WAS THERE A PROTESTANT REFORMATION?
According to the Council of Trent (1546-1563), the Roman
Catholic Church officially decrees…
"If anyone says that after
the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the
debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no
debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in
purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema."
Acts 10:43 states, "To
him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in
him shall receive remission of sins."
"If any one saith, that justifying faith is nothing
else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake;
or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified: let him be
anathema."
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not
of works, lest any man should boast."
Has the Roman Catholic system changed doctrinally due to
Vatican II (1962-1965)?
"This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable
faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our
brothers who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after
their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea,
of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent."
Hebrews 1:3 declares, "Who
being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
"The Church…teaches and commands that the usage of
indulgences ¾ a usage most beneficial
to Christians and approved by the authority of the Sacred Councils ¾ should be kept in the Church; and it condemns with
anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not
have the power to grant them."
Titus 3:5 announces, "Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."
"From the very earliest days of the Church there has
been a tradition whereby images of our Lord, its holy Mother, and of saints are
displayed in churches for the veneration of the faithful. …The practice of placing sacred images in
churches so that they be venerated by the faithful is to be maintained."
Exodus 20:4 reads, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth."
What does Pope John Paul II believe about salvation?
"Man is justified by works and not by faith alone"
(Los Angeles Times, March 8, 1983).
Romans 3:28 "Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Does the more recent 'Catechism of the Catholic Church'
(1994) re-interpret their past doctrines?
"Baptism… erases original sin" (405).
1 Corinthians 1:17 reveals, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect."
"The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation
is particularly manifest in infant Baptism.
The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of
becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after
birth" (1250).
John 1:12 teaches, "But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name."
"The signs of bread and wine become, in a way
surpassing understanding, the Body of Blood of Christ" (1333). "The Mass is at the same time, and
inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated…"
(1382).
Hebrews 10:12 tells us, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for
ever, sat down on the right hand of God."
"…justification in conferred in Baptism" (1992).
Romans 4:5 reminds us, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
"This treasury includes as well the prayers and good
works of the Blessed Virgin Mary… In the treasury, too, are the prayers and
good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of
Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the
mission the Father entrusted to them.
In this way they attained their own salvation and at the same time
cooperated in saving their brothers in unity of the Mystical Body" (1475-1477).
1 Timothy 2:5-6 states, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom
for all, to be testified in due time."
PROTESTANTS OF THE PAST
The 39 Articles of the Church of England - 1563 A.D.
Article 19 - "As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria,
and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred; not only in
their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of faith."
Article 22 - "The Romish Doctrine concerning
Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics,
and also Invocation of Saints, is a worthless thing, vainly invented, and
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of
God."
Article 28 - "Transubstantiation… can not be proved
by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth
the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions."
Article 31 - "Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in
the which it was commonly said that the priest did offer Christ for the living
and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and
dangerous deceits."
(Late Baptist Minister & Founder of Gordon Divinity School, now
Gordon-Conwell Seminary)
"I speak rather of the Book than of any human books
and avow my conviction that the Papal Man of Sin was accurately photographed on
the camera of prophecy thousands of years ago; that no detective searching for
him today would need any other description of him than that found on the pages
of the Bible. Taking these photographs
of Daniel and John and Paul and searching the world upside down for their
originals, I am confident that this same detective would stop at the Vatican,
and after gazing a few moments at the Pontiff… he would lay his hand on him and
say 'you are wanted in the court of the Most High to answer to the indictment
of certain souls beneath the altar who were slain for the Word of God and for
the testimony which they bore and who are crying 'How long, O Lord holy and
true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the
earth.' My brethren, let us search the
Scriptures anew and be sure that they do not require it of us before we silence
our testimony against the Man of Rome as Antichrist." (Prophetic Studies of the International
Prophetic Conference, p. 71, 1886)
Chapter 26, article 4 - "…neither can the Pope of
Rome, in any sense, be head thereof, but is no other than Antichrist, that man
of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against
Christ, and all that is called God: whom the Lord shall destroy with the
brightness of His coming."
"Roman Antichrist invites us to himself, under the
pretense of unity, and pronounces all to be schismatics who do not spontaneously
summit to be harnessed to the yoke of his tyranny… But seeing it is impossible
to adhere to him without denying Christ, he who turns aside from him makes no
departure from the Church, but discriminates between the true Church and a
false and adulterous church."
(From the tract titled, "Response
to the Letter of Pope Paul III")
"Doest thou hear this, O Pope! Not the most holy, but the most sinful? Would that God would hurl thy chair headlong
from heaven, and cast it down into the abyss of hell! Who gave you the power to exalt yourself above God?…you dare to
cancel his command, laying it down in your heretical, antichristian decretals,
that you have power to do so; and through your mouth and your pen Satan lies as
he never lied before… O Lord Christ!
