Baptist church 'fake pope' sign attracting attention, criticism (Pope Bound for Hell).

Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ^ | April 13, 2005 | JEANNINE F. HUNTER

[Dean Baker]

Baptist church 'fake pope' sign attracting attention, criticism By JEANNINE F. HUNTER, hunter@knews.com April 13, 2005

NEWPORT, Tenn. - Two days after being posted, a church marquee message that questions the purpose of the papacy is still attracting attention in this small community.

"What I am trying to do is to let people know there's only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Cline Franklin, pastor of Hilltop Baptist Church. "There's no need for help. God sent his son, Jesus Christ. We're all priests if we're saved. I don't need to go to anybody else to pray."

The sign's side facing Broadway, the main thoroughfare in Newport, reads, "No truth, No hope Following a hell-bound pope!" On the other side, facing the church parking lot, it reads: "False hope in a fake pope."

The message appeared days after Pope John Paul II's funeral last week.

"It is unfortunate when it comes from within the Christian church. It's really sad," said the Rev. Dan Whitman, 54, pastor of Newport's Good Shepherd Catholic parish and Holy Trinity parish in Jefferson City. "You learn how to deal with it and pray not to be that way yourself."

It does not reflect mainstream Baptist thought, said Dr. Merrill "Mel" Hawkins, associate professor of religion and director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City.

"When you see signs like that, they are almost like relics or artifacts of a bygone era," Hawkins said.

He spoke about animus between Protestants and Catholics persisting after the Protestant Reformation and for centuries, during which "harsh things were said, couched within misperceptions, misunderstandings."

Among the major misperceptions is that Catholics "venerate the pope on the same level as Jesus," Hawkins said, and that "the pope is connected to their salvation in place of Jesus Christ."

Catholics make up about 12 percent of the population in the South.

"Catholics are a minority faith in the South, and there's often bias toward minority religious communities because people don't understand," he said.

James Gaddis, a lay speaker who also chairs the board at First United Methodist Church, said he had not seen the sign but had heard about it.

"I understand that it's very degrading," he said. "I think it's tragic that any church group would stoop to this posture."

Following Tuesday night's council meeting, Newport Mayor Roland Dykes Jr. said he was a little saddened by the message.

"It doesn't behoove any of us to determine who is going to heaven or hell. I think the pope is a highly, highly respected person," he said.

Franklin's church is a five-year-old independent Baptist church. When asked what the message meant, he said: "What does 'pope' mean? It means father. We have a heavenly father, and the Bible says we shall call no man a father. "

He said people have been driving by or taking pictures or calling to share their views. He said the intent was not to offend Catholics and people are misunderstanding the sign.

Copyright 2005, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.

[safisoft]

Nevermind those crazy Jews with their matzo bread. Try making a hero out of that!

No idea what "matzo bread" is, but matzah (sing.) or matzot (plural) is for the week of Unleavened Bread (Passover). All other times, the bread has leavening in it, and looks like good italian bread. /snicker.

[NittanyLion]

yet what they so conveniently forget is how they held sway upon the western world for 1,300 years and brutally oppressed all those who followed the Master by His own footsteps instead of by the mandates of the papal throne. Millions of men, women, and children from Jews to Waldensians, to Huguenots were systematically murdered by the "church" of Rome. No amount of revisionism will erase that memory.

Last I checked, I didn't participate in such activities, not did any other Catholic living today.

Are you also in favor of slave reparations, or do you simply take hypocritical stances when Catholics are involved?

[Tao Yin]

Your statement "Because the flesh out of which we are made is intrinsic" begs the question "Did Jesus share flesh with Mary, or was Mary a vessel to carry the child from the Holy Spirit?"

Now I'm just getting silly, but "How did Mary become pregnant?" Did the Holy Spirit create a whole viable life within Mary or did the Holy Spirit fertilize one of her eggs.

The prophesy in Isaiah 7:14 states that a virgin will become pregnant and have a son. Either scenerio fills the prophesy. Why put additional restrictions on God?

I don't think we can know. And because we can not know, how can not say that Jesus shared flesh with Mary. Because if the Holy Spirit created a whole viable life, then Mary was extrinsic, just like the sinful world.

[Conservative til I die]

I study ancient documents. Do you even know what the Didache is?

Try and actuall click on the hyperlink. This book that the evil Galactic...er, Catholic Empire is trying to hide from the common folks is sold at Amazon in a variety of editions with all kinds of commentary. And yes, I have heard of the Didache, since it is liberally quoted in a book from Ignatius Press (a Catholic publisher) called Teachings of the Early Church Fathers

[safisoft]

Are you also in favor of slave reparations, or do you simply take hypocritical stances when Catholics are involved?

First, Rome did not free the "slaves" (i.e., believers who opposed Rome's iron fist) so your analogy does not work. Many broke free from Rome by paying with their lives. Rome fought all the way, and only in recent years even admitted there was such a thing as a "Christian" outside of the Roman "church".

I don't act like slavery never existed. I don't promote teachings that condones things like slavery. I don't act surprised when there is a reaction to the memory of slavery.

[safisoft]

Try and actuall click on the hyperlink

Please go back and click it yourself. Your link does not work.

