WEBVTT 00:04.760 --> 00:13.220 When Protestants protested, reconsidering the historic, reformed repudiation of 00:13.220 --> 00:13.860 Romanism. 00:15.340 --> 00:20.440 Brethren, let me share with you a summary of what will be found in a few moments in 00:20.440 --> 00:22.220 the body of this entire paper. 00:23.020 --> 00:28.520 A major change has occurred in the spirit and relationship of evangelicals with the 00:28.520 --> 00:29.900 Roman Catholic Church. 00:30.720 --> 00:35.880 Its dramatic nature appears more readily from a review of the historic Protestant 00:35.880 --> 00:41.680 antipathy against Romanism and modern Protestant appreciation for the Roman 00:41.680 --> 00:42.820 Catholic Church. 00:43.260 --> 00:49.940 This old antipathy crystallizes in a provocative statement generally held by 00:49.940 --> 00:55.840 earlier Protestants, which is that the Pope is the Antichrist. 00:55.840 --> 01:02.620 This is a statement with nuances and a rich exegetical and historical defense 01:02.620 --> 01:05.320 rarely understood or appreciated today. 01:06.260 --> 01:11.140 The fact that so many Protestant leaders have affirmed this for so long challenges 01:11.140 --> 01:13.600 us to re-examine our own position. 01:14.580 --> 01:19.460 A recent modern poll shows that the spirit of historic Protestants has not become 01:19.460 --> 01:20.940 altogether extinct. 01:20.940 --> 01:25.780 One's attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church may well be an accurate measure of 01:25.780 --> 01:29.580 how well the label Protestant really applies to him. 01:30.420 --> 01:35.920 As long as the Roman Catholic Church continues to oppose the distinctive 01:35.920 --> 01:42.480 Protestant and biblical doctrines of sola scriptura and sola fide, a fundamentally 01:42.480 --> 01:47.840 positive Protestant-Romanist relationship is ill-advised and quite impossible. 01:47.840 --> 01:53.040 Will the Protestant reader stand boldly against the Roman Catholic Church? 01:54.200 --> 01:57.560 And now, I'm pleased to present to you the body of this paper. 02:00.040 --> 02:02.180 The times, they are a-changing. 02:02.960 --> 02:08.800 So sang Bob Dylan amidst the 60s social revolution, and so may we say of recent 02:08.800 --> 02:12.920 trends within evangelicalism and its general attitude toward the Roman Catholic 02:12.920 --> 02:13.480 Church. 02:15.220 --> 02:20.540 Admittedly, when it comes to fallen human nature, nothing really changes. 02:21.180 --> 02:27.760 The preacher observed in the book of Ecclesiastes, that which has been is what 02:27.760 --> 02:28.360 will be. 02:29.240 --> 02:32.240 That which is done is what will be done. 02:32.760 --> 02:34.880 And there is nothing new under the sun. 02:35.480 --> 02:39.560 Is there anything of which it may be said, See, this is new. 02:40.400 --> 02:43.440 It has already been in ancient times before us. 02:44.040 --> 02:46.220 And another passage... 02:46.220 --> 02:50.560 Do not say, why were the former days better than these? 02:50.980 --> 02:54.480 For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. 02:55.060 --> 02:59.180 Ecclesiastes 1, 9 and 10 and Ecclesiastes 7, 10. 03:00.400 --> 03:06.500 Well, not just hippies have advocated licentiousness, nor just modern 03:06.500 --> 03:09.880 Protestants' friendliness toward the Roman Catholic Church. 03:10.660 --> 03:16.360 Still, there are seasons when the number and publicity of advocates increase. 03:17.640 --> 03:22.860 We are living in days when the spirit of ecumenical cooperation between the Roman 03:22.860 --> 03:29.500 Catholic Church and self-professed evangelicals, some even of a reformed 03:29.500 --> 03:31.220 identity, is growing. 03:31.220 --> 03:37.480 Obvious examples include the several Evangelicals and Catholics Together 03:37.480 --> 03:38.300 documents. 03:38.720 --> 03:41.840 There are now five of those as of this year. 03:43.340 --> 03:49.720 And these began to be produced in 1994 with the participation of Evangelical 03:49.720 --> 03:52.580 luminaries Chuck Colson and J.I. 03:52.640 --> 03:53.180 Packer. 03:54.100 --> 03:59.300 Another evidence of a warmness of Evangelicals toward the Roman Catholic 03:59.300 --> 04:05.240 Church in our day is prevalent praise for the late Pope John Paul II. 04:07.020 --> 04:14.200 Also, I've noticed quite a warm welcome given by some Evangelicals to Cardinal 04:14.200 --> 04:22.240 Joseph Ratzinger on his accession to the office of Pope, gaining the title Pope 04:22.240 --> 04:23.720 Benedict XVI. 04:25.340 --> 04:33.040 I'll give you one example of this positive attitude toward the Pope and the papacy. 04:33.040 --> 04:41.560 Billy Graham, for example, practically a Pope of Evangelicalism himself, 04:41.920 --> 04:46.800 has a long track record of strong support for the Roman Catholic Church and its 04:46.800 --> 04:47.400 Popes. 04:48.320 --> 04:54.300 He was interviewed by Larry King on April 2nd this year, just after John Paul II had 04:54.300 --> 04:54.840 died. 04:54.840 --> 04:59.360 And Graham responded to the question from Larry King. 04:59.600 --> 05:03.240 There is no question in your mind that he is with God now? 05:03.620 --> 05:06.040 And Billy Graham replied in these words. 05:06.640 --> 05:07.240 Oh, no. 05:08.040 --> 05:12.720 There may be a question about my own, but I don't think Carol Wodawa or the 05:12.720 --> 05:13.180 Pope. 05:13.620 --> 05:16.920 I think he's with the Lord because he believed. 05:17.240 --> 05:18.780 He believed in the cross. 05:19.340 --> 05:22.240 That was his focus throughout his ministry. 05:22.240 --> 05:28.400 The cross, no matter if you were talking to him from a personal issue or an ethical 05:28.400 --> 05:28.940 problem. 05:29.200 --> 05:33.860 He felt that there was the answer to all of our problems. 05:34.160 --> 05:36.200 The cross and the resurrection. 05:36.660 --> 05:38.260 And he was a strong believer. 05:39.560 --> 05:40.320 Unquote. 05:41.700 --> 05:49.040 Now, this represents nothing less than a seismic shift of the prevalent attitude in 05:49.040 --> 05:52.400 Evangelical and Reformed Christians over a period of centuries. 05:53.020 --> 05:57.360 And even quite a shift over the period of the last 50 years. 05:58.260 --> 06:03.740 It becomes more readily apparent when the former consensus of Protestant Reformers 06:03.740 --> 06:08.080 and their immediate successors, including the Puritans, is considered. 06:08.780 --> 06:10.420 And some of us find it alarming. 06:11.220 --> 06:16.760 The contrast between their views and today's apparent consensus is stark and 06:16.760 --> 06:18.980 startling upon first discovery. 06:19.620 --> 06:24.200 The almost universal judgment of our Protestant forefathers toward the Roman 06:24.200 --> 06:29.060 Catholic Church was that it was a false and apostate church. 06:29.860 --> 06:36.360 And their characteristic attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church was intense 06:36.360 --> 06:38.860 antipathy or hatred. 06:39.860 --> 06:45.280 Their Confessions of Faith and other writings clearly, explicitly, and 06:45.280 --> 06:50.780 forcefully repudiated leading Romanist doctrines and the institution propagating 06:50.780 --> 06:51.060 them. 06:51.880 --> 06:57.340 Romanism was such a great concern that one could deduce a fairly comprehensive 06:57.340 --> 07:03.420 summary of Rome's error from an inductive study of the Westminster Confession of 07:03.420 --> 07:09.440 Faith, the Thavoid Declaration, and the 1689 London Baptist Confession. 07:09.940 --> 07:14.480 Just look at what those confessions affirm and look at what they deny. 07:15.520 --> 07:23.080 And you can infer what the Roman Catholic Church affirms and denies because it's 07:23.080 --> 07:26.580 mostly the opposite of what those Protestant confessions say. 07:28.380 --> 07:34.200 Not everything in them is a swipe at Rome, but a substantial part is, maybe even a 07:34.200 --> 07:35.380 preponderance. 