The Most Beloved Religious Leader of our Age

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Bladestunner316

Bladestunner316

Puritan Board Doctor
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POPE JOHN Paul II
The Most Beloved Religious Leader of our Age






Pat Robertson Comments on Pope John Paul II's Passing


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age "“ far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith.

He has been a man of great warmth, profound understanding, deep spirituality, and indefatigable vigor. It was my great honor to meet with him at the residence of my good friend, Cardinal O´Conner, in New York, and to sit in the Consistory during the mass he conducted in Central Park. I told him at the time how much the American people loved him, and he merely smiled. That love was shared not only in America but by millions all over the globe.

He has been a steady bridge in the transition of Eastern Europe from communism to freedom. His personal magnetism brought together all Christians in new bonds of understanding.

I pray for the Cardinals of the Catholic Church that they might have God-given wisdom in selecting the successor to this great man. Their task will not be easy, but with God all things are possible.

P.S. who are these men who "represent us" in the world media? I know Pat doesnt but many think he does.
 
He might as well then join his "brethren" and enjoy the Mass every week, submitting himself to the leadership of the "successor to this great man."
 
Originally posted by Solo Christo
President Bush's speech didn't fall too far from Robertson's either.
:banghead::banghead::banghead:
Click to expand...

The president is a sell-out! I heard the speech last night. Bush aligned Rome w/ Christ.
 
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age "“ far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith.
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Using my wife's words after she read it - how dumb and ignorant can a man be?

Pat Robertson - quite I would say.
 
depending on how you read it, he may be right!

I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward.
Click to expand...

It is grievous to think that anyone would die and receive his much deserved eternal reward...........in hell.

:eek:
 
Originally posted by webmaster
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age "“ far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith.
Click to expand...

Using my wife's words after she read it - how dumb and ignorant can a man be?

Pat Robertson - quite I would say.
Click to expand...

And so, it begins....Matt, Mr. Robertson is about as ignorant as all the rest of dispie-American-evangelicalism....

I sent your "Pope in Hell" article to a friend (megachurch/evangelical)...and got chewed out big time. She said we (you-Matt) shouldn't be so "quick to judge" since he was such a loving and good man, etc., etc.

See what a trouble-maker you are, Matt? I think it'd help if you could write an article on how to handle the emotional outbursts and ad hominum's from friends and relatives we share your "Pope in Hell" article with. Want to add a disclaimer, or something on it? (Just kidding.)

:banghead:

Suffering for Christ,

Robin
 
Larry King Transcript Excerpt

Link

" We have a great array of guests in the next hour to discuss the passing of Pope John Paul. And we begin by phone with Reverend Billy Graham, chairman of the board of the Billy Graham of Evangelistic Association who, in his statement, said that this pope was the most influential voice for morality and peace in the world in the last 100 years.

Reverend Graham, you want to expand on that, "the most important voice"?

REV. BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION: Yes. I had the privilege of seeing the Pope on several occasions at the Vatican. And tonight, I have a very strange feeling of loss. I almost feel as though one of my family members has gone. I loved him very much and had the opportunity of discussing so many things with him. And we wrote each other several times during the years.

KING: Did he actually say to you once, "We are brothers"?

GRAHAM: I'm sorry?

KING: Did he tell you once that you and he were brothers?

GRAHAM: That's correct. He certainly did. He held my hand the first time that I met him about 19 -- he's just been Pope for two years when I saw him first. Because when he was elevated to the papacy, I was preaching in his cathedral in Krakow that very day. And we had thousands of people in the streets. And watching the television today of Krakow has brought back many memories.

KING: You said that he was an Evangelist.

GRAHAM: He was, indeed. He traveled throughout the world to bring his Christian message to the world. And we see tonight the outpouring from the world that he touched. And I think he touched almost everybody in the whole world.

KING: What, Billy, in your thoughts -- you said you feel like it's a personal loss. What in the human sense was so special about him?

GRAHAM: I think it was his background in Poland. And I had finished preaching all over Poland, gotten to know many people, and I knew a little bit about where he came from.

And he was a suffering pope, too. He suffered as much as anybody you could ever imagine. His mother died when he was young. And he had that terrible assassination attack. And through it all, he taught us how to suffer. And I think in recent days he's taught us how to die.

