Rome is still the enemy

What is the great enemy of the Christian church? With the rise of Islamic extremism and the advance of the Muslim faith in the west Islam will often be named as the church's number one enemy, and militant Islam does indeed pose a great threat to the freedoms and liberties which we currently enjoy. Yet Islam is not the true church's great enemy. The LGBT movement will also be a popular candidate, and for good reason as it presents us with the greatest moral dilemma of our generation. Yet whilst it is in complete opposition to God and the bible it too is not the church's historic great foe. The recent rise of these movements in our society has caused many to lose sight of that great antagonist which has stood in opposition to the true church for centuries, and which continues to do so; the church of Rome, the 'mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.' C.H. Spurgeon said that 'Romanism is a most ingenious imitation of the gospel' and that is what makes it a greater threat to the church than Islam, for whilst the faith of Mohamed does not purport to be Christian, the religion of Rome does make that claim, and indeed make it exclusively of itself. In identifying Rome as the great enemy of the church we do not seek to imply that individual Roman Catholics are our enemy, rather they are the mission field. Yet the papacy and the Roman system of worship is in all its parts opposed to the true church of God, and must ever be regarded by the true church of Christ as its adversary.

Spurgeon's cause to remember the 5th of November

The 5th of November is a famous date in the English calendar. The following entry for this day from C.H. Spurgeon's devotional 'Morning and Evening' reminds of why it is a date of significance and worth remembering by the Protestants of our land.

'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper' (Isaiah 54:17)

Christian, Protestant, Reformed, Evangelical: The Need for Labels

For approximately two millennia the followers of Jesus Christ have been known as Christians. Acts 11:26 tell us that 'the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch', the name being given to them as a result of their adherence to the teachings of Christ. Since that time other names have been given to various grouping within the broad spectrum of Christianity. The east/west schism of 1054 divided the Christian church into its Roman and Orthodox branches, both describing themselves as Christian but using more specific terms to distinguish themselves one from another. At the Diet of Speyer in 1529 the term Protestant was attributed to princes and rulers who protested against the decisions of the Diet, and since that time those who have opposed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church have generally been known as Protestant. As the centuries have advanced further labels have been added to the various branches of Christian belief; reformed, evangelical, Calvinist, Baptist, Presbyterian and more, highlighting the particular theological viewpoint or denominational affiliation of those concerned, and distinguishing them from other Christians. There are some today who would reject such labels; they do not like the term Protestant, but prefer simply to be known as a Christian. Is this a reasonable view to take, and should believers reject the supposedly divisive denominational and theological labels which set them apart from others who likewise identify as Christian?

The Mass: What is it?

The issue of the Roman Catholic Mass, and whether Protestants should attend it, has been much in the news recently. Those who have objected to attending the funeral or wedding of a Roman Catholic, because of the mass, have been derided as bigots, of being stuck in the past, and as not being representative of evangelicalism as a whole. We therefore have to ask ourselves what is the mass, and thy is it such a big issue as to whether a believer should or should not attend it. In times past it was an issue of such importance that men and women of God were prepared to die rather than attend the mass. In his famous Book of Martyrs John Foxe records the following about the actions of the Duke of Savoy towards the Waldensians concerning the issue of the mass:

He, accordingly, issued express orders for all the Waldenses to attend Mass regularly on pain of death. This they absolutely refused to do, on which he entered the Piedmontese valleys, with a formidable body of troops, and began a most furious persecution, in which great numbers were hanged, drowned, ripped open, tied to trees, and pierced with prongs, thrown from precipices, burnt, stabbed, racked to death, crucified with their heads downwards, worried by dogs, etc.

Rather than attend the Roman Catholic Mass they preferred to suffer the most cruel tortures and were 'persecuted this way unto death'. This attitude to the mass was not limited to the Waldensians, but has been held by many people down through the ages, who would rather suffer the flames of martyrdom, than give in to their conscience on this matter. In his Institutes of Christian Religion John Calvin says that 'in the mass intolerable blasphemy and insult are offered to Christ'. What is it about the mass that roused the fury of the reformers and caused the blood of the martyrs to flow before they would attend it? Perhaps the lax attitude of many believers toward being present when the mass is celebrated is due to their lack of understanding as to what the mass really claims to be. Its is not the same as the communion celebrated by Protestants, but is so far removed from it as night is from day. In looking at what the mass is, we do not want to be accused of misrepresenting Roman Catholicism, therefore all of our observations about the mass will be based on what the Church of Rome itself says in its own documents.