Look down upon this, let thy day of judgment come and destroy the
Devil's lair at Rome. Behold him of
whom St. Paul spoke (2 Thess. 2:3,4), that he should exalt himself about thee,
and sit in thy Church, showing himself as God ¾ the man
of sin and the child of damnation…. The
Pope treads God's commandments under foot, and exalts his own: if this is not Antichrist, I do not know what
is."
(Addresses to the
German Nobility)
Chapter 25, article 6 ¾
"There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can
the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that
man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against all
that is called God."
(Founder of Reformed Church in Scotland)
"O Papists!
Where shall you hide from the presence of the Lord? You have perverted His law; you have taken
away His ordinances; you have placed up your own statutes instead of His. Woe and damnation await you!" (From the tract titled "A Vindication of the Doctrine that the
Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry," 1550)
(Baptist Minister and England's "Prince of Preachers")
"In these times, when liberality is the only popular
virtue, and zeal for truth the cardinal sin, it is worth much to let the public
know assuredly that Popery is not the angel of light it professes to be… to the
rightminded, to see Romanism is to abhor it.
It is a system which is as dangerous to human society, as it is hostile
to true religion… The sooner we let certain archbishops and cardinals know that
we are aware of their designs, and will in nothing cooperate with them, the
better for us and our country… 'No peace with Rome' is the motto of reason as
well as of true religion." (The Sword and Trowel, January 1873)
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther's
day, and by God's grace we shall have it, if we trust in Him and publish His
truth. The cry is 'overturn, overturn,
overturn,' till He shall come whose right is!
Reader are you doing service in the Lord's war, which He is now
waging? You know the errors of Rome,
are you doing anything to withstand them?" (The Sword and the Trowel, March
1866)
"Essence
of lies, and quintessence of blasphemy, as the religion of Rome is, it
nevertheless fascinates a certain order of Protestants, of whom we fear it may
be truly said that they have received a strong delusion to believe a lie, that
they may be damned. Seeing that it is
so, it becomes all who would preserve their fellow - immortals from destruction
to be plain and earnest in their warnings.
Not in a party-spirit, but for truth's sake, our Protestantism must
protest perpetually." (The
Sword and the Trowel, January,
1873)
(14th Century English Reformer)
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only source of
true religion. The Pope is Antichrist,
the proud worldly priest of Rome, and the most cursed of clippers and
purse-carvers." (Miller's Church History, p. 641)
PROTESTANTS OF TODAY?
(Popular Evangelical writer and Rector Emeritus of All Souls Anglican
Church)
"The visible unity of all professing Christians
should be our goal…and evangelicals should join others in the Church of England
in working towards full communion with the Roman Catholic Church." (To the 1977 National Evangelical
Anglican Congress at Nottingham.)
(Popular Evangelical writer and Ordained Anglican Clergyman)
"The document urged that Protestant evangelicals and
believing Roman Catholics act together as far as possible in both in the
societal and the evangelistic tasks of the Christian mission, which is in truth
the mission of the Triune God, carried out through God's people." (From the book "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" p. 149)
"Catholics are among the most loyal and virile
brothers that evangelicals can find these days." (Christianity Today,
July 15, 1985)
(Southern Baptist Evangelist & Chairman
Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Gordon-Conwell Seminary)
King: What
do you think of the other [churches]…like Mormonism? Catholicism? Other faiths
within the Christian concept?
Graham: Oh, I think I have a wonderful fellowship
with all of them. For example…
King: You're comfortable with Salt Lake City? You're comfortable with the Vatican?
Graham: I am very comfortable with the Vatican. I have been to see the Pope several
times. In fact, the night ¾ the day that he was inaugurated, made Pope, I was
preaching in his cathedral in Krakow. I
was his guest… [and] when he was over here… in Columbia, South Carolina… he invited
me on the platform to speak with him. I
would give one talk, and he would give the other…
King: You like this Pope?
Graham: I like him very much… He and I agree on
almost everything.
King: Are you… are you comfortable with Judaism?
Graham: Very comfortable… In New York, they have had
me to the Rabbinical Council to… talk with them and Rabbi Tannenbaum, who was a
great friend… he gave me more advice and more counsel, and I depended on him
constantly, theologically and spiritually and in every way…
King: Mr. Graham, if you had 30 seconds during the
halftime at the Super Bowl, what would you tell the audience?"
