The Pope

The death of Pope Francis reminds me of the time some years back when a different conclave was about to choose a new pope. I thought it would be pertinent to write an article about whether it was really Jesus’ desire that his church be governed by a “pope”. So I wrote, (in French as I was living in Belgium at the time), a full page article that I sent to La Libre Belgique, which they published the day after Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict. However, they chose for my article a title which I had not proposed at all, though my feeling was not betrayed by it: “Jesus didn’t want a Pope”.

I have several reasons for thinking that the Roman Catholic version of Christianity is not the best, and I have written a booklet (again, in French) on the differences between Catholics and Protestants. The most essential difference is the source of authority for what the church teaches.

Obviously, the teachings of Jesus are central for all Christians and they are consigned in the four biblical gospels: Matthew and John (two of Jesus’ twelve apostles) and Mark who according to ancient tradition received his details from the apostle Peter, and Luke a medical doctor who did serious research to set forth his account.

It was Jesus’ apostles who also wrote the other documents that the early church’s discernment considered authoritative when they decided which books to include in the New Testament. From the beginning therefore the New Testament was treated – like the Old Testament had been by the Jews – as being writings inspired by God’s Spirit: the Bible was the essential trustworthy source of revealed truth.

Since the fourth century AD ecumenical councils met to define Christian doctrines that were contested by some who called themselves Christians. The teaching decided by these councils was to be universally accepted as defining church doctrine. Church Traditions enshrining such dogmas thus came progressively to be considered authoritative, alongside the Bible. Among these traditions was a particular meaning given to Jesus’ words to the apostle Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16.18), and his charge to Peter to “feed my sheep” (John 21.17). These verses were taken to mean that the apostle Peter was established by Christ as universal leader, Bishop or “Pope” over the worldwide church. Then, since Peter had been martyred at Rome, the successive bishops of the church of Rome were to be considered the “successors of Peter”. Church dogma on this culminated in the Vatican Council of 1870 when papal infallibility was defined as a Catholic doctrine.

In this way, with the passing of the centuries, Christian teaching was practically fashioned more by human Tradition than by authoritative Scripture. My article in La Libre Belgique raised the question as to whether the Catholic interpretation of those words of Jesus justified the total dominance of the Pope’s teaching authority, especially since the protestant reformers, for whom “the Bible alone” was divinely authoritative, questioned and relativised church tradition.

The Reformers started translating and distributing the Bible, as they were convinced that it was the supreme source of Christian teaching, the ultimate inspired Word of God by which all human teaching or tradition should be tested.

The fundamental difference therefore between Catholics and Protestants is this question of the source of authority for church teaching. What should have the last word for establishing Christian doctrine? For Catholics it is the Bible plus Church Tradition and the official declarations of the infallible Popes. For Protestants, it is the Bible alone.

Clive Every-Clayton

May 8, 2025 0

Your walking group

I’m a member of a local walking group; each week about ten of us take to the woods around our village, chatting as we go. It does us good both physically and socially. “Physical exercise has some value”, the Bible tells us (1 Timothy 4.8); but there is also value in spiritual exercises. We can do such exercises like praying and meditating on the Bible by ourselves, but God has instituted a spiritual “walking group” to help us on our way.

That walking group is also called the “church” – by which term the Bible does not mean a building built for worship, but rather the local group of people who have put their trust in Jesus, and who gather together to worship the Lord. In all probability, we are not the only ones in our locality who are called to follow Jesus.

Since we trusted Christ, we are now in God’s family, his sons and daughters, and we find encouragement by talking with those who are older in the faith than we are. Taking part in a spiritual “walking group” means benefitting from attending a church fellowship where we can learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is good for your spiritual health. The church gathers together week by week not only to worship God and sing his praises, but also to encourage one another in the faith by hearing God’s Word preached and by praying together.

God knew that we would have a social need of spiritual encouragement as we grow in faith: the walking group is there to accompany us on our journey, to share our difficulties and pray for us, and to guide us in our lives as disciples of Jesus.

