Brothers Bayly

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Saturday, 30 May 2009

Recommendation of National (Roman) Catholic Bioethics Center...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) Comparing the witness on bioethical issues of any number of Roman Catholic organizations to that of any Protestant organization--any one at all--is depressing. Several times I've gotten hopeful only to see evangelicals prove once again that ethics to them consists of taking a position halfway between Scripture and the world's current practice. And of course, the world's current practice is a target that never stands still.

Nevertheless, here's another excellent Roman Catholic resource. It's the web site of the National (Roman) Catholic Bioethics Center and all of us committed to opposing the wholesale slaughter of men made in the image of God who are unborn, newborn, feeble, and aged would do well to familiarize ourselves with its resources.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 27 April 2009

President Barack Obama rocks XXII: But count Mary Ann Glendon out of the festivities...

(Tim, w/thanks to several) Lots of readers have sent links to pieces commenting on President Barack Obama's invitation to give the Commencement Address at Notre Dame University this spring despite Notre Dame's purported affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church and President Obama's consistent ghoulish advocacy of baby-slaughter.

Honestly, I've not had the heart to say anything about it. Not out of respect for Notre Dame or the lowest-common denominator Roman Catholicism she's represented for decades, now. To me, Notre Dame is football, a good home for the world's top sorta-reformed, kinda-Protestant, sorta-evangelical scholars like Marsden, Hatch, and Plantinga; but mostly the school that resides in the same town a few hours north that's called home by E. Michael Jones.

Then, today, several of you sent me the letter just released by Mary Ann Glendon announcing her change of mind concerning being present at Notre Dame's Commencement to accept Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal. God bless Mary Ann Glendon!

Here's her letter...

Continue reading "President Barack Obama rocks XXII: But count Mary Ann Glendon out of the festivities..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 06 March 2009

Dead babies who don't count: The Pill's bloody future...

(As you read, check out this new music for fathers and husbands who understand that, in the godly, fear and love embrace - don't miss Hiding Place and The Son of God Goes Forth to War)

* * *
...the proven ‘anti-implantation’ action of the morning-after pill is really nothing other than a chemically induced abortion. (Pontifical Academy for Life)

(Tim)
Today, twenty-two percent of our nation's children are murdered in the womb, and a growing proportion of those murders are what our nation's merchant of death, Planned Parenthood, euphemistically refers to as "medical abortions"--abortions committed by chemical rather than steel weapons. Pro-life leaders have been dreading this change for decades knowing how much more difficult it will be to oppose abortion as it moves toward the earliest weeks and days of pregnancy, and into the privacy of the home.

The change has come quickly...

Already, chemical abortions comprise over twenty percent of current abortions, and the proportion is growing rapidly. In a private e-mail sent to Planned Parenthood Federation of America on July 9, 2007, Danco Laboratories LLC (the pharmaceutical firm distributing one of the chemical abortifacients, Mifeprex) reported: "In the five years following FDA approval (2000-2005), more than 750,000 U.S. women have used Mifeprex."

This means over 150,000 women per year are taking Mifeprex to kill their unborn child. But Mifeprex is only one of the growing list of chemical agents being deployed...

Continue reading "Dead babies who don't count: The Pill's bloody future..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Food as fetish...

(Tim) Food. People today can't make up their minds whether it's erotica or The Meaning of Life. For men whose god is their belly, lust and appetite feed off each other and produce similar neuroses. Computer pornography. Obesity. Hooking up. Anorexia. Abortion. Veganism. Birth control.

Enslaved to our appetites, we'd do well to learn a word almost never heard outside Roman Catholicism: concupiscence.

Here's something true: Christians today turn the marriage bed over to a mutual concupiscence we refer to as "making love." But there's little love, and no making of anyone at all.

True love can't possibly be self-gratification by other means...

Continue reading "Food as fetish..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Saturday, 14 February 2009

Obama supporters claiming to be "pro-life" were never, really, opposed to abortion...

(Tim, from LifeSiteNews.com) Prior to the election, I found those who called themselves "pro-life" while shilling for Senator Barack Obama to be morally repugnant. Now, these hypocrites have had more than enough opportunities publicly to acknowledge their mistake; they've had weeks to cry "foul" or "I was misled by Senator Obama's lies concerning abortion;" yet they are silent.

Where are their protests? Where are they denouncing the aggressive promotion of abortion, internationally, that President Obama has given himself to since taking office at the White House? Where have the voices of Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo been raised in protest of President Obama's advocacy of child-slaughter? And turning to McLaren's and Campolo's useful simpletons, do any of them feel just the least bit betrayed and ashamed of their naivete?

It would be hard to prove, but I'm convinced that many of those who supported Senator Obama's presidential aspirations while claiming, themselves, to be Christian and pro-life were not pro-life at all, but rather, themselves often had had one or more abortions (or helped others to get one) and voted for Senator Obama as a coping mechanism employed to silence their conscience. And I do not say this from any anger at President Obama being elected to our nations highest elected office. Rather, it's my own personal observation.

Well, again, when guilt and complicity have silenced Emerjellicals, Rome speaks.

Here's Roman Catholic leadership that I, a Protestant Presbyterian pastor, agree with entirely..

Continue reading "Obama supporters claiming to be "pro-life" were never, really, opposed to abortion..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 09 February 2009

Trust me, bookmark MoralAccountability.com...

(Tim) No links to Rob Bell's schlock, the deep and sensitive thoughts of Brian McLaren, the Christian Medical and Dental Society, Talbot Seminary's groundbreaking ethics and public policy think tank, faculty members at Wheaton College, or CTi journalists on this site. Ron Sider and Jim Wallis haven't made an appearance just yet--nor their "me too" buddy, Al Gore. There's been no sighting of Niel Nielson or Bryan Chapell--nor any of their professors, for that matter. In fact, no sign of anyone in the Presbyterian Church in America...

Continue reading "Trust me, bookmark MoralAccountability.com..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Saturday, 07 February 2009

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...

(Tim) With Bishop Gene Robinson on their left and the Traditional Anglican Communion on their right, are there any Anglicans left who still affirm the Biblical doctrine of the Reformation?

A friend on the advisory board of Touchstone magazine, an ecumenical venture I subscribe to, writes: "Were this ever to happen it would be huge." He's referring to the rumored creation of another personal prelature, following in the Opus Dei pattern, of about half a million Anglicans from the Traditional Anglican Communion. The deal goes something like this: The Traditional Anglicans promise full submission to the Pope in exchange for the Pope welcoming them into full communion while holding their submission in his own hip pocket.

And what, pray tell, does that full submission look like?

It's not pretty. Specifically, they signed the Catechism of the Roman Catholic church stating by their signatures: "We accept that the most complete and authentic expression and application of the Catholic faith in this moment of time is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, which we have signed, together with this letter as attesting to the faith we aspire to teach and hold."

Here then are a few excerpts from that Catechism indicating what they believe to be the most complete and authentic expression of the Christian faith at this time:

Continue reading "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 05 February 2009

In praise of sheepdogs...

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

(Tim)
One of the men just interviewed and accepted into ClearNote Pastors College for matriculation this coming September is a middle-aged recently-retired law enforcement officer whose gift is keeping the peace. He's trained men for SWAT team duties and has a deep understanding of the weaknesses and strengths of warriors. What will he add to CNPC's curriculum?

This morning, this brother sent me the poem below which has been widely circulated within the law enforcement community in recent years. As I read, I found myself thinking what an excellent commentary it is on Jesus' teaching in John 10 on hirelings, wolves, the flock, and the Good Shepherd.

Fellow pastors and elders: We're all happy to live in a nation that's never suffered any serious invasion by hostile forces, but we are silent when our President is attacked precisely for his vigilance in our behalf. We're all pleased as punch to live in the suburbs where we never hear the crackle of gunfire as we watch our male soaps of urban warfare, but we look askance at discussions of weapons, wondering what kind of monsters have a zeal for this or that brand of hand gun? We worship in Protestant churches holding to Protestant doctrine faithful to Scripture, but our skin crawls when our pastor warns us against heresy. Any heresy. Any heresy at all--but particularly Roman Catholicism.

In other words, we live in peace given to us by the Man of Blood; we live in the midst of a civil security given us by men of blood who laid down their lives for the sheep; but then we pull back in horror when one of them barks, kills a wolf, or comes to church with blood on his hands. "He's so dirty! He should be Baptist or Pentecostal."

