Dr. Michael Scott Horton has written a nice piece over at the White Horse Inn reflecting on the ministry of Pope Benedict XVI. Entitled, A Reformed Farewell To Benedict XVI, Horton, speaks in complimentary terms of the former pope as one who is not only a scholar but one who also understands Protestants.
Horton's jumping off point is Benedict's interpretation of the Great Schism when the Roman Catholic Church had not one but three popes (1309-1417). Benedict correctly understood as a crisis of authority because popes were excommunicating other popes and at one time all Roman Catholics were under the sentence of excommunication. Some argued that church councils were the solution. The Protestant Reformation arose in this context and concluded that Scripture alone is the true authority for God's people.
In reflecting on Benedict's tenure as pope, Horton touches on more recent developments in Catholic thought: papal infallibility, Lumen Gentium, Vatican II, etc. He also challenges the common assertion that the Roman Catholic Church exists as an unbroken line from the apostle Peter.
This is a good read and I encourage you to take a few minutes to do so. Don't worry, you won't find sarcasm or caricatures but honest dialog along with searching questions.
Horton's jumping off point is Benedict's interpretation of the Great Schism when the Roman Catholic Church had not one but three popes (1309-1417). Benedict correctly understood as a crisis of authority because popes were excommunicating other popes and at one time all Roman Catholics were under the sentence of excommunication. Some argued that church councils were the solution. The Protestant Reformation arose in this context and concluded that Scripture alone is the true authority for God's people.
In reflecting on Benedict's tenure as pope, Horton touches on more recent developments in Catholic thought: papal infallibility, Lumen Gentium, Vatican II, etc. He also challenges the common assertion that the Roman Catholic Church exists as an unbroken line from the apostle Peter.
This is a good read and I encourage you to take a few minutes to do so. Don't worry, you won't find sarcasm or caricatures but honest dialog along with searching questions.
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