“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” (1Timothy 4:1-3)
Scripture clearly tells us that the Last Days will be marked by a great falling away from the Faith. The passage here in 1Timothy speaks of a gradual departure that will set the stage for a more sudden event-driven turning away referenced in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. The portion quoted above describes the gradual falling away that has afflicted the Church almost from the beginning. Then about the middle of the 18th century, the pace of this falling away began to quicken with the onset in European circles of something called ‘Higher Criticism’. As this methodology of Bible interpretation gained steam, it called into question the long accepted and historically sound, foundational doctrines of Christianity. This is especially prevalent among ministers of some of the mainline Protestant denominations. Surveys have shown that a minority of Christian ministers in these bodies believes in the very foundational truths of Christianity as presented by the Scriptures. Segments of the Church are ignoring and sidestepping clear Biblical teaching on the divinity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the reality of the Resurrection, the existence of a hell, and the nature of sin. The Catholic Church has imposed its own man generated doctrines on its adherents. These often directly contradict the clear dictates of Scripture. It is just such scriptural contradiction that drove the Reformation in the first place.
Well now Pope Francis is at it again. Before we catalogue his latest foray into creative theological interpretation, let’s quickly review some of the pronouncements of the past. In Matthew 24:4 Jesus specifically warned His followers: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” He was referring specifically to false Messiah’s – but by extension to wholesale deceptive spirit that would characterize the End of the Age and the time leading up to His return. Now in the past this Pontiff has said more than a few things that expressly controvert scripture and therefore would constitute deception.
- Pope Francis says: “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.”[i] Islam specifically denies both the Sonship and divinity of Christ. John 1:12-13 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Therefore by definition the Pope’s take on this is both wrong and a blatant contradiction of God’s Holy Word.
- Pope Francis says: Fundamentalism “is a disease of all religions.”[ii] In John 14:23, Jesus is recorded as saying: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Following the tenets as laid down by Christ is central to living out the Christian Faith and having a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
- Pope Francis says atheists can be saved, (at least the ‘good ones’). In a sermon, the Pope said: “We must meet one another doing good.” Then he modeled a conversation with an imaginary atheist. “‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”[iii] That’s works righteousness – and that’s not in the Bible. In fact scripture is clear on this issue: No amount of personal ‘goodness’ can get you into heaven. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The Apostle Paul confirms this: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10) (So atheists wouldn’t qualify under that standard.) And 1John 5:12 reads: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” An atheist does not believe in God, therefore does not believe in His Son, therefore does not have life. Nice try. But wrong again!
- Pope Francis on homosexuality: “Who am I to judge?”[iv] Leviticus 18:22 calls homosexuality an “abomination” and Romans 1:26-27 condemns both homosexuality and lesbianism. But who am I to judge?
- The Vatican has pronounced that Jews do not need to recognize Jesus as Messiah to be saved. As reported in the Times of Israel: “Jews an secure eternal salvation without converting to Christianity, senior Catholic theologians said…. the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, not only effectively affirmed that Jews can be saved independently of Jesus, but described Christianity’s relationship with Jews as a shared patrimony.” The official Catholic Church document stated “Although Jews cannot believe in Jesus Christ as the universal redeemer, they have a part in salvation, because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Their conclusion: “In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews.”[v] As to the issue of the necessity of a relationship with the Messiah, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) And as far as the second issue, evangelization, Christ commanded: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19) (NASB) [Notice he made no exception for the Jewish nation. In fact Paul talks about the veil that clouds the understanding of the Jews. “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.” (2Corinthians 3:14)
- Pope Francis says: “In this range of religions, there is only one certainty that we have for all: we are all children of God.”[vi] That may be a teaching of the Catholic Church, but as we saw in the first point above, that is definitely not a teaching of the Bible.
So, having laid the groundwork, let’s take a look at Pope Francis’ latest pronouncement. It was made during an interview with Eugenio Scalfari, who works for the Italian publication, La Republica. The two were talking about the inequalities that come with the mass immigration we are witnessing around the world.
