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The Vicar of Christ? ~ ~ The Vicar of Christ? ~ As the news media provides it is cruel and ruthless – filled coverage of the Pope, one with the horrors of the “Holy major issue recurs – the moral Inquisition” and “holy wars” and dilemma. What about the gay “holy crusades”. In celebrating community? What about the birth of our Constitution, we abortion for Catholics? What never hear mentioned that this about promiscuous behavior of country was founded largely out many Catholics? The credibility of a desire to escape religious gap between the Pope’s persecution of Europe. It was teachings and the lifestyle of so vivid in the minds of the many American Catholics writers of the Constitution. widens. They desired to create a new government with human rights, We do not need the media or where religious bodies could the Pope to clarify the morals not kill and persecute those taught in the Bible. What the who shared a different faith. media does not address is The separation of church and whether the Pope is indeed the state required by our vicegerent of Christ on earth. Constitution clearly was a No eyebrow is raised on this strong protest to the world of weightier matter. Protestants that time against the marriage do not protest the Pope’s of church and state everywhere claims to be the vicar of Christ. rampant in Europe, and against The Pope, a nice kindly man the suppression of the rights speaking good and noble and liberty of humankind in the sentiments seems to be all that name of Christ. Nor is it matters. Is this Pope, and the mentioned that World War II, countless ones before him, which witnessed the death of really successors of the Apostle some 50,000,000 people was Peter? This question is far precipitated by Germany, which more weighty. had signed a Concordat with the Vatican in 1933. Would the What about the history of the vicar of Christ have entered into Catholic Church? No one such a Concordat? Did not wishes to dwell on the fact that Jesus teach that he had come to “save men’s lives and not to destroy them”? (Luke 9: 55) Many may admit the history of the Catholic Church is A simple test, one that requires somewhat dark and oppressive. no profound theology, is the They say, “Yes, but that was all test of love. Jesus said, “By in the past. The present this all men will know that you leaders of the church would not are my disciples, if you have do as their fathers did”. This love for one another.” (John was the argument presented to 13: 35) Applying this simple Jesus by the Scribes and test to the history of the Papal Pharisees. They said, “If we reign would leave one had lived in the days of our questioning whose disciples fathers, we would not have they were. taken part with them in shedding the blood of the Some may think if unfair to prophets.” (Matthew 23: 30) bring up the past. And it would They were taken aback by be if the purpose were simply to Jesus’ answer – “Thus you find fault with another religion witness against yourselves, that other than our own. But the you are sons of those who question must be raised in the murdered the prophets. Fill up, context of this question – “Is the then the measure of your Pope the vicar of Christ?” If he fathers.” (Matthew 23: 31) is the vicar of Christ, then there One thing we must not forget in must be the historic evidence of all of this. God does not take purity, love, and holiness that a lightly the persecution of true true representative of Christ followers of Christ. The would have as his credentials. scriptures are clear: “God It would be easy to understand deems it just to repay with if history showed an occasional affliction those who afflict you slip from Christian practice. We [true followers of Christ].” (2 could, with charity, say this was Thessalonians 1: 6) Hence, it the occasional fall of an is imperative that we be not the otherwise saintly performance. “children” of those who But when history shows cruel persecuted the saints. and dark oppression as the rule rather than the exception, then For centuries, Protestants there is reason to suspect the taught Papacy was the “man of claim that the Pope is the vicar sin” or the “anti-Christ” of or deputy of Christ. Scripture. This view was so widely accepted that two Jesuits, Ribera of Salamanca, Spain, and Bellarmine of Rome, put forth the view that the “man of sin” was in fact a literal man For more information go to www.Blessedbible.com who would emerge at the end of the age. This latter view divided Protestantism, causing many to believe in a literal “man of sin” and those who still believed the Papacy to be. One of the finest studies on this timely subject is Chapter 9, “The Man of Sin – Anti-Christ” in the book The Time is at Hand. Send for your free copy. Click REPLY, and send an e-mail asking for the book, The Time Is at Hand. Include the name of this publication, your name, and your mailing address. .
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