Personal Story of Becky Kew - "In our small town of 800 people, it seemed as if drinking was all there was to do. I remember times when my Mom and Dad fought. I used to wonder: Why do they love this brown bottle so much when it brings so much misery? Why don't they love me? Is this all my fault?  One time he had her pinned down on the coffee table and I really thought that this time, he would kill her." (more)

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Larry Perkins

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Bonnie Sharp

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John Dennison

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Eric Walberer

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Is there any good ground for the change, advocated by some, of the word “virgin” In Isaiah 7:14" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 7:14 to “young married woman” or “young woman of marriageable age”?

I believe “virgin” can be shown to be the true rendering, along several lines of proof. It is significant that those who propose this change are mostly of Modernist tendencies. Such men deny the miraculous in general, and would gladly get rid of the Virgin Birth of our Lord, and create a discrepancy between Matthew 1:23" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 1:23 and our verse. Gesenius, the well-known author of the Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, a man with a strong Modernistic bias, says, “The true meaning of ‘almäh, (“virgin” in Isaiah 7:14)" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 7:14) is a girl of marriageable age, with no special reference to her unspotted virginity, which is expressed,” he affirms, “by another word, bethulah”; but that moral purity is surely taken for granted, unless definite proof is alleged to the contrary. He adds, “almãh is used of a youthful spouse recently married”; but the only place he quotes to prove this is the verse in question, Isaiah 7:14," TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 7:14, where he wants to rule out the other meaning, and thus begs the question. He also
quotes Canticles 6. 8 to prove his point, but as virgins (‘almöth) are distinguished there from wives and concubines, we may ask what they do stand for, if not for unmarried girls of unspotted character? Gesenius admits, moreover, that his word bethfflah is sometimes clearly used of a woman newly married, e.g., in Joel i. 8. If that word had been used in Isaiah 7:14" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 7:14 he might still have found a loop-hole, and have quoted Joel to show that even “bethfflãh was not conclusive. God, however, has raised up to oppose Gesenius a man of equal scholarship, namely, Dr. S. P. Tregelles, of humble evangelical faith, and also of European reputation as a Hebraist. He translated Gesenius’ Lexicon from the German, and has added notes in brackets to neutralise, where necessary, the bias of the Lexicon. The following note by Dr. Tregelles occurs under “‘almãh”: “Gesenius’ object in view in seeking to undermine the opinion, which would assign the signification of virgin to this word, is clearly to raise a discrepancy between Isaiah 7:14" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 1:23. Nothing which has been stated (i.e. by Gesenius earlier in the article) does, however, really give us any ground for assigning another meaning.. . . ‘Almãh in the Punic language signifies virgin.
The absolute authority of the New Testament is, however, quite sufficient to settle the question to a Christian.” We may refer here to the words of Matthew 1:23" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 1:23: “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is by interpretation, God with us.” The Evangelist uses the ordinary Greek word, “parthenos,” for “virgin,” used too in Luke 2:27," TARGET="_blank">Luke 2:27, of the Virgin Mary. The Greek Version, the Septuagint, does sometimes translate the word “‘almãh” otherwise than by “parthenos,” but here in Isa. 7. 14," TARGET="_blank">Isa. 7. 14, where as Tregelles points out “it must to their minds have occasioned a difficulty,” they translate by the same word that we have in the Gospels. We may suppose these learned Jews—the translators of their own Scriptures—knew at least as much of Hebrew and Greek as Modernist scholars. Matthew does not appear to have quoted from the LXX, so is an independent witness. We do not, however, in any case, need even the authority of God-fearing scholars. This is a question in which “a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err.” Let us look at the other occurrences of the word, “‘almãh,” in the Old Testament. It is used in Genesis 24:43" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 24:43 of Rebecca—the prospective wife of Isaac. The other word, “bethülãh, occurs in verse i6, as we might say “virgin” or “maid” indiscriminately. Miriam, in Exodus 2:8," TARGET="_blank">Exodus 2:8, is called an “‘almh,” and she was clearly not a young married woman, but a maiden. This suits, too, in Proverbs 30:19." TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 30:19. Canticles 10:3 seems to demand the sense of virgins, as also chap. 6. 8, as we have seen. Psalm 68:25" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 68:25 we may take as neutral; we cannot affirm the damsels to be virgins, though they might have been. Then there is another consideration. The name to be given to the child—”Emmanuel,” “God with us”—goes a long way to justify the translation of “virgin” by our Translators and Revisers, as such a birth demanded extraordinary concomitant circumstances. The context, too, favours the same conclusion. Jehovah had offered Ahaz any sign he might choose to ask—”in the depth or in the height” above, that is anything comparable with the drying up of the Red Sea or the Jordan, or on the other hand, with Joshua’s long day. When Ahaz refused, the prophet replied, “The Lord Himself shall give you a sign. “Behold a* (literally “the”) virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” Clearly God’s sign would be something extraordinarily arresting. How else would the Eternal Son of God enter into manhood except in the womb of a Virgin? The birth of a son to a young married woman, far from being an arresting sign, would not be a sign at all, but the most atural of events.

