The Paper Pope

With the advent of the printing press in the 17th century, the Bible was made available to ‘common’ men, not just clergy. The Roman Catholic Church opposed this as reckless, calling these translations a “paper pope,” meaning that Protestants had abandoned papal authority and replaced it with a “pope” on paper—the written Word.
 
Over the 2,000 years of church history, the authority of the written Word has repeatedly come under attack. Now again we are witnessing the decline of respect for the authority of Biblical teaching. I am not referring to liberal theologians, but to 21st century pastors who no longer teach the authority of God’s Word. They teach things like “Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day,” i.e., what people want to hear, not what they need to hear.

There is still a remnant that refuses to compromise the Biblical message. The infallible Word of God is the last word, the final authority; and they will submit to no other. It is time for a “new” protestant movement, a new generation of believers for whom the Holy Bible is indeed their “pope” on paper!