Might Some of the Popes be Saved?

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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.
Bryan

 

 

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

Total: 559

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
TWOT - Theological Word Book of the Old Testament