One of the titles used by the pope is “Pontifex Maximus”. Literally, this means “chief bridge builder”, if the Latin etymology is correct. “Pontifex” may be derived from the Etruscan “preparer of the road”, which is similar to “bridge builder”.
Tag: Pope
May 31 2019
Hate mail from an Adventist, May 2019
I got some lovely hate mail from a guy called David Winston. I thought it would be good to share here. It shows how nasty Adventists can be, and how their hatred blinds them to any factual evidence contrary to their way of viewing the world.
Aug 10 2018
Dishonesty in Seventh-day Adventism, Part 2 – Catholicism
In Part 1 we looked at a striking and honest Adventist acknowledgement of the type of dishonesty that forms part of Adventist culture. Here we’ll look at specific common examples of how dishonest Adventists spread fake facts and fake history.
Aug 10 2018
Dishonesty in Seventh-day Adventism, Part 1 – Adventism
Adventist Today: “We have in this denomination nurtured a class of people who have little regard for verifiable truth. Some lie intentionally and boldly, such as those who altered that article and passed on the letter as factual. Of the rest, it is unclear to me whether they lack the ability to distinguish a spurious story from a true one, or just prefer to believe any bit of mythology that feeds their hunger for novelty, and affirms their fears. … They preferred titillating myths …”
May 05 2018
André Reis and Daniel 8
André Reis, an old “friend” of this blog, has two very interesting posts on Daniel 8 over at Adventist Today and Spectrum. It seems he is disagreeing with the classic Adventist interpretation of Daniel 8, which links the two horns of Daniel 7 and 8 as the same entity, papal Rome. His position on Daniel 8 is much like mine, and much like that of ex-Adventist Dale Ratzlaff over at Life Assurance Ministries. His view disagrees with mine in that I, like Adventists, see the little horns of Daniel 7 and 8 as the same entity, but unlike Adventists, I link them both to Antiochus Epiphanes.
Sep 09 2016
Does the pope claim to be God on earth?
Adventists, and other anti-Catholics, claim that popes have taught that they are God. Anyone who knows anything about the Catholic Church knows that the pope doesn’t consider himself to be God.
Sep 02 2016
Vicarius Filii Dei and 666
Adventists like to present a fake papal title as evidence that the papacy is linked to the number 666 found in Revelation 13:18.
Sep 28 2015
Pope Francis – Jesus’ failure on the cross?
The wolves (or donkeys, depicted on the right) cannot read, or don’t want to read. They see the words “failure of the cross” and abandon context and honesty in order to promote their nasty agenda. I don’t see how any honest person can read the entire paragraph, notice the words “humanly speaking”, and misunderstand. The wolves bear false witness. It’s what they do.
Aug 30 2014
Shame on you – Adventists, dishonesty, and the Catholic Church
Adventists have a reputation for their dishonesty, and not just among Catholics. Out there in real life and on the internet there is a huge collection of anti-Catholic propaganda waiting for gullible Catholics, and others, to ensnare them. When a Catholic meets a certain type of Adventist, this sort of propaganda abounds.
Jul 21 2013
Waking Up Catholic – Book review
In his new book, Waking Up Catholic, Chad Torgerson describes his journey into the Catholic Church. He discusses how his faith in Christ developed over the years, from Lutheran, to agnostic/atheist, to born-again Protestant, and finally Catholic. Specifically, he brings in how his relationship with Christ was influenced by his study of Catholic teachings and practices, and shows how they can bring one closer to Christ. The book is easy to read, but gets to the point of complex issues remarkably well without becoming too complex on the one hand, or being too simple on the other.
Mar 14 2013
Pope Francis, the Latin Mass, and elaborate ceremonies – updated
Will Pope Francis suppress the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, allowing us only the Ordinary Form, thereby reversing the much-needed liturgical reform? He has that authority. He can bind and loose with the authority given to Peter. But I don’t believe he will.
Mar 04 2013
How the new pope is elected
La Stampa has a lovely walk-through of how the new pope will be elected. Very educational. I didn’t know that the way things are done changes with the 34th ballot. Pope Benedict XVI changed the simple majority back to a 2/3 majority for all the ballots, though, so it could run well beyond 34.
Mar 03 2013
Liturgical dancing
Liturgical dancing – abolish it! It looks silly. It looks like moon worship. It’s not Catholic. I hope Cardinal Arinze is elected pope. He’d be a good pope.
Feb 24 2013
Samuele Bacchiocchi and the Gregorian controversy
A controversy arise, initiated by me, disputing his claims. The Gregorian University initially disputed all of the above. Later they were shown to be wrong on some important points, but several matters still remain unresolved, and unfortunately are perpetuated in Adventist / Sabbatarian circles, and in copies of his book.
Feb 23 2013
23 Catholic Churches
The Catholic Church consists, currently, of 23 different Churches sui iuris. “Sui iuris” means autonomous, although all are united under the leadership of the Pope. Each Church is known as a particular Church, and the Pope, in addition to being leader of all 23, also has the authority over the Latin Church that the Patriarchs have over their sui iuris Churches. All except the Latin Church are Eastern Churches. Not all Churches have Patriarchs – some have Major Archbishops, some Metropolitans, and the rest have hierarchs with other names. They all have their own liturgies, known by various names such as Mass (in the West), Divine Liturgy, Holy Qurbana, and others.
Feb 17 2013
The 2005 Conclave – before and after
I remember exactly where I was on the evening of Tuesday April 19 2005. I was in Parow, in a Pick ‘n Pay grocery store, near the frozen meat isle, and got a call from my mother. I was absolutely thrilled. The cardinal I had been inspired by for several years, and respected tremendously, and whom I hoped would be pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
Feb 11 2013
Pope St Celestine V
On 28 April 2009, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI left his pallium lying on the tomb of Pope St Celestine V. At the time there was speculation that this indicated that Pope Benedict XVI would follow in the footsteps of Pope St Celestine V. Pope St Celestine V resigned on 13 December 1294. He had been pope for 5 months. There was no pope for two years prior to that – the election that resulted in him becoming pope took 27 months. 11 Cardinals participated in the election.
Feb 11 2013
Pope Benedict’s resignation
This is a very sad day for the Catholic Church, but it was inevitable that his reign come to an end. He has been a tremendous force in bringing the Church back in line, and turning people back to God. I don’t think he will lose his status as my favourite pope. He is my 4th pope – I was born in the reign of Pope Paul VI, who was followed by Pope John Paul I, and then Pope John Paul II.
Jan 01 2013
Debate with André Reis
These comments were originally posted in the comments section of Dr Francis Beckwith comes home. They have been moved here. This is an example of a futile debate with an Adventist who only wishes to preach at Catholics. This is one of the reasons Adventists have little credibility with other Christians.
Feb 22 2009
Erol – 1 Corinthians 16 verses 1-2
Over at Answering Catholicism, Erol is making some interesting claims about the Catholic Church. Apart from subscribing to the long discredited Vicarius Filii Dei = papal title myth, he has a number of less unreasonable articles about Catholicism, to which he objects.
