Pope To Atheists:
See You Upstairs

The headline leaped of the front page off the newspaper as I opened it early Thursday morning. "Pope To Atheist: See You Upstairs" it said over a picture of Pope Francis pointing to the sky.    The by-line said, "Pope Francis, ... has opened the door to salvation for atheist, saying God will forgive them if they obey their consciences."

There’s much about Roman Catholic theology with which I have problems and find to be less than biblical, but this I thought was unbelievable.    Not only was such a thought contrary to good conservative evangelical theology, it was contrary to official Roman Catholic theology.    Could it be that the Pope could be saying that you don’t even have to believe in God to go to heaven?

Immediately I thought, ‘what about all those crosses on the walls of all those Catholic churches, convents, hospitals, schools, and seminaries’.    Has the Pope just thrown away the cross.     I immediately thought I’d write a blog post called, "The Pope Declares The Cross Unimportant."     After all, it anyone can be saved just by obeying their consciences, why did Jesus die?      The cross would be totally unnecessary.

Sure enough, as I began reading, it certainly looked like the Pope had declared that atheist didn’t have to believe in God to go to heaven.     The article quoted the Pope as saying, "God will forgive them as long as they behave morally and live according to their consciences." and "God forgives those who obey their conscience".     I felt my temperature rise.     This isn’t even good Catholic theology.      How could he just throw away the Cross of Christ?      How could he just negate the Divine Sacrifice?      This was heresy.      What would be the point of preaching the gospel if everyone was going to make it even if they not only didn’t receive the sacrifice of Jesus, they didn’t even have to believe God existed.

Knowing the pagan media is almost totally incapable of properly reporting theological issues I thought I’d poke around the internet a bit before I blogged about this latest heresy. Sure enough the secular news media was all over this suggesting that this new Pope was going to modernize (read liberalize) the church, and shift the direction of the church by doing away with the divisive theology of the Cross.

To get to the bottom of this issue, I decided to find the letter in which Pope Francis had said these things. 1      The report was based on a Pastoral letter response to a series of questions posed to him by atheist Italian publisher Eugenio Scalfari.     The response of the Pope is really quite good and warmly pastoral as he responds to a hostile atheist, and in which the Pope gives a rather clear testimony of his own personal relationship with God through Jesus.     Much of the discussion involves the idea of Christians having better dialogue with unbelievers. 

At the heart of his reply that sparked the newspaper reports, the Pope says,

As for the three questions you asked me in the article of August 7th. It would seem to me that in the first two, what you are most interested in is understanding the Church's attitude towards those who do not share faith in Jesus. First of all, you ask if the God of the Christians forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith. Given that - and this is fundamental - God's mercy has no limits if he who asks for mercy does so in contrition and with a sincere heart, the issue for those who do not believe in God is in obeying their own conscience. In fact, listening and obeying it, means deciding about what is perceived to be good or to be evil. The goodness or the wickedness of our behavior depends on this decision.
The Pope’s warm heart is evident as he seeks to build a loving dialogue with a hostile atheist with the hope that this dialogue will allow further discussion with others who have similar questions.      And "No", the Pope did not suggest that non-believing atheist go to heaven.     In fact, he shares his personal story of faith and how scriptures and the church confirm and inform that faith.     Nowhere, as the National Post headline suggest, did the Pope say to atheist, "see you upstairs."     Nowhere does he suggest that atheist will be in heaven as long as they obey their own conscience.      No where does he say anything that would negate the Divine Sacrifice on the Cross.

Please understand that I am usually fairly hard on what I see as significant errors in Roman Catholic dogma and practice but in all fairness, Pope Francis did not say what the secular media made him out to be saying.       Perhaps the pagan media, that does not even understand basic theology,  can only see a church being relevant if and when it joins them in their unbelief. blind tolerance and lacking all sense of absolute truth.

