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and stimulus for reconciliation, a
time to celebrate the uníty we have
and to pray for the unity we seek."
As a symbol of their "ecumenical
hospitality," the church leaders pre–
sented to the pope a si lver pectoral
cross inscribed in Latin, "That We
Might Be One."
The pope drew rave notices even
from sorne une!(pected Protestant
ci rcles. Billy Graham said that John
Paul was " the most respected reli–
gious leader in the world today."
Asked to elabora te by
Time
maga–
zine, Mr. Graham added: "No other
man in the world today could attract
as much attention on moral and spir–
itual subjects as John Paul. ... The
country is responding [to the papal
visit] in a magnificent way. lt shows
there's a great spi ritua l hunger. The
Pope has reached millions of Protes–
tants."
A Growlng Deslre to Return
The pope's "hard-line" stand on
Catholic doctrines didn't make
things easier on ecumenically minded
Protestants, but many experts believe
that the charismatic personality of
J ohn Paul
11
may be powerfu l
enough to surmount certain road–
blocks to church unity. This view was
expressed in a remarkable admission
by a Washington, D.C., Episcopal
leader in the October 7, 1979,
Wash–
ington Star.
"For Protestants," said Canon Mi–
chael P. Hami1ton, "the very person–
al charro of John Paul
IJ
invites us to
re-examine the Roman Catholic
Church and gives sorne of usa twinge
of nostalgia for a unification that
would re-embrace us all. The Roman
Catholic Church is so rich in its uni–
versal membership; the wealthy and
the poor, the educated and the illiter–
ate, every tongue and race a re within
it [editor's note: check Revelation
17: 15] .
"Dare we think," he continued,
"of a worldwide church rich in its
diverse expression of Christian life
and worship, united in its ordained
ministry and under the leadership of
the bishop of Rome, separate in con–
tinuing its denominationa l customs,
together in a common Eucharistic
meal? It's all there, it could happen,
scholarship supports it. John Paul in–
spires it , surely it is only selfishness
and fear that prevent it."
The
PLAIN TRUTH Oecember 1979
Note again what this leading Prot–
estant leader st ressed: 1) a height–
ened desire for unification, 2) the
admitted preeminence of the bishop
of Rome, and 3) scholarship, in his
view, supports the unity movement.
Few people realize all the behind–
the-scenes Catholic-Protestant "dia–
logues" that have transpired during
the past two decades. Scholars on
both sides have reduced many areas
of earlier disagreement. The nut that
remains the toughest to crack is that
of papal primacy. Here again, John
Paul's magnetic personality is a defi–
nite plus.
The next critica! milestone in the
unity movement will occur in June
1980 with the celebration in Germa–
ny of the 450th anniversary of the
Augsburg Confession. That docu–
ment led to the rift between Roman
Catholicism and what became the
Lutheran movement.
Now scholars on both sides are
stressing the origina l "positive" aim
of the Confession, which was to heal
the widening rift between Lutherans
and Rome and the attempt on the
part of the former to correct obvious
Catholic church abuses.
The listing of the abuses covered
only the last seven articles of the
Confession, whereas the first 21 ar–
ticles demonstrated essential agree–
ment in doctrines between the two
sides.
Bishop Cyril Wismar of the New
England Synod of the Association of
Evangelical Lutheran Churches re–
cently noted that the Augsburg Con–
fession was " intended to be a positive
declaration within the church, not to
be a divisive thing. l t's taken 450
years for us to realize that. It's my
hope that by the end of the millen–
nium we will be back to where we
were before, one Church in Christ."
lt
will be one church, indeed-but
will it be in Christ?
Church Unlty Prophesled
Unity among the Christian-profess–
ing churches of this world is coming.
According to the President of the
Council on Christian Unity of the
Christian Church, Disciples of
Christ: "The question no longer is
whether we can be united, but when
and on what basis."
The primary factor that all the
otber churches who desire unity will
have to accept is the preeminent posi–
tion of the pope in Rome. On that
point the Vatican will never compro-
mise.
,
What would it take for all the others
to "go ba.ck borne to Rome"? More
than just the captivating charisma of
an admittedly charismatic pope. A
columnist for tbe
Washington Star,
Mary McGrory, put her finger on the
answer when she said of John Paul ll:
" He has proven he has a miraculous
personality. It remains to be seen ifhe
is a miracleworker."
Perhaps columnist McGrory
didn't mean it quite so literally, but
nevertheless miracle-working activi–
ty is prophesied to occur
in
a Jast–
ditch, end-time attempt by the "god
of this world"
(TI
Corinthians 4:4) to
unite the world's religions and sects,
preparing them to jointly oppose the
soon-coming return of Jesus Christ to
set up His Kingdom on the ea rth.
Before c hurch unity will be
achieved by this world's divided sects
and denominations, there will be a
demonstration of miraculous, super–
natural powers- performed, shock–
ingly enough, through the "power of
Satan"
( II
Thessalonians 2:8- 10)–
by a great religious leader . Millions
will be swept off their feet by his
mighty signs- including those who
have been shown God's way but have
rebelled against it (verses
3,
10- 12) .
This· person will claim to be t he
source of unity in the Christian
world. This " false prophet" will even
be worshiped "as God" (verse 4) and
claim the rule over all political
powers.
The stage is being set
Now!
The message today to those who
choose to obey God and follow the
laws revealed in His Word, the Bible,
instead of the traditions of men,
swayed by Satan, is found in Mat–
thew 24:24-25: " For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. Be–
hold, 1 have told you before. "
You have now been told! You
don't have to be deceived. Prove to
yourself which church is doing the
W,ork of God today, preaching the
true gospel of the Kingdom of God–
the message that the religions of this
world united ly oppose and re–
ject. o
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