KING: There is no question in your mind that he is with God now?

GRAHAM: Oh, no. There may be a question about my own, but I don't think Cardinal Wojtyla, or the Pope -- I think he's with the Lord, because he believed. He believed in the cross. That was his focus throughout his ministry, the cross, no matter if you were talking to him from personal issue or an ethical problem, he felt that there was the answer to all of our problems, the cross and the resurrection. And he was a strong believer.

KING: I understand that you've been invited to the funeral, but because of your own health, you can't attend. But someone in the Graham family is going to go?

GRAHAM: That's correct.

KING: Do you know who will go?

GRAHAM: I don't have the physical strength to go, and I have been invited. I was invited about six or seven months ago by the Vatican ahead of time. And they've asked that I come. So I ask if I could send my daughter. They wanted a woman to come representing me. So I'm asking my daughter, Anne Lotz, to go. And she's going with an associate of mine. And then my son, Franklin, will be going to the enthronement of the new Pope.

KING: Billy, thanks so much for always giving us the time. We'll see you in New York in June.

GRAHAM: Thanks...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: God bless, Billy.

GRAHAM: ... your panel.

KING: Reverend Billy Graham on the death of Pope John. ...."
 
From the president of a Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville...

John Paul II--The Man and His Legacy

The death of Pope John Paul II brings one of the Roman Catholic Church's longest papal reigns to an end and closes the last chapter on one of the most significant lives of our times. By any measure, John Paul II was one of the most influential figures on the world scene, leading over a billion Roman Catholics worldwide and exercising a significant influence on world affairs during some of the most tumultuous decades of the 20th century.

Inevitably, his death raises fundamental questions about how evangelical Christians should understand the papacy itself, as well as those who hold the papal office. Given the low level of theological knowledge and the high emotionalism of the era, many evangelicals appear confused when confronted with an event like the death of a pope. Furthermore, evangelicals are more likely to have been aware of this pope in contrast with those who held the office in the past. In this age of mass communications and media, John Paul II has been one of the most publicized, televised, and celebrated public figures of our age.

For evangelicals, the crucial question comes with the institution of the papacy itself. After all, the Reformation of the 16th century required a rejection of papal power and authority, and the Reformers soon came to understand the papacy as an unbiblical office that inevitably compromised the authority and sufficiency of scripture. Over time, the heirs of the Reformers came to understand that the papacy is a fundamentally unbiblical office that posits an earthly monarch as the earthly head of the church. Furthermore, this office is then invested with claims to spiritual and temporal power that are combined with claims of apostolic succession and serve as foundational pillars for the comprehensive claims of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Protestant rejection of the papacy was no small matter, though some liberal Protestants and careless evangelicals seem to have forgotten why. Beyond this, the papacy is inextricably linked to the structure of Catholic theology and the superstructure of truth claims, practices, and doctrines that constitute Catholicism. Evangelical Christians simply cannot accept the legitimacy of the papacy and must resist and reject claims of papal authority. To do otherwise would be to compromise biblical truth and reverse the Reformation. With the death of John Paul II, evangelicals are confronted with a sensitive question: Can we recognize genuine virtues in a man who for over a quarter of a century held an office we must expressly reject?

We should be unembarrassed and unhesitant to declare our admiration for John Paul II's courageous stand against Communism, his bold defense of human dignity and human life, and his robust and substantial defense of truth in the face of postmodernism. In many of the great battles of our day, evangelicals found John Paul II to be a key ally. This was especially true with the crucial issues of abortion and euthanasia. With bold strokes and a clear voice, this pope defended human life from the moment of conception until natural death. In his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (1995), he argued for an implacable opposition to what he called the "culture of death"--an age that would increasingly embrace death rather than life and forfeit human dignity on the altar of human autonomy and individual rights.

In Veritatis Splendor (1993), John Paul argued that the modern concept of freedom as unrestrained human liberty would lead to the destruction of Christian ethics and the undermining of all authority. In this powerful statement, the pope defended the very nature of truth against postmodern denials and a culture increasingly attracted to moral relativism.

The legacy of this pope cannot be separated from the facts of his life. Born May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, just south of Krakow in Poland, Karol Wojtyla would come to adulthood in the context of Communist oppression. Throughout his life, he would identify himself as a Pole and a Slav, and the twists and turns of his biography would become a focus of world attention.

Trained as an actor, Karol Wojtyla would later decide to enter the priesthood, following a calling that brought great respect in his native Poland. With remarkable speed, Father Wojtyla moved into the hierarchy of the church. He was consecrated a bishop in 1958--just 12 years after entering the priesthood. In 1964, he was installed as Archbishop of Krakow, and just three years later he was created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

Long before he became a cardinal of the church, Karol Wojtyla had attracted the attention of the Vatican. He had studied in Rome and had developed a reputation in the academic circles of the church. Theologically, he was seen as a progressive, and he took an active part in the Second Vatican Council, called into session by Pope John XXIII.

When Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo on August 6, 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla was already discussed as a potential successor. Nevertheless, when the College of Cardinals elected Albino Luciani on August 25, 1978, it looked as if Cardinal Wojtyla had lost his chance to become pope.

All this changed on September 28, 1978, when Cardinal Luciani--now Pope John Paul I--died in his sleep during the night, barely a month after his election as pope.

The election of Karol Wojtyla as pope came on October 16, 1978, and he immediately announced that he would take the name "John Paul II" as a way of honoring his immediate predecessor. Nevertheless, it was clear that this new pope would take the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church firmly in hand.

In his early years, this Polish pope was known by millions of persons around the globe, primarily as a man who opposed Communist tyranny with personal courage and the weight of his papal office. John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since 1522, and the historical importance of his election became clear as he used the full influence of his papal office to encourage the Solidarity movement in his native Poland.

Along with President Ronald W. Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II saw Communism as an assault upon human dignity and the human spirit. Like Ronald Reagan, John Paul II grew in international stature after surviving an assassination attempt. In the case of John Paul II, the 1981 assassination attempt that nearly took his life was organized by the Bulgarian secret police, presumably under orders from the KGB in the Soviet Union.

Evangelical Christians should honor the courage of this man and his historic role in bringing Communist tyranny to an end--at least within the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. Added to this, we should honor his defense of human dignity and his eloquent and influential witness against abortion and the Culture of Death.

Even so, we must also recognize that John Paul II also represented the most troubling aspects of Roman Catholicism. He defended and continued the theological directions set loose at the Second Vatican Council. Even as he consolidated authority in the Vatican and disciplined wayward priests and theologians, he never confronted the most pressing issues of evangelical concern.

Even in his most recent book, released in the United States just days before his death, John Paul II continued to define the work of Christ as that which is added to human effort. Like the church he served, John Paul II rejected justification by faith. Beyond this, he rejected the biblical doctrine of hell, embraced inclusivism, and promoted an extreme form of Marian devotion, referring to Mary as "Co-Redemptrix," "Mediatrix," and "Mother of all Graces."

In the end, evangelicals should be thankful for the personal virtues Pope John Paul II demonstrated, and for his advocacy on behalf of life, liberty, and human dignity. Yet we cannot ignore the institution of the papacy itself, nor the complex of doctrines, truth claims, and false doctrines that John Paul II taught, defended, and promulgated. As Roman Catholics mourn the passing of the pope, we should take care to respond with both compassion and conviction, fulfilling our own responsibility to take the measure of this man and his legacy.

_______________________________________________

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, a daily national radio program broadcast on the Salem Radio Network, go to www.albertmohler.com. For information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to www.sbts.edu. Send feedback to [email protected].
 
The last so called Vicar of Christ represented Roman Catholics so well in his ecumenical outreach. The media at his passing never stopped ceasing praise for his building up others in their faith whether Jews, Muslims or Buddhist rather than trying to convert them. I was moved by the story of a secular Jew who credits Pope John Paul for pulling him from being a non-praticing secularist Jew into being a fervent practicioner of Judaism, John 14:6 notwithstanding. Pope Kisses the Koran What about John 14:6? I know we're to witness in the Spirit of 2 Timothy 2:24-25, but all the post-Vatican II proclaims is the need for world peace, global harmony, ecumenical brotherhood and a New World Order. The Pope far excels Jesus Christ in tolerance... I'll give him in that much. What is the Papacy doing to proclaim the Gospel? Should I really ask that question?

:2cents:
 
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