Graham: I would tell them to… think about another
game… the game of life, and to be sure they're on God's side, that God loves
them and God is interested in them, and they can pray to God, and He'll answer
their prayers."
(Interview with Larry King, Jan., 21, 1997)
(Baptist Minister and Founder of the Moral Majority)
Regarding Pope John Paul II, "The commitment to the
dignity of human life and his strong opposition to tyranny and bigotry provides
a shining light for the people of our generation." (October 2, 1987 promotional letter to
Christian Bookstores for the film "The Planet Is Alive"; Bold Truth Press, November 5, 1993)
(President of the pentecostal, charismatic Trinity Broadcasting
Network)
"I have come to the conviction that Martin Luther
made a mistake. He should have never
left the Roman Catholic Church. …I am
eradicating the word 'Protestant' out of my vocabulary. I am not protesting anything. It is time for Catholics and non-Catholics
to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord." ("Praise the Lord" program, October
17,1989)
(Vineyard Fellowship charismatic and Founder of Promise Keepers)
"We have have a plan… Baptists… Lutherans… Roman
Catholics… we've been divided… but now we're being reunited…! Nobody can go out of here without the same
[PK-devised] plan… every man connected to a church; every church connected to
each other…! (The Berean Call, May 1998)
(Evangelist and Host of Prophecy Program)
"I finished the new Catholic Catechism… there are
2,850 points and I love much of what I've read in there… I'm glad that the Pope
is preaching these [the 5 major tenets of historic fundamentalism] and its all
in the Catechism… but we've not been willing to recognize our Catholic brethren
and sisters because of prejudice."
(The Berean Call, April, 1997)
(Former ordained Southern Baptist Minister and currently President of
the charismatic Christian Broadcasting Network)
"Pope
John Paul II stands like a rock…in his clear enunciation of the foundational
principles of the Christian faith."
(The Berean Call, May 1998)
(Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and ordained minister of the Reformed
Church in America)
"It is time for Protestants to go to the shepherd
(Pope) and say, 'What do we have to do to come home'?" (Los
Angeles Herald Examiner, September 19, 1987)
(Southern Baptist & Head of Prison Fellowship Ministries)
"But at root, those who are called of God, whether
Catholic or Protestant, are part of the same Body. What they share is a belief in the basics: the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, His
bodily resurrection, His imminent return, and the authority of His infallible
Word. They also share the same mission:
presenting Christ as Savior and Lord to a needy world. Those who hold to these truths and act on
this commission are evangelical Christians… It's high time that all of us who
are Christians come together regardless of the difference of our confessions
and our traditions and make common cause to bring Christian values to bear in
our society. When the barbarians are
scaling the walls, there is no time for petty quarreling in the camp… If you
are an orthodox Catholic, you may find you are truly part of the evangelical
camp." (Foreword of the book Evangelical Catholics)
(Founder of Campus Crusade International)
"We do not attack the Roman Catholic Church. We believe that God is doing a mighty work
in it and will no doubt use millions of Roman Catholics to evangelize the
world." (Australian Beacon, May 1980)
(Southern Baptist Evangelist)
"I still have some personal problems in this matter
of infant baptism, but, all of my children, with the exception of the youngest,
were baptized as infants… I do believe that something happens at the baptism of
an infant. We cannot fully understand
the mysteries of God, but I believe a miracle can happen in these children so
that they are regenerated, that is, made Christian, through infant
baptism." (Lutheran Standard, Oct. 10, 1961)
Billy Graham
(Southern Baptist Evangelist)
"I used to believe that pagans in far-off countries
were lost ¾ were going to hell ¾ if they did not hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached
to them. I no longer believe that… I
believe that there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God - through
nature, for instance - and plenty of other opportunities therefore, of saying
'yes' to God. I am far more tolerant of
other kinds of Christians than I once was.
My contact with Catholic, Lutheran and other leaders ¾ people far removed from my own Southern Baptist tradition
¾ has helped me, hopefully to
move in the right direction. I've found
my beliefs are essentially the same as those of Orthodox Roman Catholics… We
only differ on some matters of later church traditions." (McCall's
Magazine, January 1978)
WHO CHANGED? ROME or
PROTESTANTS?
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that
trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If
any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed.
1 Timothy 6:20-21
O Timothy, keep that which is
committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of
science falsely so called: Which some
professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
2 Timothy 2:15-18
Study to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. But shun profane and vain
babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of
whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who
concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already;
and overthrow the faith of some.
2 John 9-11
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not
into your house, neither bid him God speed:
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Hebrews 13:12-13
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without
the camp, bearing his reproach.
Revelation 18:4-5
And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.