Continue reading "In praise of sheepdogs..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 03 February 2009

Cardinal Mahony faces scrutiny...

(Tim, w/thanks to David C.) From both outside and inside the Roman Catholic church, we've watched the exposure of sodomite priests across North America this past decade or so--priests who have raped minor boys they vowed to protect as church fathers. We've read the secular media's investigative reports. As a subscriber, I've also read the most conservative publications of the Roman Catholic communion respond to each revelation. Then too, I've followed the matter through personal letters received from a friend who was a priest, but now is doing prison time for crimes he claims he's innocent of.

Three things have stuck in my mind...

Continue reading "Cardinal Mahony faces scrutiny..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Down under, the drift toward domesticity...

(Tim, w/thanks to Kamilla) Since moving to Bloomington, I've often read aloud to one of my younger brothers or sisters in Christ, seeking to innoculate them against this or that part of our cultural decadence. Scripture always and foremost. But also Bonhoeffer (Life Together). Calvin. Kierkegaard (Attack Upon Christendom). A. A. Milne. The "Preliminary Principles" from America's first Presbyterians. Blamires. Baxter. Bayly--Dad of course. Sayers...

In frequency and zeal, though, my use of Chesterton far surpasses the others. For the lies popular among young men and women today, particularly those being propagandized on university campuses, Chesterton is God's man on the spot. Specifically, no one does a better job of exposing feminism's humorless and bloody corpse.

Among Chesterton's essays, read "The Drift from Domesticity" found in The Thing. (You'll find the full text at the bottom of this post.)

Sit your mother down; call your daughter or wife; read it to the woman of your love right now. You'll both laugh with delight.

Then buy Chesterton's What's Wrong With the World and read the essays comparing the work of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. You'll never again think big thoughts about business and small thoughts about motherhood. Chesterton will have given you a lifelong innoculation against such stupidity.

All this comes to mind with this from Australia recording the growth in love for the household arts among women there. Now that's good news!

By the way, when I recommend Chesterton, people occasionally get a look of horror on their faces and inform me that he's Roman Catholic and hates Calvin...

Continue reading "Down under, the drift toward domesticity..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 08 January 2009

Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009.

(Tim) Father Richard John Neuhaus has passed through the valley of the shadow of death. May God have mercy on his soul. His death is a great loss for Roman Catholics and Protestants, alike. But maybe even more for Protestants since there are few men of his Biblical understanding, discernment, and courage among us. Toll the bell.

From Joseph Bottum, the editor of First Things:

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus slipped away today, January 8, shortly before 10 o’clock, at the age of seventy-two. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was suffering. He lost consciousness Tuesday evening after a collapse in his heart rate, and the next day, in the company of friends, he died...

Continue reading "Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 18 December 2008

An odious comparison: Evangelicalism's Baalam and Rome's Jeremiah...

(Tim) So everyone's talking about Rick Warren's payoff. He gets to pray in front of millions during Senator Obama's inauguration, calling down God's presence and blessing on a ceremony centered around the national politician most committed to the slaughter of his nation's children taking God's Name in vain as he falsely promises to uphold the Constitution of these United States.

When our nation was founded, our Declaration of Independence declared our commitments this way:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

Thus, in the "Preamble" to our Constitution, we state the Constitution's purpose to be to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

Precisely how does a man swear by God's Holy Name to secure the blessings of liberty to our posterity who himself is our nation's political leader most committed to the slaughter of that posterity? The wickedness of Governor Blagojevich pales by comparison.

Selling an appointment to the U.S. Senate is child's play compared to the child slaughter which was a central plank of Senator Obama's campaign. Talk about wickedness in high places!

But no one's watching. We're all transfixed by our nation's little morality play over there on Chicago's South Side.

Also, by the vision of Evangelicalism's own Balaam, the Warrenmeister, thinking gentle thoughts about how his invocation of the Triune God can help heal our nation as we all unify behind our new President. So Rick Warren, prophet of Israel, hoists himself on his donkey...

Continue reading "An odious comparison: Evangelicalism's Baalam and Rome's Jeremiah..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 27 August 2008

The Papists, the Turks, and the Jews...

"...we affirm our fundamental unity with all the saints within the body of Christ, including those in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches..." -Trinity Reformed Church

(Tim) It's hip today for a man to identify himself with the "ancient" Christian church and faith. The early ecumenical creeds and the writing of the early church fathers are all the rage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I sense this movement often carries with it a dismissal of church history between the first centuries and today. It's as if all that happened in the intervening millenia and a half is brushed aside. The Reformation and Council of Trent were only bad dreams; it's time to wake up and smell the roses.

For instance, Trinity Reformed Church (where PCA pastor Peter Leithart serves) just issued a Statement on Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Reformed Catholicity which begins...

Continue reading "The Papists, the Turks, and the Jews..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 26 August 2008

Calvinist pastor welcomed to the Roman Catholic Mass by...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) There's some truth to the statement that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Still, a Protestant Calvinist pastor who has never been received into the Roman Catholic Church, yet for much of his life is granted Table Fellowship there? And both Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II knowingly gave him Communion?

Well, it couldn't happen to a better man.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Saturday, 23 August 2008

The Protestant logic of non-procreative hedonism...

(Tim) From Joe Sobran's latest column celebrating the fortieth anniversary of "one of the most prophetic documents of the last century," Humanae Vitae:

* * *

Strange as it may seem, nearly all Christians used to agree that contraception is contrary to God's law.  This began to change in 1930, when the Church of England decreed at its Lambeth Conference that married couples might licitly use contraceptives in cases of hardship. Other Christians were shocked, discerning that the floodgates had been opened by this first fatal concession.

One might mention countless baleful results, such as the current demand for sodomite "wedlock." The real sexual revolution, however, occurred not in the noisy or flamboyant homosexual precincts, but quietly, in the marriage bed. Everything else is an offshoot, a byproduct of the compromise of the marital act, a perversion that has become the norm in the "advanced" countries of the West. In view of this, the perceptive homosexual advocate Andrew Sullivan has gloated, "We are all sodomites now," and he is not far wrong. Gay activists are merely acting out the logic of non-procreative hedonism...

Continue reading "The Protestant logic of non-procreative hedonism..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Heavy metal Capuchin monk...

Picture_3 (Tim, w/thanks to Ben) Well, he's honest--you've got to give him that. Not Christ, not the church, not religion, but life.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 03 July 2008

Roman Catholic and Protestant divorce and remarriage...

(Tim) Divorce is one of the most difficult questions pastors and elders face as we shepherd God's flock. Providing spiritual counsel in cases where husband and wife don't get along is relatively easy. Much harder are those cases in which husbands or wives physically abuse their spouses, fathers or stepfathers sexually abuse their children, husbands or wives commit serious sexual sin (what Jesus refers to as "porneia" in the exception clause of Matthew 19), or husbands demand their wives and children deny the faith. Each of these matters requires the most careful study of Scripture, prayer, and pastoral counsel. Sometimes the result is a session (board of elders) recommendation of divorce.

In the twelve years since Church of the Good Shepherd was founded, our session has made such a recommendation two or three times, each by unanimous consent. Sometimes it's hard to say whether the believing or unbelieving spouse is the one taking the initiative in the divorce. This is why it's impossible to say precisely how many times we've counseled divorce. We don't make the decision--the innocent party does. Yet neither do we abandon that innocent party to their own counsel. Our Westminster Standards are correct..

Continue reading "Roman Catholic and Protestant divorce and remarriage..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 06 June 2008

Protest the Pill Day: It's the Roman Catholics, again...

(Tim) My daughter, Michal Crum, just forwarded me a link to American Life League's "Protest the Pill" web site. Of course it would take Roman Catholics to be concerned about the pill killing unborn children, wouldn't it?

Where would our nation be without Nazarene Jim Dobson, Baptist Chuck Colson, Atheist Jews Nat Hentoff and Bernard Nathanson (since converted to Roman Catholicism), Methodist Don Wildemon, or Roman Catholics Richard John Neuhaus, Joe Scheidler, and Judie Brown?

Reformed believers aren't concerned about widows and orphans in their distress? Well, sure we are, but saving souls is so much more important! Then too, there's that whole spirituality of the church thing...

Who cares about babies?

