COG Comments on Pope’s Comments

Benedict XVI’s comments about essentially Catholic supremacy have been in the news the past week or so (please go to for my earlier post on it titled Vatican Excluding Protestants, But PCG Comments).

Various COGs have commented about them.

Last night, ICG’s Mark Armstrong reported:

Articles appeared yesterday about recent official statements issued by the pope and released through the Vatican stating that the Catholic Church is the only route to salvation and any group or organization claiming to be Christian cannot be legitimately called a “church.” He extended his remarks to include the Anglican Church, and all protestant churches who reject papal authority! Only the Catholic Church can “prove” an unbroken succession of “apostles” leading back to Jesus Christ, according to the statement.

There are several obvious problems with the assertion. History shows that there have been two and as many as three competing popes at one time in the past and also records all manner of corruptions, including the “selling of indulgences.” And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when you consider all the ways God’s clear instructions have been argued away and overruled in favor of “the traditions of men.”

The day prior, LCG reported:

Pope Promotes Catholic Traditions. Pope Benedict XVI has given visible support for conservatives who desire to return to the pre-Vatican II days by signing a document paving the way for “voluntary” return to the Tridentine Mass—an idea he supported as Cardinal Ratzinger (The Times, June 19, 2007). In another attention-grabbing move this week, the pope released a document re-asserting that the Catholic Church is the one true church (San Antonio Express News, July 11, 2001) and stating that Christian denominations outside of Catholicism are not really true churches—due to their alleged inability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles. Observers question the rationale of the pope in releasing this controversial paper just prior to his three-week vacation (BBC, July 10, 2007). God warns of the powerful role to be played by a religious figure and his church in end-time events (Revelation 16:13; 17:1-6, 18; 19:20). Historians note that most leaders think in terms of years, but popes think in terms of centuries. Actions taken by the pope and the Vatican today are designed to fit into a bigger plan for Europe and the future.

The Vatican does have a bigger plan for Europe. But even it knows that it does not have provable “apostolic succession” in spite of its recent public assertions–it relies a lot on its asserted traditions.

These matters are documented in the following articles:

Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation discusses the largest church since the second/third century, which in a real sense is the eighth church mentioned in the Book of Revelation (it also endorses “eighth day” worship).
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible?