Might Some of the Popes be Saved?
Click to go to our Home
Page
Dear Reader, It is being taught by some Adventists that it
might be possible for some of the Popes to be saved. Dr. Tulla,
a Theology Professor in Tanzania, told me in an email today (March 3, 08)
that Dr. B.B. Beach told his class that some of the Popes could be saved.
This is a totally erroneous teaching and should not be espoused by any SDA,
especially on the doctorate or Professor level. The
following data will establish this fact as wholly true and sound. ----- Original Message ----- From:
Bryan
Bissell To: Ron
Beaulieu Sent: Tuesday, March 04,
2008 8:42 AM Subject: Re:
Emailing: rationalizetohell Again the issue is does the BIBLE or EGW say
ANYWHERE that ALL popes will be lost? No, it does not. Anyone who
makes that standard is inventing their own standard. Ron
responds: Bryan has stated a number of times on SDAIssues
forum that it is possible that some of the popes might be saved. This is not
good Berean, responsible scholarship, for a college
professor. Kindly friend, I would direct you to the following facts.
Here we are taught that finite man is not to be placed where God should be.
He is not to be honored as a god, or to be bowed
down to. "Worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters." The man of sin
[Satan] is worshiped in the person of the pope, and his
representative, the cardinal. But
God has not given this power to pope or prelate. The pope is not regarded by
God as anything more than a man who is acting out in our world the character
of the man of sin, representing in his claims that power and authority which
Satan claimed in the heavenly courts. {5MR 102.2} The
Bible does not mention the word POPE per say, but it does mention the man of
sin. The meaning of the word "man" in 2 Thess. 2:3, refers to a
human being, the pope, the vicegerent of Satan. 2Th 2:3 Let
no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except
there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition; Scripture
says that the son of perdition is lost: Jhn 17:12 While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and
none of them is lost, but the son
of perdition; that
the scripture might be fulfilled. In
light of the fact that Bryan Bissell has many times called our attention to
Ellen White's statement that we should present only wholly sound arguments, I
would kindly suggest that Bryan and all of us be better Bereans
in our quest of that pursuit. Agitate,
agitate, agitate. The subjects which we present to
the world must be to us a living reality. It is important that in defending
the doctrines which we consider fundamental articles of faith we should never allow ourselves to employ
arguments that are not wholly sound. These may avail to silence an opposer, but they do not honor the truth. We should
present sound arguments, that will not only silence
our opponents, but will bear the closest and most searching scrutiny. With
those who have educated themselves as debaters there is great danger that
they will not handle the word of God with fairness. In meeting an opponent it
should be our earnest effort to present subjects in such a manner as to
awaken conviction in his mind, instead of seeking merely to give confidence
to the believer. {5T 708.1} It is not a
wholly sound or any measure of soundness to say that any man of sin will be
saved when Scripture says otherwise. Here is the
meaning of the word "man" in 2 Thess. 2:3, refers to a human being.
Though no pope yet existed in when Paul wrote this verse, yet the course
toward that reality had already begun. Number 444 Transliteration: anthropos {anth'-ro-pos} Word
Origin: from 435 and
ops (the countenance, from 3700); man-faced, i.e. a human being TDNT: 1:364,59 Part
of Speech: noun masculine Usage
in the KJV: man 552, not tr 4,
misc 3 Definition: 1. a
human being, whether male or
female 1. generically,
to include all human individuals 2. to
distinguish man from beings of a different race or order 1. of
animals and plants 2. of
from God and Christ 3. of
the angels 3. with
the added notion of weakness, by which man is led into a mistake or prompted
to sin 4. with
the adjunct notion of contempt or disdainful pity 5. with
reference to two fold nature of man, body and soul 6. with
reference to the two fold nature of man, the corrupt and the truly Christian
man, conformed to the nature of God 7. with
reference to sex, a male 2. indefinitely,
someone, a man, one 3. in
the plural, people 4. joined
with other words, merchantman TDNT
- Theological Dictionary of the New Testament |