W.H.

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BREAKING THE BREAD

Is it right to take the loaf, that which answers to the Body of our Lord and break it in two, and then hand it round the Assembly?

In Matthew 26:26;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22;" TARGET="_blank">Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19," TARGET="_blank">Luke 22:19, we read that the Lord took bread and gave thanks (or blessed) and brake and gave unto His disciples saying, “This is my body,” and Luke adds, “which is given (not broken) for you.” In 1 Corinthians  11:23, 24, the Lord Jesus is said to have followed the same order, with the words, “which is broken for you,” but this, R.V. changes simply (and with sufficient MS. authority) to, “which is for you.” Now, compare this with Luke 24: 30," TARGET="_blank">Luke 24: 30, where a simple meal was about to begin (for it can hardly be maintained that the two disciples had spread the table of remembrance that evening at Emmaus, in the condition in which they were of unbelief and ignorance of the true meaning of all that had taken place), and where we read that the Lord took bread and gave thanks, as he sat down to the meal, and then brake it. I do not, therefore, think we must put undue emphasis on the breaking of the bread even by the Lord, though far be it from us to affirm that any act of His was not significant. However, the brother who gives thanks in the Assembly for the bread or the cup, would shrink from any pretention to be taking the place that the Lord rightly took. His giving thanks is no official act, but only as representing the Assembly, and his breaking the bread is only for the convenience of distribution. The true breaking of bread is done by all, each one for him or herself, as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:26" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:26: “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ”? What is important is that the giving of thanks should take place before the loaf is broken for distribution, for the loaf is one, and this must be maintained, for it not only represents the one holy Body of the Lord given for us, but His mystical Body, the oneness of which is thus witnessed to. “The bread which we break is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:16-17, R.V., margin).

To pass a whole loaf around would be very inconvenient, and would necessitate its being divided in some way by the one who received it first, which would come to the same thing as that to which the questioner objects. The breaking of the bread by the saints is not a dividing of the Body of Christ, but a communion in it (“Him we all in common share”), a remembrance of Him in the act, and a proclamation of His death.

W.H.

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This can be an explosive question due to the history of persecution against the Jews for being "Christ Killers".  The Pope raised a lot of eyebrows for pardoning the Jews for killing Christ.  Of course, the Pope doesn’t speak for the entire Christian world, but he attracted a lot of attention when in his book “Jesus of Nazareth Part II,” Pope Benedict XVI exonerated the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council forgave the Jews for killing Jesus in 1965, but this marks the first time that a Pope has personally done so.

Are the Jews guilty of killing Jesus?

There were actually many people responsible for putting Jesus to death, including some of the Jews of Jesus’ day.  The Jews who were responsible for taking Jesus to the Roman government were the current leaders of the nation of Israel.  The Roman Governor Pilate had his own guilt for permitting an execution of an innocent man.  The Roman soldiers carried out orders in their most cruel and mocking fashion.