If you are not already involved in a church, find out where the nearest and best one is. They come in all shapes and sizes. It may be wise to try out a few by visiting them just once – if you have the privilege to have several in your area. Then you may choose to affiliate yourself by attending regularly the church you feel is most helpful to you.

That church should be one that respects the value of the Bible as the source of our faith, and treats it as the sure and reliable guide for our life in Christ. The church leaders should explain the Bible’s teachings clearly, establishing your faith on the truth of what God has revealed in his Word, the Bible. Your faith will be encouraged, clarified, and nourished and will grow in wisdom and understanding. This will happen as you learn to treat the Bible as the ultimate source of authoritative truth for knowing God. It is, in fact, a revelation from God, given by inspiration through men of God in Bible times, God’s prophets and Christ’s apostles. This revelation gives you truth from God that our own thinking cannot discover by ourselves.

In your local church fellowship you will find pastoral help with any difficulties you may have: the walking group may know the way better than you and will gladly share their experiences to help you. Jesus commanded his disciples to “love one another” (John 15.12), so connecting with other believers should be a positive experience. And you will be glad to associate with those who share your faith; you will find a spiritual family who love Jesus as you do and who will be helpful to you in many ways. And you can also help them as you develop opportunities to serve the Lord according to the way he has gifted you.

Clive Every-Clayton

September 5, 2024 0

Religion, God, Bible, Church

Wise thinking requires correct assessment of the proper place and varying importance of Religions, God, Bible, Church.

Let’s begin with religions, which are man seeking after and trying to elucidate the Transcendent, the divine, the Absolute. This is expressed in a variety of particular doctrines, traditions, and practices proposed or imposed on believers. All religions except Christianity issue from the spiritual creativity of pious minds; but sadly, piety does not guarantee the truth of a religious philosophy. In the Bible God relativises the various religions and their gods: “They are all a delusion” (Isaiah 41.29 ESV) but “I made the earth” said the Lord, “and created man on it” (Isaiah 45.12).

God himself, therefore, is infinitely more important than human beings and their religions. It is vital to discover that he is there, and to know what he is like in his infinite Being, his majestic holiness, his divine wisdom, his immense power as Creator… As we hear from God himself, we have access to his revealed truth; that will enable us to discern what is true or false in all human thinking about him. He is well capable of making himself known. It is enlightening to read chapters 40 to 46 of the book of the prophet Isaiah, where the Lord himself speaks a lot about himself.

God makes himself known through the Bible. It is a book totally unique in the world, written over more than a millennium by about forty different writers – yet all inspired by the same Spirit of God and therefore able to convey a harmonious understanding of God. Much of the Bible expresses the very words of God himself, as in Job chapter 38, of which Rudolph Otto said, it “may well rank among the most remarkable in the history of religion”. In the Bible God gives his commandments, teaches his wisdom, reveals his love, and calls us to know him. All the Bible is centred on Jesus, the incarnate Lord and teacher, the Saviour of mankind, the Son of God sent by the Father to attest to God’s truth. The Bible itself claims to be God’s Word, inspired by God’s Spirit. By the holiness of its commandments, the profundity of its concepts, and the realism of its treatment of human nature, it certainly appears to be God’s Word. And it proves to be God’s Word when one puts it to the test of personal experience, committing oneself to the living Saviour who calls us through its pages. We find that God does in us what he promises in his Word; so we know it’s true.

The church is the worldwide family of believers, a vast brotherhood of men and women who, having heard or read of God’s self-revelation in Christ and realising he offers fullness of life to all who believe, have been led to agree that he is trustworthy. They do not, for that, make themselves the guarantor of religious truth; rather they merely testify that having received it, they have been intelligently persuaded of its Truth. Hence they do not set themselves up as authorities on religious issues; rather they bear witness to what they see as truth in the Bible. No Christian is infallible; we are all mere disciples, learners in Jesus’ school, followers of our Lord and Saviour. We simply want to know God better through studying Scripture, to please him by the way we live, and serve him by loving our neighbours and by sharing with them the wondrous offer of eternal life and fullness that God in his goodness offers to all.

Clive Every-Clayton

January 18, 2024 0