Disunity in the Kingdom of Darkness
A surprising front-page article in The Herald on January 16 drew attention to the apathy, if not hostility, in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland to the proposed papal visit. The Scottish Roman Catholic bishops, the article states, are old and “liberal” (in Roman Catholic terms) and would prefer not to be troubled on their own doorsteps by the “ultra-conservative” Pope. The claims of the article were denied by a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Glasgow, but confirmed by the editor of The Catholic Truth. The article also discloses that the Scottish bishops declined an offer for the bones of St Teresa to come to Scotland last year, and that plans for the Pope to address the Scottish Parliament have been abandoned.
Meanwhile the Pope has ruffled feathers among atheists and homosexuals by denouncing the notorious Equality Bill, currently before the British Parliament. One of the most offensive parts of the Bill was rejected recently by the House of Lords, following a campaign by the Christian Institute, but other harmful aspects remain.
We are glad that the Scottish Roman Catholic bishops do not welcome the Pope, and we are glad that the Pope is not to address the Scottish Parliament. We are glad too that the Pope has condemned the Equality Bill. We do not believe that he has any more authority than the next man to comment on British affairs, and we realise the danger in conceding him any recognition other than as the Man of Sin. It is satisfying, nevertheless, to see the friction between the various evil factions that make up Satan’s kingdom, and to see how God uses their mutual antipathy to check and hinder them in their evil. The Church has often benefited from such conflicts. “The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth” (Rev 12:15-16). DWBS
False Teaching Behind Fair Words
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has recently “urged people not to seek their happiness in wealth or career success but rather to find it in a relationship with Jesus”, says a recent report. This sounds good and makes him appear to be a genuine Christian – but which Jesus does he speak of?
The true Christian necessarily believes that Jesus is the only mediator between himself and God, “for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Vincent Nichols, however, believes and teaches what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is another mediator who intercedes with God, and therefore “is to be invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix” (par 969).
Again, the genuine Christian believes the death of Jesus on Calvary was the one sufficient sacrifice for the sins of His people, as Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God”. On the other hand, Nichols believes and teaches that, “in the Mass, the same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner” (Catechism, par 1367).
The Jesus who is not the only mediator, and who has to be offered up again and again as a sacrifice, is not the Jesus of the Bible. To believe and teach what is contrary to Scripture shows that the Christianity of such a person is counterfeit and that he himself is in gross spiritual darkness. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Is 8:20) NMR