 
Of course the early believers in Christ (not yet called Christians) included faithful Jews like Simeon, Anna, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Martha, and Lazarus.  There was tension in the early church between the believers who preferred to keep Jewish law and those who saw that Christ fulfilled the law.  Read and study the books of Galatians 1:6-24;" TARGET="_blank">Galatians 1:6-24; 2 Corinthians 3:14-16" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 3:14-16 and Hebrews 13:10-13" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 13:10-13 to see this difference.  But there is no call in the Bible to blame the Jewish nation for Christ’s death.  The most powerful example what a Christian attitude should be can be found in the words of Christ Himself “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)." TARGET="_blank">Luke 23:34).

In later centuries, when the Catholic faith became the dominate form of Christianity, the accusation was raised that all Jewish people were responsible for putting Jesus to death which helped fuel anti-Semitic feelings and the horrible persecutions against Jews which have been documented throughout the last 2000 years - the targeted killings of Jews during the Crusades inspired by Pope Urban II, the Spanish Inquisition established in 1480 by Catholic king and queen Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Nazi Holocaust lead by Adlof Hitler to mention only three.  For a Jew to become a Christian, it is more than simply a matter of reading the scriptures and seeing that their Messiah has already come.  The killings and torture done by the church against the Jews has made it an issue of “us against them”.

What does the Bible say about who killed Jesus?

It is clear from the Gospel accounts that there were religious leaders who were plotting against Jesus for a long time before he was finally crucified.  The crowds of people were manipulated by their leaders to cry “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” at the trial before Pilate (Luke 23:21)." TARGET="_blank">Luke 23:21).  They chose Barabbas, the murderor-terrorist to be freed in place of Christ (Matthew 27:21)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 27:21). Later in a public speech, the Apostle Peter put the blame for this decision on the people in Acts 2:22-23." TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:22-23.

I am guilty of the death of Christ?

However, the Bible also tells us that the crucifixion was part of the plan of God to sacrifice Christ for the punishment of our sins.  Acts 2:23" TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:23 says the cross was in “the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:23).  God turned a wicked act into a noble sacrifice making provision for every guilty man and woman in the world to be saved.  The attitude of Jesus’ death and who is guilty then becomes a personal matter of guilt.  Galatians 2:20" TARGET="_blank">Galatians 2:20 says that “the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me”.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:21)

The leaders of the Jews were constantly trying to kill Jesus

Many times in the stories of the Gospels we read that the Saducees and Pharisees were plotting how to kill Jesus.  

Here are some of the examples:

In Mark 3," TARGET="_blank">Mark 3, we read that Jesus made the Phrisees and the Herodians angry for violating the laws of the Sabbath.

Mark 3:3-6" TARGET="_blank">Mark 3:3-6  And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here."  (4)  And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent.  (5)  And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  (6)  The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Luke 6:11" TARGET="_blank">Luke 6:11  But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

John 8:58-59" TARGET="_blank">John 8:58-59  Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."  (59)  So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

John 7:1" TARGET="_blank">John 7:1  After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Mark 11:18" TARGET="_blank">Mark 11:18  And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

John 11:47-53" TARGET="_blank">John 11:47-53  So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.  (48)  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."  (49)  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all.  (50)  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish."  (51)  He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,  (52)  and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.  (53)  So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Matthew 16:21" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 16:21  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

John 7:19-25" TARGET="_blank">John 7:19-25  Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?"  (20)  The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?"  (21)  Jesus answered them, "I did one work, and you all marvel at it.  (22)  Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  (23)  If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well?  (24)  Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."  (25)  Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?

Matthew 26:1-4" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 26:1-4  When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,  (2)  "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  (3)  Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,  (4)  and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

Shad Sluiter

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Did Samuel really come back when Saul consulted the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28: )?

Attempts have been made to prove the contrary, in order to avoid even the appearance of justifying the practice of Spiritism. But this is a weak argument. We must not manipulate the Word of God even on the plea of defending the truth. That is doing evil that good may come. It is a poor heresy that cannot allege some fancied support in Scripture.