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 28 May 2008

Complementarianism simply a private Christian conviction...

(Tim) Several of us have been having a conversation about what I consider far and away the best work on sexuality in print today, Stephen B. Clark’s Man and Woman in Christ. If you’re a Titus 2 woman, a pastor, or an elder and you haven’t read Clark, you should know that this book written by a Roman Catholic layman is indispensable. Traditional complementarian literature such as Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood can never be more than a stopgap measure. Although helpful, such works are only a hodgepodge of viewpoints and perspectives, never approaching a theology of sexuality. Why?

At the heart of the movement known as “Complementarianism” is the commitment to saying sex matters only in the church and home and only among Christians. It’s a private affair for those who affirm the authority of Scripture because of their Christian faith, and this private affair is only applicable in the private Christian spheres of the church and the home. One looks in vain for complementarians’ application of the order of creation to the military, courts, law enforcement, education, business, or government. The silence is deafening.

As with abortion in the late seventies and early eighties, we again are humiliated by having to turn to Roman Catholics for the doctrinal work needed for our time. While evangelical marketing mavens cop relevant postures and talk loudly in restaurants about being missional and the necessity of contextualizing, Roman Catholics do the heavy lifting against the heresies of our time. What shame we should feel.

These comments exchanged with several brothers by private E-mail led to this response by Bill Mouser, a dear brother in the Lord who's been a great encouragement to me for many years, now. Mouser, the head of the International Council for Gender Studies, writes...

Continue reading "Complementarianism simply a private Christian conviction..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 26 May 2008

A survey on Bible literacy...

(Tim, w/thanks to Carol) The international Synod of (Roman) Catholic Bishops will meet this coming October around the theme, "The Word of God." In preparation, an international survey on biblical literacy was taken in the United States, the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland and Russia. (Soon, other countries in the Southern Hemisphere will be added, including Argentina, South Africa, the Philippines, and Australia.)

Italian sociologist Luca Diotallevi says the study is “the most systematic scientific undertaking yet attempted to compare, on an international scale, levels and forms of familiarity with the Scriptures.”

The survey's findings indicate even secularized nations and people are quite interested in the Bible, but find it very hard to understand. This is a wonderful opening for the people of God--evangelistic Bible studies continue to be one of the most effective tools we have for bringing men and women to the preaching of the Word and faith.

Other survey results show the decline of Bible knowledge among American Protestants as it grows among Roman Catholics...

Continue reading "A survey on Bible literacy..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 21 May 2008

Senator Kennedy's soul...

Kerrypapalmass3(Tim) Throughout my adult years, Senator Ted Kennedy has been our nation's most visible proponent of wickedness in high places. Chief among his high crimes has been his ruthless promotion of the altars of Molech upon which many millions of little ones have been sacrificed. And from Chappaquiddick on, his personal life has been notorious.

Yet, even a month ago at the Papal Mass held at Nationals Park, the Roman Catholic church could not bring herself to enforce her own rules of discipline against him or fellow Roman Catholic pro-abortion Senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd. They all received Communion.

While confessing Christians such as President Bush are issuing statements commending Senator Kennedy as a great statesman, my hero Joe Scheidler has struck the right note in calling us to pray for the Senator's soul:

We're all praying for him. We hope his ailment will bring conversion. We can't wish anyone eternal punishment.

May God have mercy on Senator Kennedy's soul as he faces death and judgment.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 15 May 2008

Had Calvin or Luther lived in our time...

(Tim) Senator McCain asked for Pastor John Hagee's support in his presidential bid, and got it. Later, Roman Catholics sought to make Senator McCain's association with Pastor Hagee the same sort of liability Senator Obama had with Pastor Wright. Well, unlike Pastor Wright, Pastor Hagee knows how to backpedal.

Releasing this howler of an abject apology, the LA Times reported:

Pastor John Hagee, who heads the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, said in a letter made public Tuesday that he now knew the terms he used to describe the church, such as "the great whore," were "rhetorical devices long employed in anti-Catholic literature."

I'm chuckling.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 24 April 2008

Putin, patriarchs, and thugs...

(Tim, w/thanks to Lucas) From my perspective, there's little difference between the claims of unity of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Both amount to little more than, "We're real, real old."

No duh.

Read Calvin's Institutes and you'll see that evangelical reformed doctrine and practice are much older, going back to the Apostles themselves with much support in the early and medieval church. I like to tell my congregation that the Roman Catholic church didn't exist until the Council of Trent when it went off in schism. Yes, it's slightly hyperbolic, but a good bit true, too.

Here's an article from the New York Times documenting something those of us with brothers and sisters in Christ working in former Soviet bloc countries knew already. Just as Orthodoxy's scribes were tight with the KGB before Communism's fall, they're tight now with the blinkered nationalistic thugs governing these countries today. And Orthodoxy's patriarchs are in The Man's hip pockets...

Continue reading "Putin, patriarchs, and thugs..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 22 April 2008

Sealed with a kiss...

(Tim, w/thanks to David W.) Some years back, I was responsible for escorting Mother Theresa across several blocks in downtown St. Louis to the venue where she was about to address the Presbyterian Church (USA) on the subject of abortion. As we walked (or tried to walk), our way was obstructed by scores of desperate mothers and grandmothers pressing up against one another as if they were bodies trying to get on a Japanese commuter train, each holding out a picture of some loved one--a child or grandchild--that they wanted Mother Theresa to look at, touch, and bless. I felt like I'd been transported in time back to the medieval world...

Continue reading "Sealed with a kiss..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 15 November 2007

Limbo in limbo: "This exceptionally delicate issue..."

...the question of the eternal destiny of infants who die unbaptised is “one of the most difficult to solve in the structure of theology”. It is a “limit-case” where vital tenets of faith, especially the need of Baptism for salvation and the universal salvific will of God, can easily appear to be in tension. (W)e have considered how the Spirit may be guiding the Church at this point in history to reflect anew on this exceptionally delicate issue. -The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptised

(Tim) Watch for Benedict XVI to lower the Roman Catholic Church’s commitment to limbo, soon. According to The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptised, a report recently released with Benedict XVI’s permission by the Vatican’s International Study Commission, limbo can’t be found in Scripture.

The internal debate has been heating up the past couple of years as traditionalists sensed what was coming and took their usual posture of opposing change. When papists go around claiming “No other church has the guarantee that it will always teach the truth” (Wanderer, 8/16/07), they back themselves into a corner that’s hard to escape. So the Vatican finds itself in an awkward position wanting to withdraw a doctrine they’ve taught for centuries...

Continue reading "Limbo in limbo: "This exceptionally delicate issue..."" »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 22 October 2007

A celibate priesthood...

(Tim) Every couple of months I waste some time reading the New York Times. Normally newpaperless, it's fun every now or then to catch up on the great big world.

Dateline Vatican City, October 13: An Italian monsignor was suspended from his Vatican post in which he serves "as a top official in the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests."

An italian television network broadcast interviews with a number of priests about their sodomite practices. The men were interviewed with their faces and voices obscured to avoid identification. The hapless monsignor made the mistake of being interviewed in his Vatican office. So, although his face and voice were hidden, the trappings of his office were not. During his interview the Monsignor "said he 'didn't feel he was sinning' by having sex with gay men."

Vatican spokesman, The Rev. Frederico Lombardi, assured reporters: "The case is being handled with utmost reserve."

The only man I know personally who is currently preparing for the Roman Catholic priesthood has spent his life struggling against temptations to same-sex intimacy.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 04 October 2007

Benedict and Luther agree, at least...

Would people think more of the Catholic Church if she were to deny her link with the God-man Jesus and pretend that she is just the same as churches founded by weak men like Martin Luther and King Henry VIII? Not likely. That would also mean denying her divine Founder and her whole reason for existence. No other church has the guarantee that it will always teach the truth. No other church has seven sacraments, seven channels of God's grace, to help us get to Heaven. No other church, except the Orthodox Church (which lacks full communion with the Bishop of Rome), has the Holy Eucharist, the actual Body and Blood of Christ Himself, without which Jesus said we cannot get to Heaven… That is why it is essential for Catholics to go to Mass every week; it's the only place one can receive the spiritual food necessary to get to Heaven… -The Wanderer, August 16, 2007

(Tim) The Wanderer is an orthodox Roman Catholic weekly newspaper published since 1867 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Back in 1980, I was given a six month gift subscription by my dear friend, Jon Archibald. I found the paper so helpful on social, cultural, political, economic, academic, and moral issues that I’ve subscribed now for twenty-seven years. Although Touchstone magazine places a close second, The Wanderer still holds first place as the best news source for the national and international battle on fronts such as sodomy, the unborn, the libertarian movement, no-fault divorce, population control, China’s forced abortion and single child policies, the persecution of Christians, economics, just war principles applied to global conflicts, terrorism, the education of children, the academy, our two-party union shop, infanticide, euthanasia, etc. I’ve found no better news source for Christians pursuing our Lord’s command to be salt and light.

