The last time we heard about Ian Paisley (this was some years ago), he interrupted the Holy Father’s address to the European Parliament, and the elderly Otto von Habsburg — like his forebears a defender of the papacy — had to wrestle Paisley out of the room. But it doesn’t seem that son of the last Austro-Hungarian emperor managed to convinced the Ulsterman to go home and mind his tongue. He went home, all right, but he set up the European Institute of Protestant Studies.
The name is somewhat misleading, since one’s first impression is that the members of EIPS will study Protestantism in its European setting. Not so. “The Institute’s purpose is to expound the Bible and expose the papacy and to promote, defend, and maintain Bible Protestantism in Europe and further afield. It will assist all who are engaged in the struggle against the papacy in both the religious and secular worlds, provide courses suitable to all ages in the controversy with Rome, and supply information on all aspects of the papacy today.” So says the introduction at the EIPS web site, the address of which is, unsurprisingly enough, www.ianpaisley.org. The introduction ends with a link to C. H. Spurgeon’s article “Our Constant War with the Papacy.”
Under “About EIPS” one finds photographs of the Institutes offices, which are “housed on the first floor of the Paisley Jubilee Complex of Martyrs’ Memorial Free Presbyterian Church on the Ravenhill Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.” The complex cost £1.3 million and opened in November, 1997. The dedication ceremonies were presided over by Bob Jones IV, the “grandson of the late Rev. Dr. Bob Jones of Greenville, South Carolina, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the faithful preaching of the gospel by the Minister and Church Moderator, Rev. Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley, M.P. [Member of Parliament; he is leader of the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party], M.E.P. [Member of the European Parliament].” The building has thirty-six rooms, including a library, offices, and a lecture hall.
The chief educational effort of the Institute is made through correspondence courses. The courses include “Showing Roman Catholics the Way to Christ, False Doctrines of Roman Catholicism (an analysis of the major doctrinal errors of the Roman Church, their history and implementation, from purgatory to infallibility, from mariolatry to justification, and their refutation in the light of Scripture); History and Doctrines of the Reformation (a narrative history of the victorious struggle against Rome in sixteenth-century Europe, with sections devoted to the individual contribution of some of the great Reformers such as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Wycliffe, and Knox [the bad Knox, John, not the good Knox, Ronald]); The Church of Rome and Politics (an exposure of the Vatican conspiracy to overthrow civil government from the twelfth century to the present, with particular emphasis on the history of papal assaults against Britain and Rome’s contemporary involvement in the European Union).”
Through these courses the Institute will “will provide courses suitable to all ages in the controversy with Rome [translation-it will provide anti-Catholic courses for children] and supply information on all.aspects of the papacy today.” To further its work, the Institute publishes a bimonthly journal call The Battle Standard.
Under the heading “Errors of Rome” are listed three articles. Two (“Rome-Unchanged and Unchanging” and “Let the True Church of the Papacy Stand Up!”) are by Prof. Arthur Noble. The third, by Prof. C. A. M. Noble [who may or may not be the same person], is called “The History and Falsehoods of Romanism.” In a precis of the course, Noble says that the Catholic Church “is once again vigorously pursuing its ultimate goal of subjecting every living human being to its doc trine, authority, and d omination.” While one might quibble at his “subjecting” and “domination,” Noble is otherwise correct in noting that the Church has, as an ultimate goal, the acceptance of its doctrine and authority, since that means nothing more, and nothing less, than the acceptance of Christ’s doctrine and authority-something EIPS no doubt believes too, though on its own Calvinistic terms.
Noble goes on to say that “Roman Catholicism is the most powerful, widespread, and subtle of all unbiblical religious movements. It claims to be the only ‘true’ church [which is true], and everything outside of it is labeled false and branded as heresy [which is false-only those false and heretical elements are labeled false and heretical]. . . . The basic difference between the Roman Catholic religion and Evangelical Christianity may be summed up in one word-authority.”
In this last point Noble is more right than he knows. He and Paisley and all the folks at EIPS mistakenly “accept the Bible, and the Bible only, as the authority in all matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.” Odd, but not a single Bible-era Christian thought that way, and there is no evidence of that sentiment in early Christian writings. Even the heretics of antiquity appealed to the authority of the bishops when claiming validity for their innovations. They didn’t say, “The Bible teaches what we teach, and the Bible is the sole authority.” That innovation had to wait for the Protestant Reformers.