07:36.380 --> 07:41.240 Claiming adherence to such a Protestant confession while nurturing a fundamentally 07:41.240 --> 07:45.520 positive attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church would seem to be a great 07:45.520 --> 07:47.380 and obvious inconsistency. 07:48.200 --> 07:53.080 Friendliness toward the Roman Catholic Church could be warranted, theoretically, 07:53.280 --> 08:00.180 but if so, it must necessarily part with the Protestant confessional ethos. 08:00.800 --> 08:06.320 The concept of truth in advertising is an application of the ninth commandment, 08:06.500 --> 08:08.060 thou shalt not bear false witness. 08:09.180 --> 08:12.740 And nowhere is it more important than in the religious realm. 08:12.740 --> 08:19.260 A man may be a friend of Rome or a Protestant, but not both at the same time 08:19.260 --> 08:21.180 in the historic sense. 08:22.720 --> 08:26.880 It's helpful to consider the origin of the term Protestant. 08:27.180 --> 08:33.120 Ironically, a good, succinct explanation is from a Roman Catholic source. 08:34.560 --> 08:40.140 The reader must appreciate that this following quote is expressed from a Roman 08:40.140 --> 08:44.220 Catholic Church point of view, but the basic facts appear to be 08:44.220 --> 08:46.560 undisputed by Protestants. 08:47.480 --> 08:51.740 And I would quote then the Roman Catholic explanation of the origin of the term 08:51.740 --> 08:52.420 Protestant. 08:53.600 --> 08:59.540 The Diet of the Holy Roman Empire assembled its spire in April 1529, 09:00.720 --> 09:06.540 resolved that, according to a decree promulgated at the Diet of Worms 1524, 09:07.320 --> 09:12.220 communities in which the new religion... and you realize, of course, when they say 09:12.220 --> 09:15.760 the new religion, they're talking about the faith of these Protestants. 09:16.460 --> 09:21.340 And it's not a new religion at all, that's a pejorative label they use to 09:21.340 --> 09:21.860 describe it. 09:21.920 --> 09:23.660 It's just the old biblical gospel. 09:24.680 --> 09:29.320 The communities in which the new, so-called new religion was so far 09:29.320 --> 09:32.780 established that it could not, without great trouble, be altered, 09:33.360 --> 09:35.180 should be free to maintain it. 09:35.180 --> 09:39.780 But until the meeting of the council, they should introduce no further 09:39.780 --> 09:41.700 innovations in religion. 09:42.260 --> 09:46.920 Now, of course, what they're really referring to is reformations of apostate 09:46.920 --> 09:51.400 Christianity, but they call them innovations from a Catholic point of view. 09:51.900 --> 09:57.200 And should not forbid the mass or hinder Catholics from assisting thereat. 09:57.860 --> 10:03.560 Against this decree, and especially against the last article, the adherence of 10:03.560 --> 10:09.580 the new evangel, which was not, of course, really new, but the old one and 10:09.580 --> 10:10.820 only true gospel. 10:11.480 --> 10:17.220 The Elector Frederick of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Margrave 10:17.220 --> 10:22.760 Albert of Brandenburg, the Duce of Lüneburg, the Prince of Annals, 10:22.960 --> 10:27.440 together with the deputies of fourteen of the Free and Imperial Cities, entered a 10:27.440 --> 10:30.580 solemn protest as unjust and impious. 10:30.580 --> 10:35.900 The meaning of the protest was that the dissenters did not intend to tolerate 10:35.900 --> 10:37.780 Catholicism within their borders. 10:38.600 --> 10:42.220 On that account, they were called Protestants. 10:43.140 --> 10:48.640 In the course of time, the original connotation of no toleration for Catholics 10:48.640 --> 10:54.800 was lost sight of, and the term is now applied to and accepted by members of 10:54.800 --> 11:00.780 those Western churches and sects which, in the sixteenth century, were set up by 11:00.780 --> 11:05.940 the Reformers in direct opposition to the Catholic Church. 11:06.920 --> 11:10.940 The same man may call himself Protestant or Reformed. 11:11.480 --> 11:15.500 The term Protestant lays more stress on antagonism to Rome. 11:16.040 --> 11:20.400 The term Reformed emphasizes adherence to any of the Reformers. 11:22.100 --> 11:25.020 Unquote from a Roman Catholic source. 11:26.860 --> 11:31.480 Now, the proposition they make here, that Protestant and Reformed are 11:31.480 --> 11:39.300 interchangeable terms, is interesting, but historically, the term Reformed may 11:39.300 --> 11:41.940 have become narrower than Protestant. 11:42.860 --> 11:47.780 In other words, there is a sense in which we could say not all Protestants today are 11:47.780 --> 11:48.380 Reformed. 11:49.740 --> 11:55.280 The term Reformed is generally associated with Calvinists in particular, 11:55.440 --> 11:59.160 and not all Protestants are necessarily Calvinists. 11:59.920 --> 12:06.040 And the term Reformed may be considered generally to exclude Lutheran, 12:06.260 --> 12:11.260 Anglican, and Episcopal denominations, generally rejecting, as they do, 12:11.340 --> 12:15.600 the regulative principle of worship, and having somewhat more in common with 12:15.600 --> 12:20.260 Romanism in their, at least in their liturgy. 12:20.460 --> 12:26.540 The term Evangelical, without qualification, has become so diluted now 12:26.540 --> 12:32.380 that it's almost useless as a badge of conservative and biblical Christianity. 12:33.240 --> 12:38.960 This paper is especially intended for those who consider themselves Protestant, 12:39.460 --> 12:43.380 Reformed, and conservative Evangelicals. 12:46.320 --> 12:48.100 Now, historian James A. 12:48.160 --> 12:53.820 Wiley, himself a Protestant, presents a sympathetic account for the origin of the 12:53.820 --> 13:00.420 term Protestants, and I quote from his noteworthy church history books. 13:01.420 --> 13:04.400 At Worms, Luther stood alone. 13:05.060 --> 13:08.620 At Spires, the one man has grown into a host. 13:09.480 --> 13:17.280 The no, so courageously uttered by the monk in 1521, is now, in 1529, 13:17.720 --> 13:22.800 taken up and repeated by princes, cities, and nations. 13:23.580 --> 13:30.000 Its echoes travel onwards, till at last their murmurs are heard in the palaces of 13:30.000 --> 13:33.240 Barcelona and the basilicas of Rome. 13:34.380 --> 13:37.120 Eight years ago, the Reformation was simply a doctrine. 13:37.760 --> 13:40.820 Now, it is an organization, a church. 13:41.320 --> 13:46.860 This little seed, which on its first germination appeared the smallest of all 13:46.860 --> 13:52.240 seeds, and which popes, doctors, and princes beheld with contempt, 13:53.120 --> 14:00.500 is a tree whose vows, stretched wide in air, cover nations with their shadows. 14:01.420 --> 14:08.340 The princes renewed their protest at the last sitting of the Diet, Saturday 24th of 14:08.340 --> 14:08.720 April. 14:09.420 --> 14:14.780 It was subscribed by John, Elector of Saxony, Philip Landgrave of Hesse, 14:15.180 --> 14:20.600 George Margrave of Brandenburg, Curtis and Francis, Dukes of Lunenburg, 14:21.060 --> 14:22.340 and the Count of Arnold. 14:22.740 --> 14:26.240 Some of the chief cities joined the princes in their protestation, 14:26.680 --> 14:32.360 as Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Ulm, Constance, Rutlingen, Winshine, 14:32.600 --> 14:38.340 Lindau, Kempsen, Memmington, Norlingen, Heilbronn, Ischne, St. Gaul, and 14:38.340 --> 14:39.020 Weissenburg. 14:39.600 --> 14:43.580 From that day, the Reformers were called Protestants. 