Protestant fundamentalists have been claiming that every Pope is the anti-Christ? Every time there is a new Pope, the ones making this ridiculous accusation against the Pope change it to fit the new Pope of the time.
2007-01-02 11:06:33 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I said fundamentalists because if I had only said Protestants someone would have said I was generalizing about all Protestants. I guess some people can never be pleased.
2007-01-02 13:06:18 · update #1
Martin Luther had to have some justification from breaking with the rest of the Church. He was just one person saying that everyone else who had gone before him was wrong! In order to do something so drastic, he had to make a drastic claim (i.e. the Catholic Church is evil and the pope is the anti-Christ).
If he had said, "the Church is pretty good, but it has a few small problems and I think it would be better if we all split into about a thousand different denominations who all believe different things", he wouldn't have gotten very far.
I think it's the same today. Jesus called us to unity--and I think most Christians want it--but many Protestants have been brought up to believe scandalous things about the Catholic Church (like we worship idols and hold Mary higher than Jesus) and they don't realize that the pope is actually the key to Christian unity: "You are KEPHA [Peter] and on this KEPHA I will build my church".
2007-01-02 11:23:49 · answer #1 · answered by Cabbage Kicker 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The term "fundamentalist" wasn't even around until the 19th century, so there were no "fundamentalist" protestants in 1517. And what makes you think that speculation about the Pope being the Antichrist started with the reformation?
The idea of identifying an Antichrist is ridiculous. Over the Christmas holiday my Methodist mother told me she thought GW Bush was the Antichrist. People who are stuck in an eschatological world view see signs of the end of days at every turn.
The pope is another church leader, no different from the head of any church, but he sits on a throne that has greater historical distinction, so he gets noticed more.
.
2007-01-02 11:15:09 · answer #2 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Who says that?
Maybe some crack-pot.
Not "Protestants" in general.
Quit making these ridiculous accusations!
.
2007-01-02 11:20:25 · answer #3 · answered by Jimmy Dean 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because nobody likes Catholics (I am a Catholic ) and we get blamed for everything that happens in the world and we are the biggest religion
God Bless You
2007-01-02 11:10:06 · answer #4 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