the pope says my church is not a church...

this is some old news, but i have been having a battle with my back the past two weeks and haven't been at the computer often.

in case you missed it, in the last week or so, pope benedict made the declaration (or, more accurately, reaffirmed the catholic churches teaching) that the only true church is the roman catholic church.

read news article here[HT:brandon hall]

the argument is that the catholic church is the true church based, at least in part, on its misinterpretation of matthew 16:16-19.

this is another instance where as christians who are not roman catholic need to learn our church history! why aren't we catholic? what events led to the split? who were the key figures and why? what were the major doctrines that were in question? what has happened since then?

for answers and very intriguing reading, i suggest stephen j. nichols' book, the reformation:how a monk and a mallet changed the world , and timothy george's theology of the reformers.

these are things we need to know in order to discuss these issues. if someone were to ask you why you are not roman catholic, could you answer them coherently?

i will say this for the pope (as others have), i admire his unflinching fist wave in the face of the postmodern thought of "accept everyone as they are!!" if only we as protestants would have such firm conviction.