Yet there's another way The Wanderer is helpful. It reminds us of Rome's errors and the threat those errors pose to immortal souls. When so many evangelical luminaries have signed on to the nuanced ambiguities of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, we can be lulled to sleep and forget the chasm between Rome and biblical faith. But then, along comes The Wanderer providing a pitcher of cold water to the face, awakening us from our slumber.

Men whose observation of Roman Catholicism has been limited to the kinder gentler Catholicism of the northern hemisphere might have difficulty understanding why, at this late date, anyone would still consider Roman Catholicism to be opposed to biblical faith. David and I are currently serving as tutors to the men who matriculated this fall in our pastors college as they read Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians. Luther got it right when he opposed the Judaizing heresy at the heart of Rome. Take this lengthy excerpt as one example, particularly noting what Luther says about Rome's schoolmen and the Pope...

Continue reading "Benedict and Luther agree, at least..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 04 September 2007

Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians, gagged...

(Tim) The second group of men have now matriculated in our pastors college and, as part of the heart religion emphasis during the first of three years' study, I'm leading a seminar on Luther's commentary on Galatians. I have an old copy of the commentary published in 1953 by London's James Clarke & Co. which I've used preaching through Galatians the past couple of years. But I went ahead and bought a second copy of the commentary since the most widely available and cheapest printing today is a paperback edition sold by Wheaton's Crossway Publishers. It's one volume in their Crossway Classic Commentaries series and we had assigned it as the edition of Luther's commentary the men were to read for the seminar. It made sense for me to be on the same page with the men. Literally.

Still, I wasn't entirely happy with the situation. Concerning evangelical publishers and their theological trustworthiness, I have a naturally suspicious mind. "Surely no need to worry about Crossway, though," I thought. "They publish many good authors and, although Alister McGrath is one of the series' editors, Jim Packer is the other and he wouldn't allow them to bowdlerize Luther." In his essay, "Sola Fide: The Reformed Doctrine of Justification," Packer cites the same edition of Luther on Galatians I use, translated by Philip S. Watson and published by James Clarke & Co. He's drunk at the same well so he'll not allow anyone to ruin Luther.

And yet I had a nagging thought at the back of my mind that we'd made a mistake by going with Crossway's edition... 

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Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 23 July 2007

Benedict XVI: Protestant churches not true churches...

(By Tim) This strikes me as pretty ho-hum. After all, for centuries now Roman Catholics and Protestants have been agreed that both sides of the Tiber cannot possibly be true churches. Yes, we've gone through a couple decades when everyone was trying to deny the substance of our division, and that the substance centered on the nature of saving faith. But you have to respect Benedict XVI for blowing away those mists and vapors. If only Protestant men would be as honest.

By the way, have I ever said I love Ratzinger?

Posted by Tim Bayly, Monday, 07 May 2007

Scholars and shepherds: another angle on Roman Catholic ecclesiology...

Under Francis Beckwith's post announcing his conversion to Roman Catholicism, one Roman Catholic commented:

Welcome back (to Rome)! I am a clergy convert myself.

To which I commented that Dr. Beckwith is not “clergy.” He has no congregation he has been set apart by the Holy Spirit to shepherd. For my own understanding of his error, this is key. Go back to the Erasmus/Luther debate, and the same distinction is pivotal. Erasmus is a scholar, Luther a shepherd.

Continue reading "Scholars and shepherds: another angle on Roman Catholic ecclesiology..." »

Posted by Tim Bayly, Sunday, 06 May 2007

Really, the Reformers were so very stupid...

Twelve hours ago, the current president of the Evangelical Theological Society, philosopher Francis J. Beckwith, posted a short piece announcing he and his wife have made the decision to convert to Roman Catholicism. Beckwith claims there's no conflict between Rome and the doctrinal standards of the Evangelical Theological Society and who am I to disagree? (No cheating--ya gotta read it all the way to the bottom.)

Here's my comment under Beckwith's announcement:

This past week, I taught Luther’s Bondage of the Will to my son’s home school co-op class, prompting my observation as a longtime ETS member that it seems apparent ETS today would roll out the red carpet for Erasmus, but would give old man Luther the boot. Those tempted to cast a longing glance after Beckwith would do well to read Bondage of the Will, themselves. It’s a perfectly Scriptural cure for Tiberculosis.

Posted by Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 24 April 2007

The Vatican shames evangelicals...

While acknowledging the terrible denial of the Gospel at the heart of Roman Catholic dogma, true believers will rejoice to hear her prophetic voice continue to address the evils and hypocrisies of western culture.

These are strange days, when the professor of ethics at the Presbyterian Church in America's Covenant Seminary seeks to overturn laws banning sodomy, while the Vatican decries "parliaments of so-called civilized nations where laws contrary to the nature of the human being are being promulgated, such as the approval of marriage between people of the same sex ..."; when the Washington D.C. representative of the National Association of Evangelicals calls the world to a new moral awakening opposing carbon emissions, while the Pope calls for a new moral order in which abortion clinics are finally recognized as "slaughterhouses of human beings, …terrorism with a human face."

(Thanks, David.)

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 25 August 2006

Georgetown Jesuits give Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, other Protestant ministries, the boot...

This just arrived in my E-mail inbox from my friend, Kevin Offner:

I'm still a bit stunned as I write this. Georgetown University has just kicked off InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (and four other evangelical para-church groups) from its campus. No reason has been given other than what you see in this letter. Please pray for us as we seek to respond, that we would have wisdom and respond out of love, not fear.

Warmly in Christ,

Kevin Offner, InterVarsity Grad Staff at Washington, DC Universities

Looking into the matter, I found that Georgetown's campus newspaper, The Hoya, ran an article today (August 25, 2006), announcing the decision. The article titled "Campus Ministry Removes Affiliates exposed the tight-lipped, damage-control mindset characterizing Georgetown's administrators who implemented the decision:

"The manner in which they pursued this was that they weren't going to allow any other voices other than their own," (Chi Aplha Christian Fellowship co-leader) Jay Lim said. "It's not just what they did, it's the manner in which they pursued [it]."

The new policy barring ministry affiliates was announced during a brief meeting that administrators held with the groups last Thursday. According to several affiliate members who attended the meeting, administrators announced the exclusion of the groups without permitting any discussion or feedback.

Hannah Coyne (COL '07), another Chi Alpha co-leader, called the move "incredibly unprofessional and incredibly disrespectful to the students at Georgetown."

...Officials in the offices of Fr. Philip Boroughs, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, and Fr. Timothy Godfrey, S.J., director of campus ministry, referred questions to the Office of Communications. Phone calls yesterday afternoon to Rev. Wheeler, who wrote the letter informing the groups of the new policies, were not returned.

Here is a PDF copy of the letter announcing the decision. Printed on Georgetown letterhead and signed by Rev. Constance C. Wheeler, Director of Campus Ministry, it reads...

Continue reading "Georgetown Jesuits give Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, other Protestant ministries, the boot..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 13 July 2006

Love across the Tiber...

Here's an E-mail just received from my dear friend, John Archibold, who has given me permission to put it up on the blog. John had read the recent post, Mainline sodomites and evangelical feminists: Who really loves Jesus?, and this is his response. But first, who is John Archibold?

Back in 1979-80, Mary Lee and I spent a year in Boulder, Colorado, where I had been hired to serve a one-year pastoral internship at First Presbyterian Church prior to entering Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the Fall of 1980. During that year, Dad put us in touch with John and Molly Archibold, old friends from Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship days, and the Archibolds graciously invited us to their Denver home for dinner one evening.