14:44.620 --> 14:50.320 On the following Sabbath, 25th of April, the chancellors of the princes and of the 14:50.320 --> 14:55.680 Protestant cities, with two notaries and several witnesses, met in a small house in 14:55.680 --> 15:01.000 St. John's Lane, belonging to Peter Mutterstadt, Deacon of St. John's, 15:01.080 --> 15:02.420 to draw up an appeal. 15:02.420 --> 15:08.380 In that document, they recite all that had passed at the Diet, and they protest 15:08.380 --> 15:14.220 against its decree for themselves, their subjects, and all who receive or 15:14.220 --> 15:20.460 shall hereafter receive the gospel, and appeal to the Emperor and to a free 15:20.460 --> 15:23.580 and general Council of Christendom. 15:23.580 --> 15:30.060 On the morning after their appeal, the 26th, the princes left spires. 15:30.620 --> 15:33.220 This sudden departure was significant. 15:33.700 --> 15:37.880 It proclaimed to all men the firmness of their resolve. 15:38.640 --> 15:41.520 Ferdinand had spoken his last word and was gone. 15:42.300 --> 15:45.840 They, too, had spoken theirs and were gone also. 15:46.820 --> 15:53.520 Rome hoisted her flag over and over against hers, the Protestants displayed 15:53.520 --> 15:54.160 theirs. 15:55.280 --> 16:02.500 Henceforward, there are two camps in Christendom." J. 16:06.460 --> 16:06.720 H. 16:06.900 --> 16:13.180 Merle d'Aubigné relates essentially the same account in his excellent book, 16:13.560 --> 16:16.420 History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. 16:17.360 --> 16:22.420 The famous church historian, Philip Shaw, confirms it further and makes these 16:22.420 --> 16:24.440 helpful remarks about the event. 16:25.660 --> 16:31.260 He says, From this protest and appeal, the Lutherans were called Protestants, 16:31.380 --> 16:36.780 with good reason, if we look at their attitude to Rome, which remains the same 16:36.780 --> 16:37.840 to this day. 16:37.840 --> 16:43.360 And Shaw wrote this sometime before 1910. 16:44.260 --> 16:53.520 Unfortunately, that statement is really not true today, with the Catholic-Lutheran 16:53.520 --> 16:58.520 Accords recently signed in ecumenical dialogue. 17:02.080 --> 17:07.080 It is the duty of the church at all times to protest against sin, error, 17:07.260 --> 17:09.420 corruption, tyranny, and every kind of iniquity. 17:09.820 --> 17:14.580 But the designation which has since become a general term for evangelical Christians 17:14.580 --> 17:19.980 is negative and admits of an indiscriminate application to all who 17:19.980 --> 17:24.840 descent from Popery, no matter on what grounds and to what extent. 17:25.520 --> 17:30.100 It must be supplemented by the more important positive designation, 17:30.780 --> 17:31.260 evangelical. 17:32.100 --> 17:37.760 The gospel of Christ, as laid down in the New Testament and proclaimed again in its 17:37.760 --> 17:44.980 primitive purity and power by the Reformation, is the basis of historical 17:44.980 --> 17:49.740 Protestantism and gives it vitality and permanency. 17:49.740 --> 17:56.620 The protest of Spire was based objectively upon the word of God, subjectively upon 17:56.620 --> 18:00.800 the right of private judgment and conscience, and historically upon the 18:00.800 --> 18:03.400 liberal decision of the Diet of 1526. 18:10.080 --> 18:19.060 Now brethren, hearing all this about what the word Protestant means in its historic 18:19.060 --> 18:29.360 sense, is it possible that so-called Protestants in our generation have lost so 18:29.360 --> 18:34.220 much of their historical character, the label is no longer warranted? 18:35.540 --> 18:38.780 Where is the protest against Romanism? 18:39.660 --> 18:46.040 Any vigorous protest today seems a lonely relic, a blast from the past, if you will. 18:46.520 --> 18:53.920 Out of step with modern sensibilities and discretion, even terribly fanatical, 18:54.360 --> 18:57.340 antiquated and downright uncharitable. 18:59.520 --> 19:06.600 A few influential evangelical leaders have sounded the alarm concerning trendy 19:06.600 --> 19:10.020 ecumenism with Rome, including R.C. 19:10.120 --> 19:12.060 Sproul, Dr. D. 19:12.120 --> 19:14.680 James Kennedy and John MacArthur. 19:15.860 --> 19:19.780 MacArthur, in particular, does not leave us wondering about his stance on the Roman 19:19.780 --> 19:25.500 Catholic Church and even his judgment about the late Pope's eternal destiny. 19:25.500 --> 19:29.020 That is Pope John Paul II. 19:29.900 --> 19:36.800 I quote to you from an interview with John MacArthur, where he said, One question 19:36.800 --> 19:42.040 that has been raised or alluded to repeatedly is this, is the Pope in heaven? 19:42.940 --> 19:45.280 Numerous people have asked me that question. 19:46.160 --> 19:49.860 I'm always tempted to reply, is the Pope Catholic? 19:50.780 --> 19:58.060 After all, the Pope was the number one purveyor of Roman Catholic doctrine. 19:58.060 --> 20:04.900 The gospel he believed was no more sound than the gospel Rome has always taught. 20:05.060 --> 20:07.540 It is not the gospel of Scripture. 20:11.170 --> 20:16.510 Another outspoken advocate of old Protestantism is Richard Bennett, 20:17.610 --> 20:26.870 a former Roman Catholic priest who served for 21 years as a Roman Catholic priest. 20:28.430 --> 20:34.930 And now he has been for some time converted to Christ and a reformed 20:34.930 --> 20:36.450 evangelist. 20:37.070 --> 20:42.810 His expertise on Romanism is conspicuous at his website, the Berean Beacon. 20:43.550 --> 20:48.190 He has helpfully summarized some Roman Catholic errors in a chart comparing 20:48.190 --> 20:55.430 quotes from Scripture and from the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church on topics 20:55.430 --> 20:59.570 including the basis of truth, salvation, and the salvation by grace alone, 20:59.790 --> 21:06.750 the nature of faith, Christ's atonement, and his place as the sole mediator between 21:06.750 --> 21:14.030 God and man, God's unique holiness, idolatry, and communion with the dead. 21:14.390 --> 21:17.250 And that is included in the appendix to this paper. 21:18.930 --> 21:20.710 Now, I ask you this question. 21:20.890 --> 21:24.650 Can you think of anything worse to say to a Catholic today than this? 21:25.090 --> 21:26.950 The Pope is the Antichrist. 21:28.330 --> 21:32.870 Now, we can hardly imagine any more strident statement of opposition to the 21:32.870 --> 21:35.050 Pope and the Roman Catholic Church than this. 21:35.750 --> 21:41.330 And further, is there anything, anything you can think of that would be 21:41.330 --> 21:47.230 harder for a Roman Catholic to hear and accept than that proposition? 21:47.230 --> 21:52.530 And yet, if it is true, silence is not golden. 21:53.830 --> 21:59.350 The old Protestants widely held to some sense of the provocative proposition. 21:59.790 --> 22:03.570 Probably not what we would initially suspect today. 22:04.470 --> 22:09.590 Consider a smattering of old quotes from respected Protestant leaders of the past. 22:10.010 --> 22:15.210 Martin Luther, for example, who lived from 1483 to 1546. 22:15.210 --> 22:16.550 He said this. 22:17.290 --> 22:21.410 If there were nothing else to show that the Pope is the Antichrist, this would be 22:21.410 --> 22:21.810 enough. 22:22.390 --> 22:24.270 Dost thou hear this, O Pope? 22:24.790 --> 22:27.590 Not the most holy, but the most sinful? 22:28.710 --> 22:34.770 Would that God would hurl thy chair headlong from heaven and cast it down into 22:34.770 --> 22:35.890 the abyss of hell. 22:36.390 --> 22:40.850 Who gave you the power to exalt yourself above your God? 22:41.810 --> 22:45.730 God has commanded to keep faith and observe oaths, even with enemies. 