[Francis McClobber]

"The first record of this word is found in a First Century document that neither Catholics or Protestants want "common people" to know about. It is called the Didache. When one reads how the Didache uses the word eucharist and one also knows how "He blessed and breaked bread" is used it becomes pretty clear. "


Very interesting. Could you please expand upon why the Catholics or Protestants want to keep the Didache hidden? I would also like some clarity on the meaning of the eucharist.

[Francis McClobber]

Ditto

[Conservative til I die]

Very interesting. Could you please expand upon why the Catholics or Protestants want to keep the Didache hidden?

Don't listen to his nonsense. Not like you would get a straight answer anyway. The Didache is widely available in bookstores or at Amazon.com, and Catholic publishers regularly put it out.

[Conservative til I die]

Hmmm...Link's not working. Well here, just go to amazon.com and type in "Didache".

[safisoft]

Catholics or Protestants want to keep the Didache hidden

The Didache is the earliest extra-biblical writing by a many years. It is a remarkable document, when compared to Shem Tov's Matthew (Hebrew Matthew) and other Jewish sources. There are a number of translations, some good, some not. It is very easy to read. The reason it remains largely undiscovered is because it provides a very different view of the early congregations of believers. It is big on Scripture (it quotes part of Matthew 6), and very low on men who "authoritatively" turn others to traditions etc. It is highly critical of "professional" religionists - i.e. anyone PAID to teach/preach etc.

And yes, the "eucharist" if read as "thanksgiving" describes what Acts does: believers meeting and breaking bread together - not some pagan ritual.

[safisoft]

Well here, just go to amazon.com and type in "Didache".

I did, years ago. So, when did you get "your copy"?

[NittanyLion]

I don't act like slavery never existed. I don't promote teachings that condones things like slavery. I don't act surprised when there is a reaction to the memory of slavery.

I don't act like the RC Church never killed people. I don't promote those actions, and I'm not acting surprised that they are remembered.

That said, what does surprise me is that people like yourself use ancient history to damn the current RC Church, when clearly Catholics alive today had nothing to do with those events. It's no different than the race baiters who use slavery to condemn the US in its current form - do you promote their actions?

[Conservative til I die]

And yes, the "eucharist" if read as "thanksgiving" describes what Acts does: believers meeting and breaking bread together - not some pagan ritual.

Please explain how this book, obviously *WIDELY* available on Amazon and in bookstores worldwide, hasn't brought the Church down yet. I mean, it's not suppressed, like you say it is. It's affordable to the common man. So why hasn't this book exposed what the Catholic Church doesn't want exposed? It's like all that Gnostic Gospel nonsense. Apparently the Church is trying to hide from them, yet you can pick it up at the bookstore for $10.95.

A big whatever and a yawn from me.

[Conservative til I die]

I did, years ago.

But wait! The Catholic Empire has long suppressed this book to keep the common man from finding out its secrets, like you said, yes? So how could you get a copy? Careful that the Pope doesn't find out and have you burnt at the stake.

[safisoft]

I don't act like the RC Church never killed people.

Really? Then are you ready to repudiate the men who did? Their names have popped up repeatedly in this thread as authoritative with regard to the things of G-d. The fact is, when some of your scholars and leaders clearly were murders then it stands to reason that they cannot be used as authoritative. That, my friend is why many simply go back and say, sola scriptura - because in the end, ALL of us have people in our spirtual ancestry that we would not want to follow. In other words, when picking a traditions, follow the ones that adhere to Scripture, instead of following the men that came up with them.

[safisoft]

Careful that the Pope doesn't find out and have you burnt at the stake.

Coming from a Catholic, that isn't even remotely funny. Tell me, do you even know how many your "church" murdered? I thank HaShem that I did not live in such dark days as when reading Scripture was a crime and Bibles were burned by the Roman "church".

[NittanyLion]

In other words, when picking a traditions, follow the ones that adhere to Scripture, instead of following the men that came up with them.

If you lack the ability to understand that Catholics do follow Scripture, that's not my problem.

In the meantime, I'd suggest to you that dredging up ancient history to support a (nonexistent) point is not going to get you very far.

[safisoft]

Please explain how this book, obviously *WIDELY* available on Amazon and in bookstores worldwide, hasn't brought the Church down yet.

That's easy. Because you haven't read it yet.

Seriously, no conspiracy. Rome knows full well that if their people won't use the Bible to refute errant tradition, some extra-biblical source like the Didache is of no real threat. My focus was not a conspiracy, but simply a lesson in what is known of and what is not. One would think that something as important as the earliest extra-biblical document, it would be better recognized by "church" leaders. The history of the Didache, although not conspiratory, is interesting. It is quoted from in quite a few early documents - but no copy existed until it was accidentally found in 1870 - but not in the Vatican library. Afterward, a number of copies in the Vatican library were discovered, but I do not say that it was a conspiracy - just ironic.

[BriarBey]

Where is this prophecy about African Popes in the Bible?
*****

I quoted you prophecy about endtimes deception. Isn't it odd, I have known for a year where your next pope will come out of and you know nothing. It's YOUR church, why don't YOU know it. Your so in TOUCH with God.

******

You're the worst kind of anti-Catholic bigot, the foaming at the mouth types who broadcast their rants over the short-wave radios out in the sticks.
****
You wish, you KNOW I speak the truth, and you KNOW its God given, but like the Pharisees, you gnash your teeth in religious anger because you don't want the harlot to lose her grip on people. YOU love the control,power and deception. Your time is short.