Next Noble says he will cover “mariolatry,” purgatory, indulgences, and good works. “One error always leads to others. When the Church of Rome began tampering with the Scriptures, it started on a road of error and false doctrine which calls constantly for new errors to support the former ones. Thus, purgatory called for indulgences, and indulgences called for works of supererogation.”
He fails to discern that the real error is his own private interpretation of Scripture, an interpretation that includes the jettisoning of the authority of the Church: “The ridiculous dogma of the infallibility of the pope when he speaks as head of the Church is closely associated with another tradition, also entirely without scriptural or historical proof. It is the doctrine of the succession of the apostle Peter.”
All in all, this attractively-presented web site demonstrates that the stern anti-Catholicism of yesteryear is not dead; it is healthy enough to pay for a handsome headquarters and a growing outreach. Catholics who want to test their apologetical knowledge should pay a visit, but those with short tempers might want to stay away. Paisley didn’t hesitate to try to shout down the Pope, and his associates at EIPS are promoting their views with words that are less than temperate. But this is what it’s like on the front lines.
Just about as dyspeptic, but at quite a different position on the religious spectrum, is an advertisement placed by Catholic Treasures, a company that adheres to a Feeneyite (that is, falsely rigorist) interpretation of “no salvation outside the Church.” The ad is for a new video called “Limiting the Liberal Catholic.” The video was made at a self-styled Traditionalist conference and features Vin Lewis, whose All Roads Ministry was profiled in these pages in 1991. The profile characterized Lewis’s ill-tempered and uncharitable apologetical methods as at best ineffective. Now Lewis, with the help of Catholic Treasures, has bitten back.
This is the ad copy: “Mr. Lewis gave another talk at the conference, which, in addition to being one of the most practical apologetic talks given anywhere, provoked tremendous enthusiasm and laughter from the audience. In a low-budget multi-media presentation, Vin played clips from a lecture given ‘somewhere in Ohio’ [at the Defending the Faith Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville] which he then dissected in his most ruthless and inimitable style [at the beginning of his talk he said that he would use “ridicule” in giving his opinions]. He is the only man we know who can actually make listening to a liberal Catholic fun. He showed the very attentive crowd how to listen effectively and analyze critically the idiocy [note the irenic term] which passes for orthodoxy and scholarship among so many liberal Catholics. This liberal is one of Vin’s favorite ‘punching bags,’ and we do not want to spoil the surprise by revealing his name. We will tell you that he publishes a magazine from somewhere in California under the name of This Crock or something like that.”
If you have an opinion about this advertisement, you may want to share it with the management of Catholic Treasures (P.O. Box 5034, Monrovia, CA 91017) and with publications that carry ads from Catholic Treasures. We’d appreciate receiving a copy of your correspondence (This Rock, P.O. Box 17490, San Diego, CA 92177).
The premiere issue of a new magazine describes a writer’s experience of making mock confessions. In Notorious Sean Bosker says that he went to confession at four New York-area Catholic churches. He tells his readers how to engage in a fake confession — what sins to confess (all sexual) and how to receive a penance. William Donohue of the Catholic League notes that “what Bosker did puts the lie to the notion that there is a strong inverse relationship between education and prejudice. While it is true that those with high degrees of formal education tend to be less racist and less anti-Semitic than others, history shows that when anti-Catholicism is measured, those who are the doyens of the culture tend to be the most bigoted. Notorious is only the latest expression of that verity, demonstrating once again why anti-Catholicism has been labeled ‘the last respectable bias.'” Compare Bosker’s attitude with Ian Paisley’s. The latter’s hatred is more forthright; for that very reason it is by contrast almost refreshing. It is a thing that one can grapple with. Paisley’s followers may be lower on the intellectual ladder than Bosker’s, but they’re more likely to value an argument and might even be persuaded by one. Bosker’s animus doesn’t seem to have risen to that level yet.
We regret to report the death of one of our long-time contributors, Canon Francis J. Ripley. For more than half a century he was a top Catholic apologist in England. He died in Liverpool at the age of 85.
