ promised the Holy Spirit to be given to us (John 16:7). No, the Pope can't guide you into all truth. Only the Holy Spirit can, “guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13 NAS95)
Notes:
1). Journal of Biblical Apologetics: Volume 4 (Las Vegas, NV: Christian Scholar's Press, Inc., 2001), 29-31.
2). Ibid.
3). William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 766.
Your time is up, I am in charge now.
ReplyDeleteJesus that another one like him was coming, and he was not speaking of any ghost.
I will soon go public, and the earth will tremble.
I am The Parakletos