D
DL82
Guest
C.S. Lewis coined the phrase that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord, in response to any ideas that He is simply a good man or a wise teacher. Our Lord does not give us that option, because He teaches people to follow Him and trust in His power and His divinity. If He’s not really God, then He’s either evil or a madman.
It occurs to me that the same is true of the Papacy. I know that recently, particularly since the enormous popularity of John Paul II’s papacy, many protestants have begun to see the Pope as a good figurehead for global Christianity, but not infallible. The Anglicans tend to take the view that the Pope is the first among equals of the world’s bishops, and so his opinions should be taken seriously, but are not infallible. The Orthodox Church sees the Papacy in a similar role, as having primacy of honour over the other patriarchs, but not the right to over-rule them. These views are not consistent with the Pope’s self-understanding, and his exercise of his office in practice, now or historically.
The fact remains, however, that the Pope exercises his office as though he were the head over the whole Church, with an infallible teaching charism. This is true of Benedict XVI, it was true of John Paul II, and of every other pope, back at least as far as Vatican I.
That’s why the East/West schism was couched in such harsh terms. The Pope wasn’t just in disagreement with the patriarchs, he was anathema. Likewise, the Westminster Confession, which both the Church of England and Church of Scotland signed up to in the 17th century, calls the Pope the anti-Christ. These are valid and understandable positions.
Either the Pope is who he says he is, the successor of St Peter, the Vicar of Christ, with the God-given office of governing the whole Christian Church on earth, or he is a usurper, claiming for himself a power which properly belongs only to Christ Himself, working through His Holy Spirit in the hearts of each individual believer. Either he is deluded, and surrounds himself with deluded followers, or he is an evil dictator who has seized control of a large portion of Christ’s church and perverted it, or he is in fact the Holy Father, the earthly shepherd of Christ’s flock.
There really isn’t any middle ground on this.
It occurs to me that the same is true of the Papacy. I know that recently, particularly since the enormous popularity of John Paul II’s papacy, many protestants have begun to see the Pope as a good figurehead for global Christianity, but not infallible. The Anglicans tend to take the view that the Pope is the first among equals of the world’s bishops, and so his opinions should be taken seriously, but are not infallible. The Orthodox Church sees the Papacy in a similar role, as having primacy of honour over the other patriarchs, but not the right to over-rule them. These views are not consistent with the Pope’s self-understanding, and his exercise of his office in practice, now or historically.
The fact remains, however, that the Pope exercises his office as though he were the head over the whole Church, with an infallible teaching charism. This is true of Benedict XVI, it was true of John Paul II, and of every other pope, back at least as far as Vatican I.
That’s why the East/West schism was couched in such harsh terms. The Pope wasn’t just in disagreement with the patriarchs, he was anathema. Likewise, the Westminster Confession, which both the Church of England and Church of Scotland signed up to in the 17th century, calls the Pope the anti-Christ. These are valid and understandable positions.
Either the Pope is who he says he is, the successor of St Peter, the Vicar of Christ, with the God-given office of governing the whole Christian Church on earth, or he is a usurper, claiming for himself a power which properly belongs only to Christ Himself, working through His Holy Spirit in the hearts of each individual believer. Either he is deluded, and surrounds himself with deluded followers, or he is an evil dictator who has seized control of a large portion of Christ’s church and perverted it, or he is in fact the Holy Father, the earthly shepherd of Christ’s flock.
There really isn’t any middle ground on this.
