Posted on 04/14/2005 12:00:51 PM PDT by 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.
And LOT lived in Sodom, too!
HE lost everything he had, and got his daughters pregnant as well!
Now that's just creepy. Thanks, I stand corrected.
No. They believe they simply sleep. I saw it on the History Channel.
They don't believe in the resurrection, nor Christ.
I didn't stick with it longer because...
1) In Nowhere, Indiana, where I grew up, there is only a grade school Catholic school.
2) I would have probably been booted. I didn't like it. All my friends went elsewhere.
3) My "Family" did not practice. My dad was Catholic but didn't practive anymore and mom wasn't Catholic (I'm pretty sure I went to the Catholic school to make grandmaw happy). I went to church every Sunday, alone, for 6 years. And only because the school said I had too.
Anyway...Now that I think back. I just find it odd that we didn't really "Study" the bible. It seems, now, that the school was more interested in teaching Catholic Doctrin. I guess??
But won't your car last longer, and stay cleaner, if it's garage-kept?
Very true.
BUMP!
Not to take one side or the other, but I've never seen or heard of a Catholic saying such things. I have heard it the other way though.
But then again, Catholocism is only 1 against about a bazillion types of other "Christian" religions? So...It's not really a fair comparison.
*shrug*
If "most people" are too ignorant to educate themselves on the Catholic faith, then I suppose they can think whatever they like.
The Nicene Creed is recited at every RC Mass, it is the old, from the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D and summarizes the Catholic Faith (FYI for all non RCs on this Board):
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
And no, we don't worship our Blessed Mother. God Bless You.
No. It's fact. Like I said, it happened back during the Inquisition. Rome needed the Church to fight. The rituals bled over into Catholicism. That's why they're not found in the Bible.
Today, there's still a Babylonian Brotherhood, but I have no idea what they're up to now.
I couldn't have said it better!!
And that coming not from a doubting Protistant, but a doubting Catholic. (Good way to phrase it).
again, source please?
Exactly.
Paul did not contradict the Lord, whose words are always helpful. An older, more accurate English translation reveals the true meaning of 1 Cor 5:12-13. And I would not "condemn" a Pastor despite his error. Because how is that any different from someone condemning the Pope?
I bet you stayed at a Hoiliday Inn once too.
You either heard wrong, didn't understand, or were misinformed.
Thanks for the insight. Well said!!
The Inquisition had zero to do with the "Romanization" of the Church. The Seat of Peter - the Bishop of Rome - was considered the naval of the faith long before the Inquisition, which was launched to counter the Catharists who insisted that Jesus did not have a Divine nature and that heaven and hell existed side-by-side (equal in power)
To properly study the Bible you need to have something in which to contextualize it, such as the Catechism. You need to be able to see how one Gospel truth squares with all the others, or it would be very easy to get the wrong idea from a passage out of context, and then you'd be very confused, and that doesn't help. Lacking context and tradition you get the millions of different personal interpretations known as Protestantism.
Studying the Bible is a good thing, and highly recommended -- but you also have to be aware that "the Devil can quote Scripture for his purpose" and lead you astray.
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