This saddens me, but I’m not shocked. Our Baptist forefathers wouldn’t recognize this generation of Baptists. Thankfully there are some traditional Baptists left, but they are the exception.
Here is what Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th century Baptist, had to say on the matter of the pope of Rome:
“It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description.”
“Popery is contrary to Christ’s Gospel, and is the Antichrist, and we ought to pray against it. It should be the daily prayer of every believer that Antichrist might be hurled like a millstone into the flood and for Christ, because it wounds Christ, because it robs Christ of His glory, because it puts sacramental efficacy in the place of His atonement, and lifts a piece of bread into the place of the Saviour, and a few drops of water into the place of the Holy Ghost, and puts a mere fallible man like ourselves up as the vicar of Christ on earth; if we pray against it, because it is against Him, we shall love the persons though we hate their errors: we shall love their souls though we loath and detest their dogmas, and so the breath of our prayers will be sweetened, because we turn our faces towards Christ when we pray.”
“Our Baptist forefathers wouldn’t recognize this generation of Baptists.”
Correct. In our church back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, the youth groups were taught the history of the Baptist church, apologetics, etc. Now, most Baptist churches are quasi-religious but are primarily social clubs and entertainment centers. Would I love to find a preacher who teaches in-depth Theology! Even here in TN where there are five Baptist churches within a couple miles of every home, they’re mostly fluff.
As for the pope, no true Baptist would admire him or his position. Baptists and cults do not, and should not, mix.
Always appreciate your posts, .45 Long Colt! (And I’m one of the traditional Southern Baptists!)