Why is the "Vicar of Christ" arguing with Christ?
It's funny, one my free Substack subscribers asked me this pointed question a few months ago:
Jesus prayed intently that His followers would exhibit unity, so why are you part of a Protestant church that literally means you are protesting against the Pope and the church of Christ that he leads?
I tried to be diplomatic in my response, explaining I don't believe Jorge Bergoglio (the fallible, sinful man commonly referred to as "the pope") is leading Christ's church, and I will always prefer to be divided by truth rather than united in error.
As it turns out, I could have made things simpler by just sending this video clip as my answer:
Norah O'Donnell: When you look at the world, what gives you hope?
Jorge Bergoglio: Everything. You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things. You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men who have hopes and dreams. Women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live, people forge ahead, and people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.
That.
That is why I "protest" against the pope and the movement he is leading. From a biblical perspective, those few seconds were the most astoundingly unchristian thing I've heard from the lips of a professing Christian, no less from a supposed leader in the faith.
In that rare interview, Bergoglio demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of basic Christian doctrine. In fact, it's worse than that. He espouses a false faith - that of humanism/naturalism - while dressing it up in the theological garments of Christianity.
Take O'Donnell's question about what gives us hope when looking at the world. The Christian answer should be reflexive: Outside of Christ the world has no hope. What any of us see when looking at this world is the groaning of all creation and all created things besieged under the curse of sin. The only hope any of us have for deliverance comes from the redemption offered in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
It flabbergasts and frustrates me to consider what an amazing opportunity Bergoglio was given to present the Gospel of Jesus to a watching world. And he didn't just blow it. He preached a false gospel and gave false hope to potentially millions of lost souls.
From beginning to end of this short clip, Bergoglio is completely wrong. It's almost impressive, actually, how many errors he was able to squeeze into such a brief answer.
There's nothing "heroic" about the futile hopes and dreams of men and women utterly incapable of doing anything to alter our fallen state. And his contention that we humans are "fundamentally good," is the antithesis of biblical truth.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome that, "There is no one good, not even one" (3:10). And Jesus affirmed that reality when He told the rich young ruler that, "No one is good except God alone" (Mark 10:18).
For Bergoglio to confidently assert otherwise puts him at odds with the Savior he claims to represent here on earth. As does his bizarre and thoroughly anti-biblical position that "the heart itself is good."
Jesus said the precise opposite, warning that "out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. (Matthew 15:19)" Moreover, Bergoglio's glowing assessment of humanity's heart would come as news to the inspired Old Testament prophet Jeremiah who confessed the truth that, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).
I don't think I'm offending anyone when I observe that Jorge Bergoglio is far more interested in political activism than he is in biblical discipleship. He'll talk for hours comfortably about climate change or immigration policies. But ask him to articulate the gospel or expound upon a biblical worldview, and he looks totally out of his depth. Maybe because he is.