Scalfari offered: “You, Your Holiness, through those bridges, will facilitate the re-uniting of those desperate people, but inequalities are born in rich countries. There are laws that try to reduce the gap but they do not have much effect. Will this phenomenon never end?”
The Pontiff answered: “What we want is a battle against inequality, this is the greatest evil that exists in the world. It is money that creates it and that goes against those measures that try to make wealth more widespread and thus promote equality.” [To His Holiness, inequality is the greatest evil in the world; NOT slaughter of the innocent babies, or slaughter of innocent Christians, or the general slide into moral rebellion. But if Johnny’s got a little more than Bobby….well that’s unacceptable…..that’s REALLY EVIL.]
Scalfari pressed the issue: “So you yearn for a society where equality dominates. This, as you know, is the programme of Marxist socialism and then of communism. Are you therefore thinking of a Marxist type of society?”
Pope Francis: “It has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians.” [Yeah, you read that right. The communists who killed tens of millions in the Gulag Archipelago, and gave us Lenin and Stalin and Mao who killed 70 million plus in the Great Leap Forward – and Pol Pot and Castro, need I go on?) Oh yeah, so here’s the Pope’s entire answer.
Pope Francis: “It has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians. Christ spoke of a society where the poor, the weak and the marginalized have the right to decide. Not demagogues, not Barabbas, but the people, the poor, whether they have faith in a transcendent God or not. It is they who must help to achieve equality and freedom.”[vii] [viii]
It is this writer’s humble opinion that the Catholic Church has lost its way under the good Pope Francis, who in the name of ‘love’ is offering a political gospel rather than the real one. Present Vatican policy has that Church running off in pursuit of a social gospel, a gospel of works, a gospel of equality – but NOT the GOSPEL taught by Jesus – not the Gospel of repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ alone. This is certainly not the REAL Gospel of Love offered by Jesus to sinners who realize their spiritual poverty and desire to repent and reunite with their Creator through the only means available – Jesus Christ the Unique Son of God.
This long-running apostasy has been preparing the way for some time now for a sudden and even greater apostasy that will occur when the Man of Sin, the Antichrist is revealed. Hal Lindsey, – the prophecy scholar that really began to popularize the study of End Times events with his book and movie, The Late Great Planet Earth, – addressed this passage in his 1983 book, The Rapture. Scripture does teach that there will indeed be a progressive apostasy in the last days, yet the language of these verses demands a “climactic event when the professing church will completely revolt.”[ix] Chuck Missler chimes in pointing out that the Greek found in 2Thessalonians 2:3 suggests a “sudden forsaking” of Biblical Truth.[x] That passage suggests something else altogether: An event generated, sudden rebellion or apostasy by those who had previously held to at least nominal Christianity. Here’s the passage. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed”
[i] Pope Francis: ‘Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters’, BBC, November 30, 2015
[ii] Fundamentalism is ‘a disease of all religions’, Daily Mail, December 2, 2015
[iii] Pope Francis says atheists can do good and go to heaven too!, Catholic Online, May 30, 2013
[iv] On Gay Priests, Pope Francis Asks, ‘Who Am I to Judge?’, New York Times, July 29, 2013
[v] Catholics shouldn’t try to convert Jews, says new Vatican document, Religion News Service, December 10, 2015
[vi] In first prayer video, Pope stresses interfaith unity: ‘We are all children of God’, Catholic News Agency, January 7, 2016
[vii] Pope Francis Publicly Hails Communism, Freedom Fighter Times, November 14, 2016
[viii] Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis: “Trump? I do not judge. I care only if he makes the poor suffer”, La Republica, November 11, 2016
[ix] Hal Lindsey, The Rapture, 1983, pgs 148-149
[x] Chuck Missler & Mark Eastman, Alien Encounters, Koinia House, 1997, pg 267
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