We had never met the Archibolds, but that evening meal and the conversation that followed late into the night remains one of the most memorable and influential contacts in Mary Lee's and my life. At the time, the Archibolds were members of their local Episcopal parish. Later, they left the Episcopalians for the Anglican Catholics--a way-station on the way to Rome, I thought at the time. Then, sure enough, they converted to what I call Roman Catholicism and they call Catholicism. They love Rome and all she stands for, and I think they're wrong. Woefully so, given the stark difference between the Roman Catholic doctrine and practice of justification, particularly the distinction between the infusion and imputation of Christ's righteousness.

But I'm not writing this to fight that battle, at the moment. Rather, to pay tribute to John and Molly for all they've meant in my life and that of my family, and also to demonstrate that there is a Roman Catholic who loves me and is convinced that I, like many other reformed pastors before me, will soon enter Rome. What can I say?

Well, loving John as I do, I'd suggest he not hold his breath. Here's his loving letter...

Continue reading "Love across the Tiber..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 05 April 2006

Gordon College & Tom Howard; Wheaton College & Joshua Hochschild...

With my two brothers, David and Nathan, I took my Masters of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, an institution bound historically with its sister institution about four miles away, Gordon College. Both schools are on Boston's North Shore. And although no formal ties remain, the two schools have always had plenty of Gospel ties coming out of their mutual Protestant and evangelical commitments, and their common heritage and close proximity.

In 1985, two years after I graduated from Gordon-Conwell, one of the more visible members of Gordon College's academic community, Tom Howard, converted to Roman Catholicism and resigned as a faculty member.

Howard is the younger brother of two prominent evangelicals, Dave Howard and Elisabeth Elliot Gren, but he also was an author with broad name recognition himself. Years earlier, he'd written his angry-young-man book, Christ the Tiger, which was widely read. He'd also done a number of other books, one an extended meditation on the Christian home called Splendor in the Ordinary which I commend to our readers. (Howard continues to write and publishes with the orthodox Roman Catholic publisher, Ignatius Press, one of the most noteworthy Christian publishers today.)

When Howard converted, it hit the evangelical world like a sledgehammer and his departure from Gordon College was not to be taken for granted. A rather typical evangelical institution--big-hearted, broad-minded, but atheological--many of us would not have been surprised for Gordon College to keep Howard on despite his conversion. But they didn't.

Shortly afterward, a document authored by Gordon College's Faculty Senate was released as a partial explanation of the college's decision. The document titled, Explanatory Statement to the Senate's Motions To Affirm the Existing Policy with Respect to the Hiring of Non-Protestants as Faculty Members at Gordon College, circulated broadly. As I've read the discussion surrounding Joshua Hochschild's departure from the faculty of Wheaton College because of his own conversion to Roman Catholicism, I've thought it would be good for those involved in the discussion to have access to this document from Gordon College's past history...

Continue reading "Gordon College & Tom Howard; Wheaton College & Joshua Hochschild..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 10 January 2006

Wheaton College and Roman Catholicism

A disturbing article from the Wall Street Journal on a Wheaton College philosophy professor's conversion to Roman Catholicism and subsequent firing by Wheaton.

The irony of this account is that it seems certain the day is coming when Roman Catholic professors will be accepted at Wheaton. President Duane Litfin comes across as a man dutifully toeing the historic line which has long been understood to forbid Roman Catholic professors, but he seems a forlorn figure, standing for a Wheaton of alumni memory rather than the Wheaton of the present.

The Journal is strongly sympathetic to the fired professor; it suggests that such narrow sectarianism is the reason some states have begun to reject student aid funding for Evangelical schools.

When Christ warns about the "leaven of the Pharisees" He speaks of a contagion that proliferates. Ironically, the contagion of Notre Dame's bloodless, anemic Catholicism is now hitting Evangelical schools which aspire to similar intellectual heights. When we send our children to be educated at Catholic schools which fail to hold to staunchly Roman Catholic views, we end up with similarly ambiguous doctrinal commitments spreading in the Protestant schools that receive them as professors.

On the theory that, as a whole, a forthright enemy is preferable to a slippery friend, it would be better if Wheaton's Roman Catholic professors were educated in Rome itself rather than at weak-kneed Roman Catholic institutions of ambiguous doctrinal commitment like Notre Dame.

Interesting also that it's a philosophy professor who claims he can affirm Wheaton's commitment to the Bible as Christianity's "supreme and final authority" while maintaining loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. From the Journal:

Wheaton's 12-point statement doesn't explicitly exclude Catholics. But its emphasis on Scripture as the "supreme and final authority" and its aligning of Wheaton with "evangelical Christianity" were unmistakably Protestant, Mr. Litfin wrote to Mr. Hochschild in late 2003. Because Catholics regard the Bible and the pope as equally authoritative, a Catholic "cannot faithfully affirm" the Wheaton statement, he continued.

Mr. Hochschild disagreed. The Bible, he wrote, is indeed the supreme authority for Catholics, who turn to the Church hierarchy only as Protestants consult their ministers. While acknowledging the college's right to exclude Catholics -- and knowing his position was endangered -- he replied that as a matter of principle, "I see no reason why I should be dismissed from the College upon joining the Roman Catholic Church."

There's a reason such specious forms of argument have historically been known as "sophistry."

The Journal goes on to tell how the study of philosophy at Notre Dame University led Hochschild to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Yet a question nagged Mr. Hochschild: Why am I not a Catholic? As he saw it, evangelical Protestantism was vaguely defined and had a weak scholarly tradition, which sharpened his admiration for Catholicism's self-assurance and intellectual history. "I even had students who asked me why I wasn't Catholic," he says. "I didn't have a decent answer."

His wife, Paige, said her husband's distaste for the "evangelical suspicion of philosophy" at the school might have contributed to his ultimate conversion. The Hochschilds say some evangelicals worry that learning about philosophy undermines students' religious convictions.

"Evangelical suspicion of philosophy" seems singularly appropriate in light of Paige and Joshua's story. Unfortunately, there is less and less such suspicion in the bounder intellectual world of modern Evangelicalism.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 19 December 2005

A superb preacher in the Vatican...

Called to my attention by my reformed baptist brother and leader of my small group, David Talcott, check out this sermon by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the Pontifical Household preacher. This is the first in his Advent Series of sermons (actually, he calls it a "meditation") to the Pope and his household, given on December 2nd of this year. Father Cantalamessa's theme chosen for this Advent series is "Faith in Christ."

Read these excerpts from Father Cantalamessa's first sermon to the Pope and ask yourself whether it doesn't seem sometimes as if the first shall be last and the last first--whether some in Rome may not be recovering the heart of the Gospel while some within the reformed community are recovering sacramentalism--a doctrine that could not be more destructive to the soul of man.

Note the warnings here given by the Pope's personal preacher concerning the loss of personal evangelism when most baptisms are of infants, not adult converts--infants, as the good father puts it, "who do not have the capacity to make (faith in Jesus Christ) their own choice."

Note also his lament over the loss of evangelistic preaching within Roman Catholicism, and his recognition that many souls have had to go outside the Roman Catholic church to hear the Gospel proclaimed in a way that calls for a personal decision for faith in Jesus Christ...

Continue reading "A superb preacher in the Vatican..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 16 December 2005

Fr. Andrew Greely: Narnia flick Trojan Horse for Roman Catholic idolatry...

Although brother David and I have a slightly different take on the Second Commandment, it's been fascinating to see the almost-complete absence of any personal interaction of our good readers with the real personal danger of idolatry, specifically related to the riot of images at the center of the culture we live within. Much discussion of idolatry, conceptually; and much defense of pictures and movies and statues and art; but in all the thousands of words written, no idolatrous image found.

So convenient. So telling.

Well, I've never quoted the liberal Roman Catholic gadfly priest, Andrew Greely, before, and I trust I'll never have to again. But here I must. On the occasion of the release of Disney's Narnia flick, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," Fr. Greely published a piece in the Chicago Sun Times titled, "Relax, It's Only a Fairy Tale." (Thanks, Bill Mouser.)

Coming off the first half of his article detailing the tremendous marketing hype Disney has employed to sell this movie to the evangelical subculture, Greely concludes his piece remarking upon how open Protestant evangelicals are to what he claims is a quite-Roman Catholic movie by an almost-Roman Catholic author, C. S. .Lewis.

Leaving to the side the matter of Lewis' theological commitments, I do think Father Greely has a point--indeed, an excellent point--about the apparent abandonment of the Second Commandment by Protestants today...

