On
his weekly TV program for 5-29-2005, "Jack Van Impe Presents",
Jack and Rexella Van Impe called the new Roman Pontiff "our
new Pope." In previous successive weekly broadcasts in April
2005, the Van Impes alleged that the new R.C. pope is a staunch believer
in the evangelical view of Scripture, Benedict XVI, however, formerly
known as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, staunchly rejects the historic
conservative view of Scriptural inerrancy and is a confirmed Mariolater
as well.
While the
former Cardinal rejects outright theological liberals, he is no
friend of Fundamentalist Bible believers. "In a 1988 lecture at
a Lutheran church in New York, Ratzinger chided Fundamentalism saying,
it's 'useless to take refuge in an allegedly pure, literal understanding
of the Bible.'" (1)
Ratzinger
commended a 1993 Pontifical Biblical Commission Statement on Bible interpretation
that "denounced fundamentalism as 'dangerous' and a 'kind of intellectual
suicide.'" The statement alleged that Fundamentalists place "undue
stress upon the inerrancy of certain details in the Biblical texts,"
and "naively confuse the Gospels as edited with the 'words and
deeds of the historical Jesus.'"
According
to a sympathetic article by Robert D. Miller, Benedict XVI "has
repeatedly rejected an 'allegedly pure, literal understanding of the
Bible,' and holds that Biblical scholars 'are the ones who determine
the criteria for a fitting interpretation.'" (2)
Pope Benedict
XVI is also a confirmed Mariolater. In the same article noted above,
Miller declared: "I've read much of his work on the Virgin Mary.
The new pope has a deep devotion to Mary that he has shown in many ways…He
has pushed for a re-grounding of Marian devotion and theology in the
Bible." (3) Ibid.
"In
his first speech as pope, delivered on Apr. 20 [2005] in the College
of Cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel, Benedict XVI said: 'In
support of this promise, I invoke the maternal intercession of Mary
Most Holy, in whose hands I place the present and the future of my person
and of the church.'" (4)
Since the
Van Impe's have officially embraced [though not officially announcing
they have joined] Roman Catholicism and claimed that it is a legitimate
expression of the genuine Christian faith (5) and have stated that "Christianity
came [originated] from this one group, the Holy Roman Catholic Church,"
(6) their claims should be taken with a grain of salt by Bible-believers
who know the facts about Rome's anti-Biblical pagan dogmas and practices.
While God
loves unconverted Roman Catholics, just like He loves unconverted Baptists
(John 3:16), and desires to see individuals from both groups genuinely
saved (I Tim. 2:4, II Peter 3:9), Roman Catholicism is a false religious
system staunchly condemned in Scripture, a religion that teaches the
commandments and traditions of men (Mark 7:7-9, I Peter 1:18-19) in
place of the simple divinely revealed genuine saving grace of Christ's
gospel (Rom. 1:16).
Resources
cited: (1) AP Internet, 5-7-2005, via The Canadian Press; (2) Sunday
Patriot News, 4-24-2004, F6, Harrisburg, PA; (3) Ibid; (4) Vatican Information
Service, 4-20-2005, via FBIS, 4-29-2005; (5) JVI Presents, 4-17-2005;
(6) Ibid, 5-3-2005. D.J.