Replies

Good thoughts. It is always the way that those who acquire power become addicted to it, and will use any contrivance to hold onto their power. No one is immune to the temptation, apart from Christ, of course. Which is one reason only He can be our Master. No one else can really handle the job.

As for getting hung up on educational elitism, some forget the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and we would not recognize Jesus as our Lord unless, like Peter, the Father had revealed this to us Himself. So every believer is a direct pupil of God, just as Jeremiah prophesied it would be so for those in the New Covenant. And can there be a better teacher than God?

Some here might object. Surely only the elite can handle such special knowledge. But the pharisees also strenuously objected to Christ teaching what He did to lowly fishermen, tax collectors, and other ordinary sinners. Why how dare He! The nerve! Surely all that special knowledge would be under their control, not the commoners.

But Jesus actually said it pleased God to shut out the elites, and give His greatest blessings of truth to ordinary sinners. If some abuse that truth, and lead people astray with false teaching, they will pay dearly for their crimes against God. But God will not withhold the food of His word from His own sheep, simply because there are wolves about. His sheep know His voice, and will only follow Him. The Good Shepherd knows His own, and they are safe, and well fed, with Him.

Peace,

This discussion begins and ends with authority. It is not about elites. Christ did not command His disciples to instruct “multiple” truths and we can’t go on debating which is “the” truth till the end of time. This is why Christ made sure that this authority is unique and be extended to one Church through St. Peter and his successors. (Not to 1001 evangelists of offering as many interpretations from Billy Graham to David Koresh)

Thus all this snippeting from Scripture alone is worse than ludicrous, it is unmaintainable as a coherent singular teaching for all generations to come. Those leading Protestant theologians who converted to Catholicism had the courage of their convictions.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It isn’t Scripture, but it is still true.

I believe that that is the reason that God would NEVER put a single man in the kind of position of authority that the popes, not to mention cardinals and bishops in Catholicism, are in.

Man simply cannot be trusted with that kind of unbridled power and Elise’s lists of bad popes verify that.