Continue reading "Fr. Andrew Greely: Narnia flick Trojan Horse for Roman Catholic idolatry..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 06 December 2005

Plenary indulgences live on...

This announcement from the Vatican. Martin Luther would be pleased to know that these indulgences, at least, are not being sold.

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a plenary indulgence for Catholics who honor the Virgin Mary on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8

In a November 29 announcement, the Vatican said that Pope Benedict has declared the indulgence to mark the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The announcement indicates that the Pope "when he renders public homage of praise to Mary Immaculate, has the heartfelt desire that the entire Church should join with him, so that all the faithful, united in the name of the common Mother, become ever stronger in the faith, adhere with greater devotion to Christ, and love their brothers with more fervent charity."

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Yes, Dorothy, Rome does indeed teach justification by faith plus works...

Note from Tim Bayly: In a prior post, a number of us pointed out that, in a recent statement concerning the hope of salvation of those who have never believed in Jesus Christ, we saw again the inevitable return of the papacy and Roman Catholicism to good works as grounds for a man's salvation. To which one of our good readers named John responded by pouring text from the Council of Trent into the comment section of the blog, all of which seemed to deny that the Roman Catholic Church taught that a man was justified, in part, by his own good works. Here, then, is my response to his denial of the central place good works have within Roman Catholicism in the justification of sinners.

John, since my hope is that you seek truth, and not simply sectarianism, let us both acknowledge that across history Rome and Protestantism have not been fighting over nothing. If your selective citation of Rome was to be believed, sincere souls might well wonder what all the ruckus was about?

Roman Catholicism clearly opposed the Reformers through the very Council of Trent that you cite. The whole world knew it then, and still does. And when all the clouds of qualification are blown away, Rome denied that man is justified by faith alone. Here are two of her canons that have never been repealed, and therefore continue to have absolute authority within all Roman Catholicism:

Council of Trent; Canon 9: If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.

The "nothing else" refers to good works, so the word "obtain" is key, indicating that good works are required to obtain justification. Had Rome instead written, for instance, that good works were required not to obtain, but to prove justification, she would only have been saying what our Lord said, that "by their fruit ye shall know them."

But that's precisely what Rome chose not to say, and from this statement and many others comes the Reformation in which biblical men and women clinging solely to the merit of Christ overthrew all Rome's greedy hunger for good works that, inevitably, accrued financial treasures for the papacy's use, including particularly the good work of purchasing indulgences for loved ones hanging in the torment of purgatory until they bore the punishment for their sins and were made good enough for Heaven. Get it?

Again, assuming you are a seeker of truth and not one who desires to work in the shadows of half-truths and ambiguity, admit that the division of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism has not been much ado over nothing, and that what Rome and Wittenberg thought they were fighting over--the place of faith and good works in the justification of sinners--was what they were fighting over, and what we all fight over to this very day...

Continue reading "Yes, Dorothy, Rome does indeed teach justification by faith plus works..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Monday, 05 December 2005

The White Sox, the Cubs, and Rome...

As my brother, David, notes below, in the comments section of this blog some have faulted me with being unfair and "sick" in my summaries of the Vatican's teaching on salvation outside of Christ. Specifically, they say I ought to have included Benedict XVI's citations of Augustine in his latest address supporting the error of inclusivism, and that Benedict XVI is not really teaching what the news service in the Vatican, Zenit, said he was teaching, that "Nonbelievers Too Can Be Saved." Here are three responses to these charges:

First, contrary to what Ken wrote in our comments section, Benedict XVI was not giving "a meditation on Augustine's work." Both the title and Benedict's own first sentence tell us the opposite--Catholic Online titles his audience address "Commentary on Psalm 136(137)" and Benedict began the address with these words, "On this first Wednesday of Advent ...we meditate on Psalm 136(137)...." These meditations are routinely carried on the front page of the Roman Catholic weekly, The Wanderer, to which I subscribe and I have often been encouraged by the commitment of the Roman Catholic popes, to teach the Word of God rather than the words of men--even very pious men such as Augustine.

Second, it may have been unfair to Benedict not to include his extensive citation of Augustine but I thought about it and decided to leave it out because I have high respect for Augustine and don't want him yanked in to support this very well-established and broad movement in the Vatican toward inclusiveness. Because someone else thinks citations of an ancient father of the Church can be made to support his winking at the spirit of the age doesn't mean that the ancient father would be pleased to be used that way, and I'm inclined to give Augustine the benefit of the doubt--that he'd not look kindly on Benedict and the Vatican using him in this way.

And third...

Continue reading "The White Sox, the Cubs, and Rome..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Sunday, 04 December 2005

"Nonbelievers Too Can Be Saved, Says Pope..."

The above headline, taken directly from the Zenit Roman Catholic news service, says something either entirely unremarkable for its orthodoxy or entirely remarkable in its heterodoxy.

Evidently, several of our readers have no idea of the necessity of rigorous accuracy both within the journalistic profession--and, more importantly, in the teaching of the Word by shepherds of Christ's flock. These good readers' defense of the pope's November 30 speech claiming the possibility of salvation for men of good will outside faith in Christ leaves too much to blind faith. Either the Zenit account of the pope's address was woeful journalism, or the pope's speech was woeful theology.

Bad enough for such confusion to be the result of poor reporting. But having looked at a verbatim translation of the papal address, I'm inclined to believe the fault lies with the pope who skates dangerously at the very edge of proclaiming the possibility of salvation outside faith in Christ throughout his address.

It's one thing to proclaim God's power to draw men to Himself by instilling faith and knowledge of Christ in unbelievers before they depart this life. This is what Augustine does when the pope quotes him as saying,

God will not allow them to perish with Babylon, having predestined them to be citizens of Jerusalem, on the condition, however, that, living in Babylon, they do not seek pride, outdated pomp and arrogance.... He sees their service and will show them the other city, toward which they must really long and orient all their effort.

It's another thing altogether to suggest that men of good will receive knowledge of Christ not in this life, but in the life to come. The pope has departed Augustine and is speaking for himself when he says:

...among the inhabitants of Babylon there are people who are committed to peace and the good of the community, despite the fact that they do not share the biblical faith, that they do not know the hope of the Eternal City to which we aspire. They have a spark of desire for the unknown, for the greatest, for the transcendent, for a genuine redemption.

And he says that among the persecutors, among the nonbelievers, there are people with this spark, with a kind of faith, of hope, in the measure that is possible for them in the circumstances in which they live. With this faith in an unknown reality, they are really on the way to the authentic Jerusalem, to Christ.

Pope Benedict suggests he is thinking with Augustine at this point, but he's not. He's taken Augustine's theme in an entirely different direction. Augustine makes clear that God grants a vision of the true Jerusalem to those He predestines and sets them on their way there through authentic faith in this life.

But the pope speaks of an inauthentic faith "in an unknown reality" which places those who possess it on the path to the "authentic Jerusalem" where Christ resides. Rather than God choosing to give men of good will authentic faith, the pope suggests that God gives men of good will heaven where they come to know the truth that they had previously known only inauthentically. Thus the pope argues that human goodness in this life leads to knowledge of Christ in the life to come. And this is every bit as bad as Tim suggested--a heresy no amount of quibbling over Augustine's words can cover up.

Note as well the pope's ending excursus on Jewish sufferers in the Nazi holocaust of the 20th century, another indication that he is tying goodness in this life to authentic faith in the life to come.

What is muddled and unclear in the Zenit account becomes explicit heresy in the verbatim translation, a blasphemous denial of Christ. Evidently there are problems in the Zenit report. But the problems of Zenit's reporting pale in comparison to the problems contained within the pope's actual speech.

Here, for those who did not bother to read the article before commenting on this site, is the original Zenit article:

Continue reading ""Nonbelievers Too Can Be Saved, Says Pope..."" »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 02 December 2005

Pope Benedict XVI: the road to Heaven is paved with good intentions...

Reminding all of us why we are catholic, but not Roman Catholic, this item from the Vatican based news service, Zenit.org.

Nonbelievers Too Can Be Saved, Says Pope

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Whoever seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience, and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent, will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith, says Benedict XVI.

