Dr Paul Allen

On October 31, 2016, Pope Francis announced that after five hundred years, Protestants and Catholics now “have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.”  From that, it sounds as if the Reformation was an unfortunate and unnecessary squabble over trifles, a childish outburst that we can all put behind us now that we have grown up. But tell that to Martin Luther, who felt such liberation and joy at his rediscovery of justification by faith alone that he wrote, “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” Tell that to William Tyndale, who found it such “merry, glad and joyful tidings” that it made him “sing, dance, and leap for joy.” Tell it to Thomas Bilney, who found it gave him “a marvellous comfort and quietness, insomuch that my bruised bones leaped for joy.” Clearly, those first Reforme...

Who's in charge in Western Christendom? We can see this tension in a number of different ways. We see the coronation of Charlemagne in the year 800 on Christmas Day. He was crowned by the Pope. He wasn't very happy about being crowned by the Pope because he didn't want to leave the impression that he had received the empire from the hands of the Pope. But that was exactly the impression that the Pope wanted to give. The pope was already operating on the basis of the document, known to history as “The Donation of Constantine.” The Donation of Constantine, a document supposedly prepared by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century in which Constantine said “I have this vast empire that the Lord has given to me and it's difficult to rule this whole empire and therefore I give the western half of my empire to the Pope.”  What a guy that Constantine was. What a generous fellow. Now it's still a little bit awkward from the Pope's point of view because ...

In a move that should surprise no one, Pope Francis has once again appeared to contradict two millennia of clear and consistent scriptural and Catholic teaching. At Hope College Australia, we question the Catholic concept of salvation. Recently, a boy asked the Pope about his Father who had passed away. The Pope's response was because he dropped his kids off at church, never attended, therefore he is good and is in heaven. The Protestant world responded harshly. The Pope this times has changed his mind on capital punishment. Will he change his mind on homosexual marriage soon also? The article below is written by a theologian who questions the Pope's theological graps on Capital punishment. The Vatican  has announced  that the  Catechism of the Catholic Church  will be changed to declare the death penalty “inadmissible” given the “inviolability and dignity of the person” as understood “in the light of the Gospel.” There has always been disagreement amo...

Dear Emanuele, First of all, let me say from the start that you are so brave in asking this question . Talking about death is not easy, and you have the courage to do so in front of so many people. I am so sorry this has happened. Anytime a loved one dies it is a tragedy that we don’t know how to deal with, since the one we love has been taken from us. My heart is breaking with you over the loss of your father. I wish I could take the pain away but I cannot. All I can do is tell you about the One who can. I think the reason why you are asking this question is because you really want to know the answer, and you truly have no idea where your father is. You are seeking the answer to the world’s most important question: how do we get to Heaven ? I also want to commend you on the fact that you believe in Heaven. That is not something that many people believe these days, and I’m so thankful that you do believe that there is a Heaven. It sounds to me like you believe that God ...

Pope Francis has made several controversial statements throughout the years, but perhaps none quite as controversial as the one in this video. You can watch it  here . Sure, it is false teaching , but can you actually call it demonic ? I would define demonic as any false teaching that distorts the Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) in a way that would lead people to hell ( Eph. 2:1-3). Any preacher on any given  Sunday  may say things that are wrong, but that doesn’t make it demonic. When a preacher’s words cause the people who listen to trust in some other gospel, that is when it becomes demonic ( Luke 17:1-2). As I watched the video, I have found five different, serious errors that the Pope espoused that prove that he not only was teaching error but that he was doing so in order to lead the people who were present away from the true Gospel and into hell. The Pope is concerned about popularity not with truth The Pope is in a hard position here. He h...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The Roman Pontiff , by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ , and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered” (882). Further reinforcing his power and authority, the catechism claims, “The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls” (937). The catechism presents the papacy as a divinely appointed institution that presides over the life of the church and exercises its rule over God’s flock. Where do these massive claims come from? Roman Catholics trace the pope’s origin to the apostle Peter . But history tells a different story. On What Rock? Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the Roman Catholic papacy. It was a long process that led to the setting up of this millennia-old office that combines spiritual and political claims. The pope claims to hold an office origi...

The pope has a problem with the Bible. Again. Here’s an excerpt from The New York Times (December 8, 2017 ) “Lost in Translation: The Pope Ponders an Update to Lord’s Prayer” Pope Francis said the common rendering of one line in the prayer—“lead us not into temptation” —was “not a good translation” from ancient texts.“Do not let us fall into temptation,” he suggested, might be better because God does not lead people into temptation; Satan does. “A father doesn’t do that,” the pope said. “He helps you get up right away. What induces into temptation is Satan.” In essence, the pope said, the prayer, from the Book of Matthew , is asking God, “When Satan leads us into temptation, You please, give me a hand.” French Catholics adopted such a linguistic change this week, and the pope suggested that Italian Catholics might want to follow suit. The problem with the Pope’s position is that the Greek does, in fact, say “Lead us not into temptation.” That is a good translation. The words “al...

Last week, The New York Times  reported that Pope Francis wishes to change the English translation of the Lord’s Prayer. From the article: Pope Francis said the common rendering of one line in the prayer — “lead us not into temptation” — was “not a good translation” from ancient texts. “Do not let us fall into temptation,” he suggested, might be better because God does not lead people into temptation; Satan does. “A father doesn’t do that,” the pope said. “He helps you get up right away. What induces into temptation is Satan .” In essence, the pope said, the prayer, from the Book of Matthew, is asking God, “When Satan leads us into temptation, You please, give me a hand. ” French Catholics adopted such a linguistic change this week, and the pope suggested that Italian Catholics might want to follow suit. I think the exegetical case for this change is pretty weak. The words and phrases simply don’t mean what Pope Francis wants them to mean. I agree with Tony Esolen , who write...

Do you worship Jesus Christ ? That’s the question Luther, Calvin, and the reformers would want to ask you today. Jesus deserves every single utterance of praise. The Bible tells us that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). The Reformation simply put Jesus back into the place that He deserved. As they looked around at the religious system they were born into, they couldn’t help but see a system that consistently stole the worship that only Jesus deserved, and placed it on others. For centuries, men and women around the world were told lies, but perhaps the most important one came down to what people taught about Jesus. At the heart of the lies was a man-centered refusal to believe that Jesus could—in an instant—remove all the guilt from a sinner. Luther, Calvin and the rest of the reformers simply re-discovered the Jesus of the Bible and realized the simple truth that Jesus deserved all of the worship and that He, al...