22:46.330 --> 22:49.950 You dare to cancel this command, laying it down in your heretical 22:49.950 --> 22:54.750 anti-Christian decretals that you have power to do so. 22:55.410 --> 23:01.230 And through your mouth and your pen, Satan lies as he never lied before. 23:01.990 --> 23:06.470 Teaching you to twist and pervert the scriptures according to your own arbitrary 23:06.470 --> 23:06.910 will. 23:06.910 --> 23:11.170 O Lord Christ, look down upon this. 23:11.530 --> 23:17.030 Let thy day of judgment come and destroy the devil's lair at Rome. 23:17.370 --> 23:23.110 Behold him of whom St. Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3 and 4. 23:23.730 --> 23:29.750 That he should exalt himself above thee and sit in thy church, showing himself as 23:29.750 --> 23:33.750 God, the man of sin and the child of damnation. 23:34.410 --> 23:39.590 What else does the Pope's power do but teach and strengthen sin and wickedness, 23:39.830 --> 23:42.970 leading souls to damnation in thy name? 23:55.810 --> 24:02.030 Whereof, it followeth Rome to be the seat of Antichrist, and the Pope to be the very 24:02.030 --> 24:03.450 Antichrist himself. 24:03.810 --> 24:08.710 I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers and strong 24:08.710 --> 24:09.270 reasons. 24:10.010 --> 24:17.210 John Knox, a reformer associated with Scotland, 1505-1572. 24:18.310 --> 24:24.410 He wrote to abolish, quote, that tyranny which the Pope himself has for so many 24:24.410 --> 24:27.170 ages exercised over the church, unquote. 24:27.650 --> 24:33.030 And he also wrote that the Pope should be recognized as, quote, the very Antichrist 24:33.030 --> 24:36.510 and son of perdition of whom Paul speaks, unquote. 24:37.530 --> 24:45.190 John Calvin lived from 1509-1564, and he said this, and this is a direct 24:45.190 --> 24:45.610 quote. 24:46.350 --> 24:51.690 To some we seem slanderers and railers when we call the Roman Pontiff Antichrist, 24:52.230 --> 24:56.930 but those who think so do not realize that they are accusing Paul of intemperate 24:56.930 --> 24:57.530 language. 24:57.530 --> 25:00.430 When he speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2. 25:01.550 --> 25:06.830 After whom we speak, indeed, so speak from his very lips. 25:07.510 --> 25:12.170 Unless anyone object that we wickedly twist Paul's words, which apply to 25:12.170 --> 25:16.870 another, against the Roman Pontiff, I shall briefly show that these cannot be 25:16.870 --> 25:19.530 understood otherwise than of the papacy. 25:19.530 --> 25:24.930 And you can follow that up with finding this in Calvin's Institute for the 25:24.930 --> 25:27.130 Christian Religion, where he presents his case. 25:29.070 --> 25:37.390 Roger Williams, a Baptist in New England, living from 1603-1683, spoke of the Pope 25:37.390 --> 25:42.650 as, quote, The pretended vicar of Christ on earth, who sits as God over the temple 25:42.650 --> 25:48.910 of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls 25:48.910 --> 25:53.410 and consciences of all his vassals, yea, over the Spirit of Christ, 25:53.970 --> 25:59.790 over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself, speaking against the God of 25:59.790 --> 26:02.670 Heaven, seeking to change times and laws. 26:02.670 --> 26:07.150 But he is the son of perdition, 2 Thessalonians 2. 26:08.850 --> 26:14.350 The Westminster Confession of Faith, the original wording in 1646, has this 26:14.350 --> 26:14.790 statement. 26:15.290 --> 26:20.770 There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of 26:20.770 --> 26:23.330 Rome in any sense be head thereof. 26:23.330 --> 26:30.210 But is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalts himself 26:30.210 --> 26:35.110 in the church against Christ and all that is called God? 26:35.670 --> 26:38.070 Chapter 25, paragraph 6. 26:38.690 --> 26:44.870 I would note that the American revised Westminster Confession omits part of this 26:44.870 --> 26:48.870 statement, starting with the word, but is that Antichrist? 26:49.750 --> 26:56.250 The Savoy Declaration, written in 1658, says this. 26:56.310 --> 27:01.470 There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of 27:01.470 --> 27:03.210 Rome in any sense be head thereof. 27:03.470 --> 27:10.670 But is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalts himself 27:10.670 --> 27:14.750 in the church against Christ and all that is called God? 27:18.470 --> 27:21.170 Chapter 26, paragraph 6. 27:21.970 --> 27:26.850 Corresponding language of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith is identical 27:26.850 --> 27:27.830 to this language. 27:29.210 --> 27:35.710 Cotton Mater, New England Puritan, 1663-1728, said this. 27:36.510 --> 27:41.750 The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church and 27:41.750 --> 27:42.810 in the Pope of Rome. 27:43.450 --> 27:47.410 All the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any 27:47.410 --> 27:51.790 who read the scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them. 27:52.650 --> 27:59.510 John Wesley, early advocate of what now is known as Methodism, who lived from 27:59.510 --> 28:06.790 1703-1791, on 2 Thessalonians 2-3, in his notes on the Bible, he wrote this. 28:07.410 --> 28:12.590 In many respects, the Pope has an indisputable claim to those titles, 28:12.730 --> 28:14.310 man of sin, son of perdition. 28:14.310 --> 28:19.970 He is, in an emphatical sense, the man of sin, as he increases all manner 28:19.970 --> 28:21.350 of sin above measure. 28:22.010 --> 28:26.790 And he is, too, properly styled, the son of perdition, as he has caused the 28:26.790 --> 28:31.310 death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers, 28:31.890 --> 28:37.110 destroyed innumerable souls, and will himself perish everlastingly. 28:37.110 --> 28:42.170 He it is that opposes himself to the Emperor, once his rightful sovereign, 28:42.790 --> 28:47.290 and that exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, 28:47.770 --> 28:52.930 commanding angels and putting kings under his feet, both of whom are called Gods in 28:52.930 --> 28:58.990 Scripture, claiming the highest power, the highest honor, allowing himself, 28:59.210 --> 29:02.990 not once only, to be styled God or vice-God. 29:03.590 --> 29:10.630 Indeed, no less is implied in his ordinary title, Most Holy Lord or Most Holy Father, 29:11.070 --> 29:18.550 so that he sitteth, it says in Scripture, enthroned in the temple of God. 29:33.490 --> 29:39.870 Charles Hodge was a very important Presbyterian theologian who lived from 29:39.870 --> 29:47.210 1797 to 1878, and his three-volume systematic theology is still in print and 29:47.210 --> 29:48.530 found to be useful today. 29:55.030 --> 30:01.310 The common opinion, however, among Protestants is that the prophecies 30:01.310 --> 30:04.510 concerning Antichrist have special reference to the papacy. 30:04.730 --> 30:10.070 This conviction is founded principally on the remarkable prediction contained in 30:10.070 --> 30:12.430 Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians. 30:14.590 --> 30:20.270 And following this, Hodge defends the opinion that the Pope is the Antichrist in 30:20.270 --> 30:24.130 great and strongly argued detail, suggesting it was his own judgment. 30:24.750 --> 30:29.830 Then he describes the Roman Catholic doctrine of Antichrist and concludes that 30:29.830 --> 30:34.530 modern Protestant teaching in this area is more similar to the Roman Catholic Church 30:34.530 --> 30:38.350 view than it is to the early Protestants. 30:40.100 --> 30:40.880 C. 30:40.980 --> 30:41.180 H. 30:41.280 --> 30:49.640 Spurgeon, Baptist pastor and evangelist of London, who lived from 1834 to 1892, 30:50.340 --> 30:51.020 wrote this. 30:51.740 --> 30:57.440 It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what 30:57.440 --> 31:00.880 Antichrist is, no sane man ought to raise a question. 