I have not the slightest doubt that Samuel did really come back and hold intercourse with Saul by the sovereign permission of God. Really, the reappearance of Samuel does not touch the question of Spiritism or justify men in seeking intercourse with the dead. This is implicitly condemned earlier in the very chapter when Saul, as we are told, cut off those who had dealings with familiar spirits—and yet so hardened was he that “he sware to the witch by the Lord saying, As the Lord liveth there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.” He obeyed God, as long as it suited him. When Saul had overcome the witch’s fears, he told her to call up Samuel. She was in no way perturbed at that, for she knew her familiar spirit would be there to impersonate whomsoever was called up, with greater or less accuracy. Samuel being so widely known, would not be a difficult subject for deception. But when she saw the real Samuel rising out of the earth in a spirit-form, rendered visible to her eyes, she cried out. This was something outside her experience and beyond her ken. (1 Samuel 28:12)." TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28:12).

It is interesting to note her description—”I see gods (‘elohim_. mighty ones—sometimes according to Gesenius, used in the singular)— ascending out of the earth.” Clearly the spirit of the departed prophet had taken on a grandeur and majesty befitting a Paradise-dweller, but for purposes of identification, he was seen as he had been known for many years in the days of his flesh, as an old man, clad in his prophetic mantle, and it was in this latter guise that she described him. There was no trickery about this, as there must always be in spiritism whether in the familiar spirit—or in the medium. She was sure what appeared to her was not her familiar spirit. Saul was sure by the description it was truly Samuel. The spirit of Samuel spake like Samuel, going back to the very judgment, which he had been charged to pass on Saul, for his disobedience in the case of Arnalek. What is more, the words of Samuel came true.

God did not let his servant’s words fall to the ground now, any more than when he was alive in the flesh. It really is surprising that otherwise well-taught Christians should be found to question all this.

This consultation of the witch by Saul was the consummation of Saul’s disobedience. He is reproved for enquiring of the witch and not God. He did ask of God in a formal way, but not in the earnest way in which he sought the witch (see 1 Chronicles 10: 13, 14," TARGET="_blank">1 Chronicles 10: 13, 14, where distinct words for the two “enquires” mark this).

W.H.

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Who was Saint Patrick and what is St. Patrick's Day?

Maewyn Succat is the real name of the man who the Catholic Church eventually declared to be Saint Patrick.  He was born in 387 A.D. in Kilpatrick, Scotland and died in 461 A.D.  He is known for his Christian missionary work in Ireland where he preached for 30 years.  It is said that over 135,000 people were converted due to his teaching and 300 churches established throughout the country.  

He didn’t appear to be born to greatness.  When he was 16 years old he was captured by Catholic invaders and became a slave in Ireland.  During his time in slavery, he learned about the non-Christian culture and customs of Celtic Ireland.  Later in life he returned and converted many of these Celts to the Catholic faith.  

He felt called by God because of a vivid dream in which God said “Your ship is ready.” St. Patrick jumped a ship bound for Britian where he received another message from God in a dream.  This time in his dream he received a letter which was the “voice of the Irish”.  Inside the letter he heard the people of Ireland asking him to return to teach them the Catholic faith.

Saint Patrick then studied to become an ordained Catholic bishop.  Later he returned to Ireland to begin his missionary work.  His preaching was met with great success.  Knowing the Celltic culture, he adapted symbols of Ireland to teach Christian doctrines, most notably the shamrock, a three-leaved clover, to represent the trinity.  It is also said that Saint Patrick introduced alcohol to Ireland which still affects the culture of Ireland today.  

Saint Patrick’s Day Observed

Saint Patrick died on March 17, 461.  March 17 is a national holiday in Ireland to commemorate their greatest Catholic missionary of all time.  With a significant Irish immigrant population, the United States celebrates the day, but not to the extent of making it a national holiday.  People wear green, claim to be Irish for at least one day of the year, drink green beer and in Chicago, dye the Chicago River green.  

While the Bible doesn’t mention a special class of people as saints (all believers are referred to as the saints - see note below), Maewyn Succat was an extraordinary man who dedicated his life to teaching the tenants of the Christian faith to another culture.  The main known as Saint Patrick made Ireland into one of the most ardent supporters of the Catholic Church anywhere on the planet.

Saints

The Bible refers to all believers as saints.  See the following list of saints mentioned in the Acts and the Epistles...

(Acts 9:13)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 9:13)  But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.

(Acts 9:32)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 9:32)  Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.

(Acts 9:41)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 9:41)  And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

(Acts 26:10)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 26:10)  And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.

