The Dividing
Line
Chapter 11: Roman
Catholicism
Before
the 1960s, virtually any Protestant in the United States
would have thought it stating the obvious to warn Christians
to keep their distance from Roman Catholicism. In 1946 noted
liberal Protestant Charles Clayton Morrison wrote in Christian
Century,
Catholicism
is more than a way of salvation. Seen whole, it presents
itself as a system of power—a kind of power which no
human institution should presume to possess and exercise,
a power which is radically incompatible with both Christianity
and democracy, and which carries within itself the seeds
of corruption. The Roman Church is a monarchical and
feudal institution . . . . The hierarchy, with the pope at
its head, is the counterpart (or should I say the prototype?)
of a fascist or nazist or communist "party"
with the dictator at its head.1
Today
the situation is drastically different. We have looked at
several theological systems in the historical order in which
they emerged: liberalism, Neo-orthodoxy, the New Evangelicalism,
and the Charismatic movement. Roman Catholicism is older
than all of these combined, but only in the relatively recent
past has there been a general acceptance of Catholics by
evangelicals followed by Evangelical efforts to join hands
with Catholics in both political and religious efforts.
The Dividing Line: Understanding and Applying Biblical Separation. By
Mark Sidwell. ©1998. BJU Press. Reproduction prohibited. This work is available
for purchase at the Bob Jones University Campus Store (phone: 1-800-252-1927;
web address:
www.bju.edu/store.) Permission must be obtained from www.itib.org
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