31:00.880 --> 31:05.500 If it be not potpourri in the Church of Rome, there is nothing in the world that 31:05.500 --> 31:06.780 can be called by that name. 31:07.720 --> 31:12.820 If there were to be issued a human cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up 31:12.820 --> 31:17.120 this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, 31:17.360 --> 31:22.060 for it so exactly answers the description. 31:25.000 --> 31:25.520 R. 31:25.620 --> 31:25.760 L. 31:25.780 --> 31:29.900 Dabney was a Presbyterian chaplain in the Civil War for the southern states. 31:29.900 --> 31:32.760 He lived from 1820 to 1898. 31:33.860 --> 31:37.080 He was a Presbyterian, and here is what he wrote about this. 31:37.930 --> 31:41.880 For Presbyterians, of all others, to discount the perpetual danger from 31:41.880 --> 31:44.380 Romanism is thoroughly thoughtless and rash. 31:45.060 --> 31:50.140 We believe that the Christianity left by the Apostles to the primitive Church was 31:50.140 --> 31:53.700 essentially what we now call Presbyterian and Protestant. 31:54.580 --> 31:59.180 Trelacy and potpourri feebly began to work in the bosom of that community, 31:59.560 --> 32:04.220 and steadily wrought its corruption and almost its total extirpation. 32:05.220 --> 32:09.560 Why should not the same cause tend to work the same result again? 32:10.120 --> 32:15.660 Are we truer or wiser Presbyterians than those trained by the Apostles? 32:16.300 --> 32:21.460 Have the enemies of truth become less skillful and dangerous by gaining the 32:21.460 --> 32:23.160 experience of centuries? 32:23.940 --> 32:30.920 The Popish system of ritual and doctrine was a gradual growth which, modifying true 32:30.920 --> 32:35.640 Christianity, first perverted and then extinguished it. 32:36.500 --> 32:39.160 Its destructive power has resulted from this. 32:40.140 --> 32:46.880 It has not been the invention of any one cunning and hostile mind, but a gradual 32:46.880 --> 32:53.920 growth modified by hundreds or thousands of its cultivators who were the most 32:53.920 --> 33:00.220 acute, learned, selfish, and anti-Christian spirits of their 33:00.220 --> 33:00.980 generation. 33:01.540 --> 33:08.280 Perpetually retouched and adapted to every weakness and every attribute of depraved 33:08.280 --> 33:14.560 human nature until it became the most skillful and pernicious system of error 33:14.560 --> 33:17.540 which the world has ever known. 33:17.540 --> 33:24.240 As it has adjusted itself to every superstition, every sense of guilt, 33:24.700 --> 33:31.780 every foible and craving of the depraved human heart, so it has travestied with 33:31.780 --> 33:35.660 consummate skill every active principle of the gospel. 33:36.880 --> 33:41.160 It is doubtless the knee-pluck ultra of religious delusion. 33:41.340 --> 33:45.380 That's a Latin phrase that means the most extreme example of its kind. 33:46.840 --> 33:57.320 It is the final and highest result of perverted human faculty guided by the 33:57.320 --> 33:59.140 sagacity of the great enemy. 34:00.440 --> 34:03.600 This system has nearly conquered Christendom once. 34:04.120 --> 34:08.220 He who does not see that it is capable of conquering it again is blind to the 34:08.220 --> 34:09.580 simplest laws of thought. 34:09.580 --> 34:15.060 One may ask, does it not retain sundry the cardinal doctrines of the gospel? 34:16.020 --> 34:22.460 Monotheism, the Trinity, the hypostatic union, Christ's sacrifice, the sacraments, 34:22.560 --> 34:25.280 the resurrection, the judgment, immortality? 34:26.160 --> 34:30.140 Yes, in form it retains them. 34:31.070 --> 34:40.040 And this, because of its supreme cunning, it retains them while so resting and 34:40.040 --> 34:45.100 innervating as to rob them mainly of their sanctifying power. 34:45.520 --> 34:52.700 Because its designs spread its snares for all sorts of minds of every grade of 34:52.700 --> 34:53.260 opinion. 34:53.920 --> 34:59.300 The grand architect was too cunning to make it like his earlier essays. 34:59.920 --> 35:08.560 Mere atheism or mere fetishism or mere polytheism or mere pagan idolatry. 35:08.800 --> 35:14.460 For in these forms, the trap only ensnared the coarser and more ignorant nature. 35:15.260 --> 35:20.040 He has now perfected it and baited it for all types of humanity. 35:20.240 --> 35:25.300 The most refined as well as the most imbruted. 35:25.980 --> 35:28.900 Unquote from R.L. 35:28.980 --> 35:29.300 Dadman. 35:31.920 --> 35:39.500 I would also cite a more modern preacher in the true church. 35:40.500 --> 35:42.960 This man is named Dr. D. 35:43.020 --> 35:44.100 Martin Lloyd Jones. 35:44.100 --> 35:47.400 He lived from 1899 to 1981. 35:48.180 --> 35:52.960 Some have described him as the greatest preacher of the 20th century. 35:53.360 --> 35:55.920 That may not be far off the mark. 35:56.620 --> 36:00.340 Dr. Lloyd Jones was a great preacher of the word of God. 36:00.840 --> 36:06.360 He ministered for many years at Westminster Chapel in London, England. 36:07.920 --> 36:09.200 And D. 36:09.320 --> 36:10.740 Martin Lloyd Jones wrote this. 36:11.460 --> 36:17.220 This system, known as Roman Catholicism, is the devil's greatest masterpiece. 36:18.020 --> 36:22.400 It is such a departure from the Christian faith and the New Testament teaching that 36:22.400 --> 36:26.540 I would not hesitate with the reformers of the 16th century to describe it as 36:26.540 --> 36:27.240 apostrophe. 36:27.820 --> 36:29.920 There is no difficulty about this. 36:30.540 --> 36:32.620 This is a counterfeit, a sham. 36:32.620 --> 36:37.260 This is a prostitution of the worst and most diabolical kind. 36:37.980 --> 36:40.620 It is indeed a form of the Antichrist. 36:40.800 --> 36:42.100 And it is to be rejected. 36:42.320 --> 36:43.520 It is to be denounced. 36:43.960 --> 36:46.440 But above all, it is to be countered. 36:47.160 --> 36:50.120 Now, you've heard this evidence. 36:51.240 --> 36:56.680 There's no question that these are the things that these respected Protestant 36:56.680 --> 36:58.360 leaders have said and written. 36:59.120 --> 37:00.540 And I ask you this question. 37:00.540 --> 37:03.540 Do you still respect your forefathers? 37:04.660 --> 37:09.560 Now, obviously, these are not men and confessions on the fringe, but at the 37:09.560 --> 37:12.600 center of historic Protestantism. 37:13.120 --> 37:18.560 Men upon whose broad shoulders we stand and subordinate standards we still affirm 37:18.560 --> 37:19.180 today. 37:20.260 --> 37:22.360 Now, how do we respond to their statements? 37:23.240 --> 37:27.560 When we read of this old Protestant belief that the Pope is the Antichrist, 37:28.140 --> 37:29.660 do we dismiss it out of hand? 37:30.700 --> 37:36.980 Do we smugly disregard the historic reformed repudiation of Romanism because 37:36.980 --> 37:42.760 of self-assured confidence in our greater charity and our superior discernment? 37:43.760 --> 37:48.160 Before indulging such feelings, we really ought to consider carefully the 37:48.160 --> 37:52.380 nature and basis for this formerly widespread Protestant belief. 37:53.200 --> 37:59.240 The Bible says, he who answers the matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame 37:59.240 --> 37:59.680 to him. 37:59.800 --> 38:01.320 Proverbs 18, 13. 38:01.780 --> 38:07.100 While we would not be guilty of Protestant traditionalism, an ironic counterpart of 38:07.100 --> 38:11.620 the Roman Catholic era, where precedence in previous ecclesiastical judgments are 38:11.620 --> 38:17.680 accepted by an implicit faith in the spiritual ancestors, yet we must also be 38:17.680 --> 38:22.580 exceedingly cautious about jettisoning important ideas that held such great sway 38:22.580 --> 38:25.540 among so many theological giants. 