(Romans 1:7)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 1:7)  To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Romans 8:27)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:27)  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

(Romans 12:13)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 12:13)  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

(Romans 15:25)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 15:25)  At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

(Romans 15:26)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 15:26)  For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

(Romans 15:31)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 15:31)  that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

(Romans 16:2)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 16:2)  that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

(Romans 16:15)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 16:15)  Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

(1 Corinthians 1:2)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 1:2)  To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

(1 Corinthians 6:1)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 6:1)  When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?

(1 Corinthians 6:2)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 6:2)  Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

(1 Corinthians 14:33)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 14:33)  For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

(1 Corinthians 16:1)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 16:1)  Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

(1 Corinthians 16:15)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 16:15)  Now I urge you, brothers--you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints--

(2 Corinthians 1:1)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 1:1)  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

(2 Corinthians 8:4)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 8:4)  begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints--

(2 Corinthians 9:1)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 9:1)  Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints,

(2 Corinthians 9:12)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 9:12)  For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

(2 Corinthians 13:13)" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 13:13)  All the saints greet you.

(Ephesians 1:1)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 1:1)  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

(Ephesians 1:15)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 1:15)  For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

(Ephesians 1:18)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 1:18)  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

(Ephesians 2:19)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:19)  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

(Ephesians 3:8)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 3:8)  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

(Ephesians 3:18)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 3:18)  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

(Ephesians 4:12)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 4:12)  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

(Ephesians 5:3)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 5:3)  But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

(Ephesians 6:18)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 6:18)  praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

(Philippians 1:1)" TARGET="_blank">Philippians 1:1)  Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

(Philippians 4:22)" TARGET="_blank">Philippians 4:22)  All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

(Colossians 1:2)" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:2)  To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

(Colossians 1:4)" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:4)  since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

(Colossians 1:12)" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:12)  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

(Colossians 1:26)" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:26)  the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

(1 Thessalonians 3:13)" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 3:13)  so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

(2 Thessalonians 1:10)" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 1:10)  when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

(1 Timothy 5:10)" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 5:10)  and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.

(Philemon 1:5)" TARGET="_blank">Philemon 1:5)  because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,

(Philemon 1:7)" TARGET="_blank">Philemon 1:7)  For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

(Hebrews 6:10)" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 6:10)  For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

(Hebrews 13:24)" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 13:24)  Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.

(Jude 1:3)" TARGET="_blank">Jude 1:3)  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

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Is the Pope the Antichrist?

 

The antichrist is a prophetic figure that the Bible predicts will become the last satanic-inspired dictator of the God-opposed worldwide government of the last days of the Great Tribulation.  Some scriptural references to this coming world leader are found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12;" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 6:1-2;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 6:1-2; Revelation 13:1-18;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 13:1-18; Daniel 7:20-27;" TARGET="_blank">Daniel 7:20-27; Daniel 8:1-27." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 8:1-27.

 

Many Bible scholars have tried to determine who this person may be.  Since the times of the protestant revolution, the Pope has been a favorite target because of his name as the “Vicar” of Christ on earth.

 

The Catholic Church relies on the Pope to be the representative of Christ on earth.  This “Vicar of Christ” or “Vicarious Christ” means that he takes the place of Christ.  Protestants love to apply this Vicar title to the term “Anti-Christ” since “anti” is the term to mean “takes the place of”.  In the sense of the meaning of the word, the Pope takes the place of Christ or becomes the “Antichrist”.  This virulent language appeared in Protestant literature since the Protestant Reformation and appeared for centuries in the notes of the popular Geneva Bible published by Protestants in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

Being the Vicar of Christ, the Pope claims to speak “ex cathedra” or “from the chair” in regards to matters of belief or doctrine.  Speaking this way, he claims to be infallible, without error.

 

Protestants find this teaching to be in grave error.  No man is infallible.  The apostles words were inspired, but since their passing, Scripture is complete.  The extent that the Pope agrees with the Scriptures is the only extent that he speaks the truth.  Catholics therefore believe, for example, that Mary ascended to heaven at the end of her life because November 1, 1950, the Pope declared this to be so.

Shad David Sluiter

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