On a rainy morning in Rome, the Holy Father ...addressed ...more than 23,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, (saying):

(A)mong the inhabitants of Babylon there are people who are committed to peace and the good of the community, despite the fact that they do not share the biblical faith, that they do not know the hope of the Eternal City to which we aspire.... They have a spark of desire for the unknown, for the greatest, for the transcendent, for a genuine redemption.... (A)mong the nonbelievers, there are people with this spark, with a kind of faith, of hope, in the measure that is possible for them in the circumstances in which they live.... With this faith in an unknown reality, they are really on the way to the authentic Jerusalem, to Christ.... God will not allow them to perish with Babylon, having predestined them to be citizens of Jerusalem, on the condition, however, that, living in Babylon, they do not seek pride, outdated pomp and arrogance.

I was pleased the College of Cardinals chose Cardinal Ratzinger rather than any number of other contenders for the Papacy, but let's keep in mind that the Papacy and all it stands for remain a very large liability to biblical faith.

Taking for granted the statement above is contrary to the Word of God, what possibility is there that this purported successor to Simon Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, will have anyone stand up to him and rebuke him as the Apostle Paul rebuked the Apostle Peter when he attacked the Gospel...

Continue reading "Pope Benedict XVI: the road to Heaven is paved with good intentions..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 18 November 2005

Universal claptrap from the Director of Vatican Observatory...

Remembering all the times Roman Catholics have pointed out the unity of their denomination as proof positive of her standing alone as the ark of the Covenant, I'm fond of noting other times when their unity is rather embarrassing--frightening, even. For this we needn't turn to such flagrant examples as the homosexual pederasts and bishops who provided their hideouts, nor to well-known liberal dissidents Hans Kung and Father Richard McBrien, nor even to the sedevacantist dissident Mel Gibson, or the late Archbishop Lefebvre .

Arriving on the scene with a big bang is the director of the Vatican Observatory, Father George Coyne S.J.

Coyne is attending a conference in Florence, today, and is quoted on Breithart.com as saying:

Intelligent design isn't science even though it pretends to be... If you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science.

Moving from today in Florence to a couple months ago when Coyne published an article in the British Roman Catholic magazine The Tablet we find the following statements which, I might add, sound very much as if there is some serious cross-pollination between the Vatican Observatory and the Pinnock/Boyd/Sanders/Bilezekian/ hospitality suite at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society:

Now, the religious believer asks, where does God the creator feature in this scientific scenario?

...It is unfortunate that creationism has come to mean some fundamentalistic, literal, scientific interpretation of Genesis. (If) we take the results of modern science seriously... it is difficult to believe that God is omnipotent and omniscient...

Continue reading "Universal claptrap from the Director of Vatican Observatory..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 09 November 2005

Roman Catholic syncretism...

For our good readers whose only experience of Roman Catholicism is of the kinder gentler northern hemisphere sort, here's a rude awakening:

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - It's a tradition people outside Bolivia might find creepy: families perch human skulls on altars, revering them and asking them for protection and good luck. On Tuesday, the skulls were gussied up and taken to cemeteries, where the families crowned them with flowers and filled their jaws with lit cigarettes.

The chapel in La Paz's main cemetery was filled with hundreds of people jockeying to get their skull, or "natita," in a good position for a special annual Mass. Thousands more people gathered outside...

For the rest of the article... Thanks, Brandon.

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Sunday, 06 November 2005

Multnomah Bible College loses one to Roman Catholicism...

A young man (variously named Kevin or Gus) who is finishing up his studies at Multnomah Biblical Seminary is blogging here about his imminent entry into the Roman Catholic Church--what he calls his "Romecoming." The rather inauspicious beginning to his announcement goes like this:

Hello. My name is Kevin. I am a student at Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland, Oregon. I was raised in the United Methodist Church, have served and worshiped with a number of protestant denominations, and have considered myself a protestant pastor for many years. And I have a secret to share with you.

Since the secret's been made public almost everyone seems to be affirming Kevin in his pursuit of what appears to be only his latest vocation. Check out the comments.

Kevin writes that he's not looking forward to giving up serving as a pastor (he's been married so he's not able to become a Roman Catholic priest). But not everyone thinks it's necessary for him to give up serving as a Protestant pastor after he converts:

In some ways, it might be easier for me to join the Catholic Church if I did not feel called to the pastorate. If I was a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, I could continue in my same line of work, most likely for the same employer, following initiation into the Church. While one nameless SBC pastor/friend might like to see otherwise, I don't think I can continue working as a protestant pastor after becoming Catholic. Ecumenism only goes so far.

To which Timothy R. Butler responds in the comments section:

Sounds exciting. I'm sure it will all come together.

Of course, why not a Protestant minister whose Catholic? :) God seems to love paradoxes. It wouldn't be that much more of a stretch than our head of communion serving who is an active Catholic (attends mass before attending our service with his family each Sunday). [Mr. Butler, a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Church in St. Louis, blogs here.]

Continue reading "Multnomah Bible College loses one to Roman Catholicism..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Thursday, 22 September 2005

The cult of Mary and non-traditional tradition...

In the comments under "Scriptura--solo or sola..." Jack writes: "Instead of getting hung up on the word 'tradition,' I have thought of it as the collective understanding of Christ's church throughout history. For example, one of the reasons I have always rejected dispensationalism (both its views on the church and its end-times speculations) is that it is a novel doctrine that just found its way into the church in the 19th century. Why was it never clear to anyone before then, including in the early church fathers? ...Would be interested in your comments."

Jack, I agree. I've thought the same thoughts about dispensationalism and many other aberrant doctrines--where were they for two thousand years? But this is the conceit of the Roman Catholics, that Protestants were nowhere for two thousand years. It's only a conceit. Read Calvin, for instance, and it's clear the reformers see a very long line of continuity between themselves and prior centuries, right back to the Apostles. Indicative of this are the frequent citations of other church leaders through the ages including Augustine, Bernard, and many early church fathers. The reformers use church fathers as well as Scripture in opposing Roman Catholic heterodoxies and heresies.

Reformed Protestants don't buy the Roman Catholic argument about tradition for more than one reason: yes, because we see it undercutting the final authority of Scripture by placing tradition on a level with God Himself; but also, because we don't really see Roman Catholic tradition as holding to historic Christianity as much as it does, so often, simply protect the syncretism of the masses and the perquisites of the pope and his cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests. The cult of Mary is one obvious example where syncretism has been blessed by church tradition with a legitimacy it never had in the Early Church and should never have been given later.

Personally, I believe that reformed men who have left Christianity behind and entered the Roman Catholic church defend the cult of Mary with such vehemence precisely because of their bad conscience on this matter. But of course that's just speculation and I could never prove it.

Think of it: millions across the world and time worship the mother of our Lord but it can't be condemned. Why?...

Continue reading "The cult of Mary and non-traditional tradition..." »

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Tuesday, 20 September 2005

Scriptura--solo or sola?

In a comment made under my brother, David's, post, "Doing Our Dirty Work," the question is asked:

...The issue of authority is the biggest question that I have as a Protestant. I feel when I read the Westminster Larger Catechism and it says, "The Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice..." that the Catechism can no longer go on. What gives it the authority to propound the Bible's doctrine (or a pastor) over my reading? What keeps the Bible from being my own possession rather than the Church's?

Good reader, you misunderstand the Catechism at this point and your definition of sola scriptura is not the historic Reformed doctrine, least of all that of the Westminster Standards. Rather, it is the straw man Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox set up to the end of making a great show of knocking it down with ease. Here, for instance, is Roman Catholic apologist Scott Hahn setting up this straw man:

I believe that the doctrine of sola scriptura, that the Bible alone is our only authority, is itself unscriptural. I can't find anywhere in scripture God telling his people that the Bible alone is their sole authority.

Yes, I admit that this straw man represents the mainstream evangelical understanding of sola scriptura quite well, but it's only natural that an emotive and experiential community which self-consciously rejects doctrine, and particularly the doctrine of the Church and her officers, would hold to a Bible-and-me-alone view of spiritual authority. But what a perversion this is of the historic Protestant and reformed doctrine of Scripture and ecclesiastical authority. (For an excellent essay on this, see Keith Matheson's piece, "A Critique of the Evanangelical Doctrine of Solo Scriptura.")

Show me one place where the reformers teach that the believer is to submit to no one and nothing but Scripture--no pastor, no elder, no session, no deacon, no presbytery, no general assembly, no master, no king, no father, no husband, and so on. For Roman Catholic apologist Scott Hahn to characterize the historic Protestant and reformed view in this way is duplicitous. (I know Scott and he knows better.)...