38:25.960 --> 38:33.160 We should withhold our consent only if they lack solid scriptural support and 38:33.160 --> 38:36.460 disagree only if they are against scripture. 38:37.580 --> 38:42.380 Even if the evidence fails to hold one's conscience about all the particulars, 38:43.040 --> 38:48.480 surely if one is truly Protestant, he will judge their overall concern about 38:48.480 --> 38:50.480 Romanism to remain valid. 38:51.360 --> 38:55.760 So let us reconsider then, with all sincerity, sobriety and earnestness, 38:56.120 --> 39:00.860 our predecessors intense antipathy to Rome and judge each one for himself whether to 39:00.860 --> 39:02.420 embrace it in our own day. 39:03.200 --> 39:06.140 What exactly is the Antichrist, anyway? 39:07.280 --> 39:11.220 What did the Protestants mean when they said the Pope is the Antichrist? 39:11.840 --> 39:17.920 We must not think of this eschatological figure in terms like those popularized by 39:17.920 --> 39:23.720 Hal Lindsey, Jack VanIppy, Tim LaHaye and other modern purveyors of sensationalistic 39:23.720 --> 39:24.300 prophecy. 39:25.180 --> 39:32.080 Whatever one may think of the year 1948, UPC codes as a mark of the beast and the 39:32.080 --> 39:37.920 Trilateral Commission, these were far from the minds of the Westminster divines and 39:37.920 --> 39:38.900 their associates. 39:39.960 --> 39:45.640 Standard theological dictionaries present helpful summaries of what they meant when 39:45.640 --> 39:48.120 they said the Pope is the Antichrist. 39:48.960 --> 39:54.200 First of all, I cite the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology edited by Walter 39:54.200 --> 39:54.640 Elwell. 40:21.040 --> 40:28.420 And then the New Dictionary of Theology edited by Sinclair Ferguson says this. 40:28.960 --> 40:35.140 16th century Protestants developed the idea that the major biblical accounts of 40:35.140 --> 40:43.160 Antichrist refer to a specific historical entity, but not to an individual man. 40:44.100 --> 40:49.700 Instead, they identified Antichrist with an institutional succession of men over 40:49.700 --> 40:51.060 several centuries. 40:51.640 --> 40:52.700 The Roman Papacy. 40:53.040 --> 40:56.760 This remained the dominant view until the 19th century. 40:58.860 --> 41:05.480 It is not too difficult to find historic explanations and defenses of the old 41:05.480 --> 41:06.460 Protestant view. 41:06.460 --> 41:08.580 Some are long and elaborate. 41:09.240 --> 41:13.900 For example, Francis Turretin, well-known because of his magisterial 41:13.900 --> 41:19.040 institutes of the linguistic theology, a three-volume work representing 41:19.040 --> 41:25.700 Protestant scholasticism, had also written a substantial essay in Latin, only 41:25.700 --> 41:32.580 recently translated into English and entitled Seventh Disputation, whether it 41:32.580 --> 41:35.760 can be proved the Pope of Rome is the Antichrist. 41:37.940 --> 41:44.240 Turretin answers in the affirmative with fifty sections, four appendices, 41:45.000 --> 41:48.460 and extensive footnotes documenting all this. 41:49.720 --> 41:54.480 It makes a fascinating study of the topic and demonstrates convincingly that this 41:54.480 --> 41:59.980 doctrine was their strong conviction after extensive study and debate, even if one 41:59.980 --> 42:01.820 were to dissent from the conclusion. 42:02.740 --> 42:09.380 A more accessible case is made by Reverend Henry Wilkinson, a sometime canon of 42:09.380 --> 42:14.140 Christ Church and Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, 42:14.740 --> 42:18.640 in a sermon entitled The Pope of Rome is Antichrist. 42:18.640 --> 42:27.060 One of the Puritan sermons preached from 1659 to 1689 during the famed morning 42:27.060 --> 42:32.600 exercises at Cripple Gate by seventy-five ministers of the gospel in or near London. 42:33.260 --> 42:37.820 Even this one sermon on the topic is twenty-five pages of small print, 42:38.680 --> 42:43.540 but a modern paraphrase and abridgment is planned for the near future for educating 42:43.540 --> 42:45.480 today's Christians about this topic. 42:45.480 --> 42:50.840 And this is something I hope to do, God willing, and present to you. 42:51.780 --> 42:57.280 Perhaps most valuable among Reverend Wilkinson's remarks, The Pope is 42:57.280 --> 43:01.900 Antichrist, for this essay, is his explanation of what his contemporary 43:01.900 --> 43:07.160 fellow Protestants intended in their infernal identification of the Pope. 43:07.160 --> 43:11.440 And I quote from Wilkinson's three paragraphs. 43:13.020 --> 43:19.780 The enemy, mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2, is set forth as if he were a single 43:19.780 --> 43:20.340 person. 43:20.980 --> 43:27.080 But it is not so to be taken in this place, for it is frequent in Scripture to 43:27.080 --> 43:33.900 set forth a body politic or a kingdom or state by a particular person or 43:33.900 --> 43:34.660 individual. 43:34.660 --> 43:42.400 In Daniel 7, 1-13, there be four kingdoms or monarchies, which were in a succession, 43:42.640 --> 43:47.880 one after another in the world, deciphered by four great beasts, 43:48.140 --> 43:52.060 which are interpreted to be four kingdoms or four kings. 43:53.060 --> 43:58.760 And the fourth beast is called the fourth kingdom, verse 23. 43:59.440 --> 44:05.540 And the Vulgar translation renders, verse 17, four kingdoms, so that each 44:05.540 --> 44:11.560 beast signifies a multitude of men in a succession under one government for 44:11.560 --> 44:12.360 several ages. 44:13.380 --> 44:18.600 And so, consequently, the head and horns signify the power and sovereignty of such 44:18.600 --> 44:20.860 a kingdom for a long time in succession. 44:20.860 --> 44:27.240 So we find the state of the primitive apostolical church set forth by a woman in 44:27.240 --> 44:30.240 travail, Revelation 12, 1 and 2. 44:30.540 --> 44:34.760 And by a woman in the wilderness, verses 6 and 14. 44:35.580 --> 44:41.360 So the two-horned beast, Revelation 13, 11, which is the same with the false 44:41.360 --> 44:49.480 prophet, Revelation 14, 13, 19, 20, 20, 10, does not signify a single 44:49.480 --> 44:56.440 person or succession of single persons, suppose the Pope, but a body of deceivers 44:56.440 --> 44:59.220 under one head or government. 45:00.460 --> 45:04.380 The inference he's making is that this is the papacy. 45:06.060 --> 45:07.700 I continue the quote. 45:08.180 --> 45:14.140 It is generally agreed by Protestant writers that the Pope, in this sense, 45:14.600 --> 45:20.680 as head of that anti-Christian state, which is here described, is pointed at in 45:20.680 --> 45:21.240 this place. 45:21.240 --> 45:27.780 Or that the papacy, head and members in a succession, making up one body politic, 45:28.060 --> 45:31.540 is that monster which they call anti-Christ. 45:31.980 --> 45:37.540 It is on all hands agreed on that wherever we find all these characters together with 45:37.540 --> 45:44.440 the circumstances set down in the text to consent her, that must be the anti-Christ 45:44.440 --> 45:48.940 who was to be brought forth into the world before the second coming of Christ. 45:48.940 --> 45:56.540 He tells us of one to come, a strange one, a monstrous one, tooken one as never was 45:56.540 --> 45:57.100 before. 45:57.900 --> 46:02.780 And that you may not be mistaken in this prodigious one, he gives us the lively 46:02.780 --> 46:04.260 portraiture of him. 46:07.040 --> 46:09.560 Would you be interested in a modern poll? 46:10.740 --> 46:16.480 In a recent poll I created on a website called Permanadia, almost two-thirds of 46:16.480 --> 46:22.580 respondents affirmed their belief that the Pope of Rome is either the anti-Christ or 46:22.580 --> 46:23.760 an anti-Christ. 