In fact, Pope Francis says, "God’s mercy has no limits if he who asks for mercy does so in contrition and with a sincere heart."     Yes, he does go on to talk about atheist obeying their own conscience but nowhere does he suggest that gains them entrance to heaven. 2     His reference to conscience, if you read the letter carefully, is meant as a touch point of conversation and dialogue with atheist.      Nowhere do you find a reference to that being the way of salvation

It is true that God’s mercy has no limits.      No matter the depth of ones sin or unbelief, or even hostility to the gospel, the depth of God’s mercy is deeper still.     There is no place you have been, nothing you have every done, said, or thought that is outside the reach of God’s mercy.      This mercy was displayed most graciously to us when God provided the way of forgiveness through the death of His own Son on the Cross.     If it were possible to be part of God’s Kingdom by our own merits or still in unbelief, then the cross would be totally unnecessary.    The fact is, that the problem of the human race is our rebellion against God.     This rebellion leaves us separated and alienated from God.     An atheist, and all those who have not come to the cross where mercy and grace are found, continue in their rebellion and thus do not receive the grace and mercy of God offered at the cross.

The world and the media have a hard time understanding the centrality of the Cross.    In fact to them it is foolishness and the sooner the Pope, and the rest of the church does away with the cross, according to them, the sooner the Church enters the 21^st century.     In fact, it is the centrality of the message of the cross that is at the heart of Christian teaching that makes us so relevant in a fallen, broken world.
　

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.   (1 Corinthians 1:18)
But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.(1 Corinthians 1:23-24)
　
　
1 Read the Pope’s entire letter:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/full-text-of-popes-letter-to-atheist.html

2 My next blogpost will investigate a morning devotion delivered by Pope Francis to Vatican staff on August 22 in which he address this same issue of non-believers doing good as they obey their conscience. His point being that believers and non-believers can actually meet at the point we both seek to do good in the world

Even Saint Patrick Would Have Difficulty

The Doctrine of the Trinity, that is that there is only One God and yet three distinct persons;   the Father,  the Son, and the Holy Spirit;  is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts for us humans to get our head around.    Even though the word "trinity" is never used in the Bible,  the Doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in the Scriptures.    Imagine what it would have been like when Saint Patrick went to Ireland to preach the Gospel, when he tried to explain the Trinity.      

Here's a little Lutheran Satire for you.

 

 

 

 

My Statement of Faith On The Trinity

 

I believe that there is one and only one, living and true God; an infinite, perfect, personal Spirit who Is creator, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent (1).

In the Godhead, there are three persons, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit (2); having precisely the same nature (3), and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the work of redemption (4).  

 

 

THE GREATEST DEMONSTRATION
OF YOUR FAITH

 

 

 

 How do you demonstrate that you are a follower of Jesus?    How will others know that you are a Christian?     In a fallen broken world, how do we best demonstrate our faith in the true and living God?     Certainly there are many ways. Some may say, "Sound Doctrine".    The way you demonstrate your faith is to hold to Sound Doctrine when everyone else is falling away."     Is Sound Doctrine important? Of course it is. Others may say, "Obedience".     The way you demonstrate your faith is to walk in obedience to Christ. Is Obedience important? Absolutely.

 

However, Jesus defined our greatest expression of faith, or at least the way the world will know we are His followers, not in terms of our doctrine or our obedience, but in terms of our love for others.

The fact is that the greatest expression of your faith is to love people.    The way people can tell you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus, is not by your solid doctrine as important as that may be, not by your clean lifestyle as important as that is, but by the way you love others.


The Greatest Expression Of Your Faith Is To Love People
Jesus said:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31)
Another thing Jesus said was:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)


God Commands Us To Love People

One of the distinguishing marks of a follower of Jesus is that we love people. Jesus loved people and gave Himself for people.     We are expressing our faith as His followers when we reflect the love of God for People.

This loving people is not an option for His followers, its an expression of our faith in Him.     He has told us that loving people is second only to loving Him.     He demonstrated His faith in the Father by loving and sacrificing Himself for the fallen unworthy humanity that the Father wanted to redeem and He expects the same of His followers.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said, "you can’t command someone to love."     Well, Jesus did just that and we all know how hard it is to obey that command at times. It wouldn’t be so bad except it involves people and let’s face it, some people are just hard to love.     It’s like the Peanuts cartoon where Lucy says to Charlie Brown "I hate everything.    I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!" Charlie Brown responds, "But I thought you had inner peace." To which Lucy replies, "I do have inner peace.    But I still have outer obnoxiousness"     It’s the people with outer obnoxiousness that are the hardest to love isn’t it?