Protestant - not a name to be ashamed of

There is a tendency among some believers today to avoid the use of the name of Protestant when describing themselves. The will call themselves Christian, and rightly so for we are followers of Christ before we are anything else. They will describe themselves by their denominational affiliation, be that Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist or something else. Yet when it comes to the name 'Protestant' there sometimes seems to be an aversion to using the name, as if it is something they should be ashamed of. This should not be the case, but every believer should be proud of their Protestant heritage. There are doubtless some who avoid emphasising their Protestantism because of an ecumenical spirit. They do not want to risk ruining their relationship with the local priest by proclaiming too loudly that they are Protestant. By avoiding the use of that name they can more easily blur the lines between their respective churches. Yet there are others, who have no desire for communion with Rome, but who also avoid using the name Protestant. They are not ashamed to be called Christian, yet they will not use the distinctive name of Protestant. In Northern Ireland the association of Protestantism with unionism and loyalism has caused them to be treated as one and the same, and perhaps for some this is the reason some have rejected the name Protestant. Yet they are not the same, for Protestantism is a matter of religion, not politics.

Reasons to remember the 5th of November

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot







If all four lines of this verse are not familiar to everyone, the first line most certainly is. Who has not heard of the phrase 'Remember, remember the fifth of November'. Yet the reasons why the events of that date ought to be remembered are almost forgotten. We know a little of the events; that on this date a plot to blow up Parliament was foiled with Guy Fawkes being discovered underneath Parliament surrounded by gunpowder. Whilst the event is commemorated across Britain with the burning of a 'Guy' little thought is given to why we should remember 'the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot'. It is our desire to simply highlight three reasons why we ought to remember this event, that we might know better how God delivered the nation on that occasion.

A pivotal verse for a pivotal day

31st October 1517 was a pivotal day in the history of the church of Jesus Christ. The nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral has been seen as the spark which lit the fires of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Whilst earlier men such as Wycliffe and Hus had also rejected the teachings of Rome and sought to turn the church back to the teachings of the bible it has been the actions of Martin Luther which have been traditionally viewed as the start of the Reformation. So significant were his actions on 31st October 1517 that this date has become known as Reformation Day, although sadly that fact has been forgotten by many Protestants. What better verse then to consider on this day but the words with which Luther had struggled, yet were also the means of converting that great Reformer, and bringing him out of the darkness of Romanism into the glorious light of the gospel:

'For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith'. (Romans 1:17)

For a long time Luther had struggled with a sense of guilt of his sin. Although he had lived the life of a monk, and been devout in doing so, he knew that was still unrighteous in the sight of God. The demands of the law were such that all his prayers, penance and pilgrimage had not given him peace, either within himself or with God. When he considered the justice and righteousness of God, he could not understand how a man could possibly be justified in the light of God's holy justice. Luther's own words describe how he felt:

Why Integrated Education is detrimental to the future of Protestantism in Northern Ireland

In 1981 Lagan College was opened as the first integrated school in Northern Ireland, with the purpose of educating Roman Catholic and Protestant children side by side. Today some 22,000 children attend over 60 integrated school across Northern Ireland, at both primary and secondary level. The issue of integrated education has become prominent once again in the media over recent months, and all of the main political parties in Northern Ireland have come out in favour of a single educated system. Whilst some have described their preferred option as being shared education, as opposed to integrated education, the differences between the two are minimal for they both have the same purpose, to break down barriers between the Protestant and Roman Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. It is clear that the future of education in Northern Ireland will be strongly influenced by the shared/integrated model with more children being educated this way.

Are you really a Protestant?

A couple of months ago an open air preacher was approached by a group of men on Belfast's Shankill Road who objected to his preaching the gospel. In his defence he told them that he was preaching a Protestant message, surely thinking that no-one in one of Belfast's most historically Protestant roads could openly object to his preaching when it was couched in those terms. The response of the men however was that they were not Protestants, they were Loyalists. Such an incident is a sad indication of how Christianity has declined in Ulster in recent decades, a land once renowned for the preaching of the gospel has, even in one of its most staunchly 'protestant' areas, no time for the Word of God. There is however a great truth in the response of those men on the Shankill Road, for being Loyalist or Unionist does not necessarily mean being Protestant. There are many people who have grown up in Loyalist areas and when asked what religion they are, they would immediately give the answer that they were Protestant. In the majority of cases however, what they are simply saying is that they are not Roman Catholic, their answer it political and cultural more than religious. In the 2011 Northern Ireland Census over 875,000 people described themselves as Protestant. Yet there is no doubt that in many of these cases their Protestantism is simply a historical one; their parents or grandparents went to a Protestant church so they also consider themselves to be Protestant. Yet the true definition of a Protestant is not found in our cultural identity, nor is it not defined by the waving of Union Flag or the wearing of a t-shirt stating that we are 'Proud to be a Prod'. The true definition of a Protestant is rooted in a faith in the Word of God.

The Testimony of St Patrick

The Roman Catholic Church has long claimed St Patrick to be its own; a representative of the Pope sent to evangelise the heathen Irish. Yet of all the stories and legends that exist around Patrick, only two documents have been preserved that are accepted as genuine by both Roman Catholic and Protestant historians; his Letter and his Confession. Reproduced below is his confession, one which has nothing of Romanism about it, nor does it give any indication of his ever having been an emissary of the Pope. It is but the confession of a simple sinner, one trusting in the redemptive work of Christ alone for his salvation.