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Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Wednesday, 14 September 2005

A Mirror for Protestants....

Joel, Roman Catholic author of On the Other Foot--a blog we've watched with some interest since Joel started blogging earlier this year, writes a post about Protestant apologetics from the viewpoint of a Roman Catholic.

Listed in the entry are five Protestant fallacies about Roman Catholicism Joel has come to recognize over the years. Those five, abridged from Joel's post, are these:

1) Mary--"It's simple: We don't worship Mary. Period. How hard is that to understand? I can't count the times I've gotten into the distinction between dulia and latria, typed until my fingers bled, and still been told, 'But it's still worship!'"

2) The Bible--"I've seen repeated examples where somebody will line up doctrine under the heading of 'What Rome Teaches' and proof-texts under 'What the Bible Says.' For cryin' out loud! Do you really think we don't have Bibles? ... We have a bookcase loaded with Bibles in different translations and commentaries on Scripture. Yet some yahoo is always convinced that being a Catholic, I must not know what's in the Bible, and if I would just read it, I would immediately see the error of my ways."

3) Conspiracy Theories--"Believe it or not, there's no great plot by the fabulously wealthy and powerful Vatican to subvert Christians into a Satanic cult. We're not sworn to secrecy at confirmation. Frankly if the Vatican were as powerful and sinister as some of the wilder theorists say, they would have been eliminated long ago."

4) Trent--"Trent is every Protestant's nightmare, an articulation of anathemas in which Protestant truths are blatantly denied and Biblical Christians condemned. Right? Wrong, actually. The Council of Trent was called (secondarily) to consider - not to condemn - the doctrinal issues raised by Luther and the other reformers...its first purpose was to address the abuses that drove Luther to nail his brain to the cathedral door in the first place.

5) "Christian"--"These days, 'Christian' is too often used as a synonym for 'Protestant,' as though Christianity began in 1517. 'Christian' bookstores, 'Christian' magazines, 'Christian' music... they're invariably Protestant-oriented, which only reinforces the meme. Believe it or not, we were there already. We're not 'sub-Christian,' we're certainly not 'anti-Christian,' and we're not 'non-Christian.' If we're not Christians, then you're not either, because like it or lump it, you came from us.

I would offer the following brief comments in response, taking Joel's points in order.

1) Mary. It's not enough to make a non-biblical distinction (point 2, we both go the Bible for authority, right?) between dulia and latria to win this argument. When your priests and people are bowing to a statue and praying to it, they're doing exactly what the Philistines did with their statues of Baal. If that's not worship, then I'm not a resident of Ohio because back in the 1800s, my region of Ohio declared independence and attached itself to Michigan. But the truth is, the lesser does not define the offense against the greater. Man does not define idolatrous worship. God does.

Joel is just wrong on this one. I'm concerned that Protestants aren't concerned about their image worship, and ours is less blatant than this one.

2) Scripture. Yes, Roman Catholics have the Bible. But Joel is approaching this as a relatively recent Protestant convert to Roman Catholicism. Even just thirty years ago the Roman Catholic attitude toward common people studying the Bible was markedly negative. I was asked as a Protestant seminarian to lead a Bible study in a Roman Catholic nursing home by a Renew-movement Roman Catholic in the mid-1980s explicitly because I was Protestant and would actually teach the Bible. The attitude of Roman Catholicism toward laity and the Scripture has been changing, but not entirely and only relatively recently. And, if we're honest, one of the primary reasons for this change has been the influence of Protestant converts to Roman Catholicism from Cardinal Newman on through some of today's prominent Roman Catholic apologists.

Finally, however, the great shibboleth remains: tradition is of equal authority with Scripture in Roman Catholicism. And thus, I would suggest, no Roman Catholic has Scripture the way a conservative Protestant has the Word.

3) Conspiracy. Right, it's no human conspiracy though the devil is this world's prince and where the devil works there is a diabolical scheme and systematic. But this is quibbling; the devil is equally at work in vast swathes of Protestantism.

4) Trent. Well, yes and no. Yes Trent dealt with other issues than justification. But no, the entire context of Trent is the Reformation and we must look at its anathemas in that light. It's a counter-Reformation document from start to finish, both in its positive teaching and its anathemas. It anathematize those who hold to classic Protestant theology in more areas than just Canon 9, but at Canon 9 it's a flung gauntlet.

Honestly, at the point of Trent, I'd rather not try to bridge the gap. Bridging the gap hurts Roman Catholic theology as much as Protestant. Attempts to reconcile the two positions (such as the joint Roman Catholic-Lutheran declaration on justification of several years ago) have been repudiated as strongly by the magisterium of Rome as by staunch Protestants. Let's hold our positions as they're clearly stated in our foundational documents.

5) "Christian". I'll grant you "Christian" if you'll grant me "Catholic." Is it a deal?

Posted by David & Tim Bayly, Friday, 29 July 2005

The Church of Rome a Visible Church?

In returning to the USA from Guadalajara, I am forced to acknowledge my proud provincialism as an American Presbyterian when it comes to tackling the thorny question of Roman Catholic legitimacy as a Church of Jesus Christ.

Some months ago I commended to our readers an argument by Charles Hodge in the Princeton Review urging acceptance of Roman Catholic baptism on the basis of Roman Catholicism's status as a visible Church of Christ. Though Hodge's position on Roman Catholicism was scandalous within Presbyterianism in the 1840s, it no longer provokes opposition within most of American Presbyterianism. Willingness to accept Rome as a visible Church is clearly the majority position among teaching elders of the Presbyterian Church of America.

But encounter Rome through the eyes of one converted to Christ out of Roman Catholicism and suddenly many of Hodge's arguments sound hollow. This is especially true of those converted out of Roman Catholicism in places such as Mexico where Roman Catholicism remains the vastly majority religion without the benefit of 300-plus years of confrontation with majority-religion Protestantism to moderate its excesses.

Which leads me to wonder if Hodge would have written in defense of Roman Catholicism had he been a missionary in South America rather than a professor at Princeton Seminary?

For that matter, I also wonder if PCA pastors in North and South America should pay closer attention to the thoughts of their native colleagues before joining with Roman Catholics in prayer services. Surely a native Presbyterian pastor converted out of Roman Catholicism and working to convert Roman Catholics to true faith is at least as well equipped to judge whether Rome is a visible Church as one whose knowledge of Rome is largely theoretical.

Some further thoughts on Roman Catholicism as a visible Church:

1) Is this an area for charity or precision? I suspect, despite my concerns with how the regulative worship principle (RWP) is sometimes applied within Reformed churches, that a growing lack of concern for the RWP within a Reformed body will inevitably lead to a willingness to accept Rome as a visible Church.

Once idolatry is no longer viewed as a present danger, charity rules. But the syncretistic worship of the northern kingdom was NEVER treated charitably by God through His prophets. Is not Rome akin to Samaria? But salvation is of the Jews, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman. There is no compromise.

The call of God is to precision and warning for those granted the privilege of declaring His Word. Let God be charitable in His treatment of individuals within Roman Catholicism. Prophets must heed His Word in speaking of Mount Gerizim. We ignore such heretical Roman doctrines as those declared at the Council of Trent at our peril.

2) Is it possible to speak of a disparate, variegated worldwide body as a monolithic whole? Hodge agrees that the Church is apparent in the world in a variety of forms, from local body to universal Bride of Christ. But can we speak of a worldwide body as visible when such a declaration ignores the teaching of that body in many places throughout the world?

The churches of Revelation were in much closer proximity than the churches of Rome, yet they are individually addressed and judged rather than corporately summarized. By declaring Rome, in total, a visible Church, do we not accept the basic Roman argument of apostolic succession and unity? How can we describe Rome as a "visible" Church when Rome, as a whole, is hard-pressed to fit any of the classic New Testament aspects of Christ's Bride?

3) Hodge's sanguine view of Rome's formal theology seems to assume that theology is entirely a matter of books and documents, rather than living belief written on the heart. When such a vast disconnect exists between what Hodge views as the basically orthodox central tenets of Roman Catholicism and the expression of those tenets in the faith of individual lives around the world, perhaps it is necessary to test the doctrine by the fruit it produces.

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