46:24.540 --> 46:34.960 23% out of 354 total votes said he was the anti-Christ, and 41% out of 354 total 46:34.960 --> 46:37.500 votes said he was an anti-Christ. 46:37.900 --> 46:42.880 The remainder either voted that he is a false teacher but not an anti-Christ, 46:43.140 --> 46:48.740 16%, that comparing him to the anti-Christ is not warranted by scripture or history, 46:49.040 --> 46:56.400 8%, that he is the head of the church, 5%, or did not care to vote on this topic, 46:56.600 --> 46:58.300 7% of those polled. 46:59.620 --> 47:03.380 Admittedly, those participating in this survey were probably not a typical 47:03.380 --> 47:05.340 cross-section of evangelicals today. 47:05.340 --> 47:10.340 Full members of this sermon audio service, that is, those allowed to broadcast 47:10.340 --> 47:14.540 sermons, must affirm sermon audios, articles of faith, which includes, 47:14.600 --> 47:20.340 and I'm paraphrasing them, a high view of scripture, the Trinity, high Christology, 47:20.800 --> 47:24.980 necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, Christ as the only Savior, 47:25.460 --> 47:30.020 two ordinances of baptism in the Lord's Supper, rejection of the World Council of 47:30.020 --> 47:35.080 Churches and evangelicals and Catholics together, which is most germane to this 47:35.080 --> 47:43.420 survey, Christ's visible and personal return, and finally salvation by grace 47:43.420 --> 47:45.860 alone through faith alone in Christ alone. 47:46.000 --> 47:52.260 And that accounts for the 5% answer above, that not everybody who took the survey 47:52.260 --> 47:54.180 subscribed to all those points. 47:55.540 --> 47:59.820 5% thought the Pope of Rome is the head of the Christian Church. 48:00.540 --> 48:03.740 They apparently were Catholics listening to sermons on sermon audio. 48:04.520 --> 48:08.820 Nevertheless, most participants were likely to appreciate the ministries of 48:08.820 --> 48:10.320 sermon audio full members. 48:11.480 --> 48:16.200 Survey participants were also allowed to post messages on this topic, and they 48:16.200 --> 48:21.540 finally amounted to 82 printed pages before the editor stopped accepting posts. 48:21.540 --> 48:25.240 The very first message posted was prophetic. 48:25.800 --> 48:30.180 Put on your asbestos suit, it's going to get very hot in here soon. 48:30.740 --> 48:34.400 That was what John from San Jose, California had to say. 48:35.300 --> 48:39.880 My overall impression of the posted comments are that most participants did 48:39.880 --> 48:43.900 not seem to realize what the old Protestants meant by the controversial 48:43.900 --> 48:45.180 proposition. 48:45.960 --> 48:51.540 They tended to interpret it as a statement about Pope John Paul II, while he was 48:51.540 --> 48:57.140 still living, or about a specific future Pope as an individual yet to come. 48:58.400 --> 49:02.220 And that's a misunderstanding of what the old Protestants meant by that statement. 49:03.720 --> 49:06.300 Now, when is a Protestant really a Protestant? 49:07.480 --> 49:13.980 It seems today that we only have a limited number of possible responses to these 49:13.980 --> 49:14.400 things. 49:14.400 --> 49:19.920 What follows is an attempt at a comprehensive list in order of decreasing 49:19.920 --> 49:21.840 Roman Catholic Church antipathy. 49:22.580 --> 49:23.520 Opinion A. 49:24.220 --> 49:27.120 Historic Protestants were exactly right. 49:27.480 --> 49:32.100 The Pope of Rome is the Antichrist, and the Roman Catholic Church is a false 49:32.100 --> 49:33.280 apostate church. 49:33.280 --> 49:34.980 Opinion B. 49:35.900 --> 49:38.280 Historic Protestants were essentially right. 49:38.720 --> 49:44.660 The Pope is an Antichrist, and strong antipathy for the institution of the Roman 49:44.660 --> 49:46.300 Catholic Church is warranted. 49:47.000 --> 49:48.100 Opinion C. 49:48.860 --> 49:52.180 Historic Protestants were only temporarily right. 49:52.180 --> 49:58.020 Today, their views and spirit are no longer valid because modern Protestants 49:58.020 --> 50:03.220 and the Roman Catholic Church now share so much on essential doctrines. 50:03.540 --> 50:04.360 Opinion D. 50:04.980 --> 50:09.380 Historic Protestants were flat wrong in point of fact and spirit. 50:10.000 --> 50:13.040 We should repudiate their sinful divisiveness. 50:14.200 --> 50:20.300 Recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a true church and embrace our Roman Catholic 50:20.300 --> 50:22.160 friends as Christian brethren. 50:22.720 --> 50:27.920 Now, with sincere respect for every man's prerogative to judge for himself, 50:28.640 --> 50:34.580 I believe only options A or B are biblically, historically, and 50:34.580 --> 50:35.960 theologically tenable. 50:36.830 --> 50:42.480 It seems mainstream evangelicals today would probably feel more comfortable with 50:42.480 --> 50:44.600 option C or D. 50:45.520 --> 50:50.780 The position taken by evangelicals and Catholics together definitely embodies 50:50.780 --> 50:55.340 option D, the most friendly to the Roman Catholic Church. 50:56.320 --> 51:01.380 The historic walls separating these so-called Protestants from the Roman 51:01.380 --> 51:05.180 Catholic Church have almost completely fallen down. 51:05.420 --> 51:10.880 They seem to identify more readily with the Roman Catholic Church than with 51:10.880 --> 51:12.360 historic Protestantism. 51:13.300 --> 51:15.120 I ask you this question. 51:16.020 --> 51:22.320 Could the true church lack both a solid foundation and a saving message? 51:23.260 --> 51:29.480 The basis for my own judgment in favor of A or B is complex, but I keep coming back 51:29.480 --> 51:33.100 in my own mind to two great truths that were at the heart of the Protestant 51:33.100 --> 51:33.820 Reformation. 51:34.720 --> 51:40.780 Sola Scriptura, or the formal principle of the Reformation, and Sola Fide, 51:41.160 --> 51:44.220 the material principle of the Protestant Reformation. 51:45.160 --> 51:49.020 We assume your intimate familiarity with both, but if you don't know what those 51:49.020 --> 51:54.280 Latin terms mean, and you're unfamiliar with their nuance in church history, 51:54.480 --> 51:59.100 I suggest you get two books that I would recommend. 51:59.140 --> 52:03.080 The first one is Sola Scriptura, the Protestant position on the Bible. 52:04.040 --> 52:08.300 And the second is Justification by Faith Alone, Affirming the Doctrine by Which the 52:08.300 --> 52:10.560 Church and the Individual Stand or Fall. 52:10.560 --> 52:16.080 Both of these are published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications, and now you can buy 52:16.080 --> 52:20.000 them, I'm sure, from Ligonier Ministries, Dr. R.C. 52:20.080 --> 52:21.840 Sproul's work. 52:23.640 --> 52:28.060 Sola Scriptura is a foundation upon which all other doctrine rests. 52:28.840 --> 52:32.480 Without a firm commitment to this principle, all manner of doctrinal 52:32.480 --> 52:35.100 apostasy is possible and virtually inevitable. 52:35.100 --> 52:39.840 The Roman Catholic Church itself may be the greatest illustration of disastrous 52:39.840 --> 52:44.560 consequences when a people look elsewhere for a standard of truth and Scripture. 52:45.620 --> 52:49.700 Sola Fide is an important part of the substance of Scripture's saving message 52:49.700 --> 52:51.260 about Jesus Christ. 52:52.020 --> 52:57.080 Luther famously called this the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls. 52:57.760 --> 53:00.420 There is no true gospel without Sola Fide. 53:01.310 --> 53:05.960 And any opposing it set themselves against Christ himself, incurring the terrible 53:05.960 --> 53:08.380 anathema of Galatians 1, 8 and 9. 