So, how is it that we will demonstrate our faith in the living Christ and show sacrificial love to people when we know that we have little or no capacity to do so within ourselves, especially for certain people?

The fact is that the ability to love others comes from the heart of God Himself.


If You Walk With Christ, You Will Love

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus describes the life and values of the Kingdom.     These are not values or lifestyles that one seeks to live in order to gain entrance into the Kingdom, these are values and lifestyles that are expressions of the Kingdom.     They are the outward manifestations that the Kingdom is a reality in our hearts.     Loving your enemy is not a normal human response, it is a Kingdom response. It rises up from a heart surrendered under the rule of the King.
  

Indeed the Apostle Paul pointed to the same thing when he talked about love being the fruit of the Spirit.     You don’t say to yourself, "Well, I better be more loving."     No, love grows within you as you learn to walk in the Spirit.     As you walk in the Spirit, as you walk in close communion with your King, love automatically demonstrates itself and thus you demonstrate that you are a follower of Jesus.

 

Being close to Jesus He will produce in you love for others - even your enemies and those who have hurt you.

In other words, when you walk close to Christ, love will automatically be the result. It really is very telling. 
 

Now remember, we are learning to walk as Kingdom people.     We will not be perfect. We will not love perfectly, We are learning to walk with our King.     It is a growing experience that lasts a lifetime until we see Him face to face and are like Him.     But, this Kingdom quality ought to be increasingly demonstrated in our lives not because we are trying to be more loving people, but because we are cultivating our intimacy with Christ our King. 
 

The fact is we can claim to be followers of Jesus, but people want to see the real thing. They want to see our faith in Christ clearly demonstrated and Christ says the way we do that is by loving people.

People Don’t Care How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care

Now here is the crunch. Am I, are you, demonstrating the love of Christ?    People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. 1     Of course this is easier with the people we like, but Jesus indicated that Kingdom people are to love their enemies and suggested that anyone can love their friends.      The thing that ought to set us apart is our love for even our enemies and those who have hurt us and even those who disagree with us and despitefully use us.

 

So, I’ve often thought about this.     What if I were flying somewhere and notorious abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler 2  was seated beside me,  what would I say, how would I act?       I abhor the fact that millions of babies have been aborted largely because of his influence.     I think abortion is a despicable act and one of the greatest moral plights upon the western world and for which we will give an account. 3     What would I do if I were seated on an airplane beside Morgentaler?   Believe me, I have rehearsed this many times in my mind, especially just before I travelled anywhere.     I am a Kingdom person, I want to reflect Kingdom living.     Only in submission to my King, and only with His love flowing through me would I be able to demonstrate my faith in his presence.     I have rehearsed what I would say and how I would say it.     I have rehearsed how I would seek to know him as a person, to understand his thinking and how I might demonstrate the love of Christ to a man who represents something I absolutely detest.     This is the challenge of Kingdom people.     These are the situations in which we find ourselves and in which we must clearly demonstrate that we are followers of Jesus.     For you it may be other issues, perhaps how you will react to a radical Muslim or a gay rights activist or the person who sexually abused you as a child.


Being close to Jesus,   He will produce in you love for others - even your enemies and those who have hurt you.

If you don’t love them,

how will they know Jesus loves them?

 

 1    I think I first head this phrase from John Maxwell

 

2    Henry Morgentaler  (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada.    He opened his first abortion clinic in 1969 in Montreal, challenging Canadian laws that restricted abortion.    He was the first doctor in North America to use vacuum aspiration and went on to open twenty clinics and train more than one hundred doctors. Morgentaler challenged the constitutionality of the federal abortion law, winning R. v. Morgentaler in 1988.

3   My words here are not intended to inflict more pain upon women who have had an abortion, many times without having adequate explanation as to what abortion really is.    My point it, without entering a full discussion is that abortion is mark on our culture that I believe God will judge