53:09.740 --> 53:14.680 When he was 80 years old, the late Dr. John Gerstner wrote a booklet entitled, 53:15.020 --> 53:19.020 A Primer on Roman Catholicism, in which he distilled, in simple terms, 53:19.380 --> 53:25.220 the essence of the Protestant Romanist contention on justification's relation to 53:25.220 --> 53:26.060 faith and works. 53:26.060 --> 53:32.780 In which he said, quote, Romanists believe that faith is essential to justification, 53:33.220 --> 53:35.960 just as Protestants believe that faith is essential. 53:36.720 --> 53:42.380 They do not think it is sufficient for justification, but they do not believe 53:42.380 --> 53:45.460 that justification can come about apart from faith. 53:46.160 --> 53:51.280 The Council of Trent stressed the fact that faith is necessary as the root of the 53:51.280 --> 53:54.020 good works which we do for justification. 53:54.020 --> 54:02.140 Roman Catholicism teaches justification by works alone, but not by works that are 54:02.140 --> 54:02.900 alone. 54:03.280 --> 54:08.400 The Reformation insisted that justification is by faith alone, 54:08.560 --> 54:11.780 but not by faith that is alone. 54:12.860 --> 54:15.500 Justifying faith is working faith. 54:15.500 --> 54:21.020 As we know, Protestants in general, and the Reformed in particular, 54:21.200 --> 54:26.320 say that the Roman Catholic position on justification is not the true doctrine. 54:27.000 --> 54:30.260 It is not a saving justification of Holy Scripture. 54:32.620 --> 54:40.640 Dr. Gerstner mentions the nuance in his booklet that Rome formally attributes all 54:40.640 --> 54:46.760 merit for a believer's justification to Christ, but he dismisses this as not 54:46.760 --> 54:51.700 materially affecting a fair charge against the Roman Catholic Church of teaching a 54:51.700 --> 54:53.400 heretical view of justification. 54:54.400 --> 54:59.280 Modern official Roman Catholic doctrines, most notably the Catechism of the Catholic 54:59.280 --> 55:05.380 Church, reveal that she remains unequivocal and firm in her opposition to 55:05.380 --> 55:10.920 both faith commitments which have been so basic to all of Protestant thinking, 55:11.400 --> 55:14.260 recent ecumenical dialogue notwithstanding. 55:15.230 --> 55:21.980 Specifically, the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1994 maintains a stand 55:21.980 --> 55:28.120 against sola scriptura, when it says, and I quote, both scripture and tradition 55:28.120 --> 55:34.330 must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. 55:35.540 --> 55:40.180 The Catholic Catechism also contradicts sola fide. 55:40.180 --> 55:45.860 This comes out most clearly in a section on merit, where it says, Since the 55:45.860 --> 55:50.800 initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace 55:50.800 --> 55:54.520 of forgiveness and justification at the beginning of conversion. 55:55.340 --> 56:01.740 Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can learn merit for ourselves and for 56:01.740 --> 56:02.340 others. 56:02.860 --> 56:07.340 The grace is needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace 56:07.340 --> 56:11.280 and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. 56:11.800 --> 56:16.680 Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance 56:16.680 --> 56:18.120 with God's wisdom. 56:21.650 --> 56:26.430 Such errors hardly concern evangelicals anymore, it seems. 56:27.870 --> 56:32.670 Michael Horton makes a devastating remark about evangelicals and Catholics together 56:32.670 --> 56:41.690 in the latest issue of Modern Reformation magazine, called Can We Be Confessional 56:41.690 --> 56:42.710 and Catholic? 56:47.220 --> 56:49.460 And here's what Michael Horton had to say. 56:49.640 --> 56:51.700 Michael Horton, a modern Protestant. 56:52.660 --> 56:56.500 My own criticism of the impressive initiative known as Evangelicals and 56:56.500 --> 57:01.640 Catholics Together, ECT, some years ago, was not that such dialogue should not 57:01.640 --> 57:06.980 exist or that real consensus on many issues was impossible from the outset, 57:07.360 --> 57:12.880 but that the consensus reached affirmed agreement in the gospel while 57:12.880 --> 57:18.920 acknowledging disagreement on justification, merit, purgatory, 57:19.340 --> 57:24.240 indulgences, and the redemptive intercession of anyone other than Christ. 57:24.240 --> 57:31.880 Yes, in step with other recent agreements, here it is only the evangelicals who have 57:31.880 --> 57:39.040 moved, accepting the view that justification by grace alone through faith 57:39.040 --> 57:44.520 alone because of Christ alone is not essential to the gospel. 57:47.560 --> 57:52.680 Now I ask you, will you hoist your defiant flag? 57:52.680 --> 57:58.680 My beloved Protestant brothers, if we do not recognize the above Roman 57:58.680 --> 58:05.320 Catholic statement as serious corruption of the fundamentals of our biblical faith 58:05.320 --> 58:09.560 and the only true gospel, how we have fallen. 58:10.820 --> 58:14.700 If we hold essentially the same doctrine as our Protestant forefathers, 58:14.940 --> 58:19.420 because we believe it is biblical, and since the Roman Catholic Church still 58:19.420 --> 58:24.080 holds to the Council of Trent written in the 1500s to foster the 58:24.080 --> 58:29.260 Counter-Reformation, how could a dramatic shift in the relationship of Protestants 58:29.260 --> 58:32.740 to the Roman Catholic Church, plainly visible in many of our fellow 58:32.740 --> 58:35.380 evangelicals, possibly be warranted? 58:36.620 --> 58:40.960 Alas, unwarranted or not, it has happened. 58:41.700 --> 58:43.440 The times, they are changing. 58:44.380 --> 58:48.340 And this ecumenical earthquake ought to shake us out of our lethargy. 58:49.420 --> 58:55.220 Will we stand firm against this measure of apostasy or collapse with our unstable 58:55.220 --> 58:55.700 fellows? 58:56.720 --> 59:01.760 Are we still willing to identify with Luther, Knox, Calvin, the historic 59:01.760 --> 59:07.620 Reformed Confessions, and more recently with Hodge, Spurgeon, Dabney, and 59:07.620 --> 59:13.420 Lloyd-Jones in their intense and principled opposition to the Roman 59:13.420 --> 59:16.680 Catholic Church and its dangerous apostasy? 59:17.880 --> 59:20.940 Consider Lloyd-Jones charged with all. 59:21.120 --> 59:22.180 And I close with this. 59:22.840 --> 59:28.480 This is the last paragraph or so from his excellent sermon on Roman Catholicism, 59:28.480 --> 59:31.420 which is included as an appendix to this paper. 59:31.840 --> 59:34.200 I recommend highly you read the whole sermon. 59:35.020 --> 59:36.320 But listen to this. 59:36.640 --> 59:43.240 Lloyd-Jones says, There are innocent people who are being deluded by this kind 59:43.240 --> 59:49.140 of falsity, and it is your business and mine to open their eyes and to instruct 59:49.140 --> 59:49.380 them. 59:49.380 --> 59:55.160 Not only that, it is as we stand foursquare for the truth of God that we 59:55.160 --> 01:00:00.760 shall be entitled to pray with fervor and with confidence for the blessing of the 01:00:00.760 --> 01:00:02.440 Holy Ghost upon us. 01:00:02.960 --> 01:00:08.940 It is as we stand on the Scripture and its truth that the Spirit of God, I believe, 01:00:09.400 --> 01:00:12.340 will descend upon us in a mighty revival. 01:00:12.340 --> 01:00:19.060 And nothing less than such a revival can shake that horrible institution, 01:00:20.180 --> 01:00:24.860 the great whore which calls herself the Church of Rome. 01:00:25.900 --> 01:00:30.060 May God give us enlightenment and understanding of the times in which we are 01:00:30.060 --> 01:00:33.800 living and awaken us, ere it be too late.