Born in Lancashire and ordained in 1938, he espoused the cause of the Legion of Mary. For the remainder of his life he gave that apostolic organization his counsel, leadership, and enthusiasm. Within three years of his ordination he became secretary of the Catholic Truth Society, and over the decades he wrote many of its booklets and tracts. He was a military chaplain from 1943-1947 and extended his work to the men in khaki.
After demobilization he worked with his lifelong friend (and future cardinal) John Heenan at the London-based Catholic Missionary Society, of which Canon Ripley became the superior in 1957. In 1960 he returned to Liverpool and oversaw the Catholic Enquiry Centre. Not surprisingly, Cardinal Heenan turned to him in 1972 and asked him to produce a successor to the immensely popular Penny Catechism. The result of his labor was the St. Peter Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, which also enjoyed wide sales.
We got to know Canon Ripley through our Welsh friend Robert Williams, who several years ago arranged for us to receive the Canon’s massive collection of booklets, many of which were published between 1940 and 1960. It is often from these booklets that we obtain material for our “Classic Apologetics” column. Canon Ripley also gave us permission to reprint portions of his many books. He thus will remain a contributor to This Rock for many years to come. Please remember him in your prayers.
Saints Alive, headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, issues a monograph called “The Roman Catholic Church: A Biblical Critique.” It is written by William Schnoebelen. Among many other things, Schnoebelen objects to “the dead ‘Jesus’ on the crucifix.” He quotes Deuteronomy 21:23 (“he that is hanged is accursed of God”) and Deuteronomy 7:26 (“Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing”). That’s the extent of his argument. Frankly, it’s confusing.
Presumably Schnoebelen doesn’t object to the unadorned cross. His church almost assuredly has a cross somewhere, and he may have one on the bumper of his car. What bothers him is the cross with a corpus. “He that is hanged is accursed by God”: Does his citing of this verse mean that Schnoebelen thinks that Jesus “is accursed by God”? Hmm. The Father might have a different spin on that. Does Schnoebelen’s quotation of Deuteronomy 7:26 mean that the corpus on the cross is “an abomination”? Again, this seems to imply that Jesus is “an abomination,” which is something we presume Schnoebelen doesn’t mean. So what does he mean? Perhaps no more than that he doesn’t like crucifixes because they’re so, well, Catholic. And he’s willing to cobble together any verses that seem (but quite clearly don’t) bolster his antipathy. Good try, fellow, but no cigar.
Lee County, Florida, might be a good place to live. Sheriff John McDougall was asked by an abortionist, Dr. Ali Azima, to help with anti-abortion demonstrators. The Sheriff wrote back and called Azima a “baby killer.” “Sometimes,” he explained to reporters, “you have to take a stand. Everybody’s worried about the manatees and endangered species, but it’s like to hell with the babies.” Specifically, on official stationery McDougall told Azima that he would carry out his constitutional duty to protect all citizens from illegal protests and activity, “even a baby killer like yourself.” He said his officers would “do everything within our power to assist the protesters who wish to protect the misguided mothers who come to your clinic of death.”
Megiddo is where many Christians, particularly Fundamentalists and Evangelicals, think the end will come. It will be the site of Armageddon, the final battle at the end of history. And the tourism department of Israel is preparing for an influx of visitors. “The main market for Megiddo are Christian pilgrims interested in Armageddon,” explains the director of the National Parks Authority, Zeev Margalit. “Anything we can do to make this connection even stronger will help the park” — and the bottom line. Visitors now find prayer grottos where there had been only archaeological digs. The grottos overlook the presumed battleground in the Jezreel Valley. Among the improvements will be fourteen display stations, transparent screens with holographic images. They will display the ancient buildings as they possibly existed, and one station will show the final battle. Around 300,000 visitors visit Megiddo yearly, with the number expected to increase as the year 2000 approaches.
James Martin, writes in America (March 7, 1998) about the dispute between Roger Cardinal Mahony and Mother Angelica. What especially bothers him is that “she has met with no official reaction” to her comments on the Cardinal’s liturgical pastoral.”This is perhaps the most striking aspect of the controversy.
“Imagine the situation reversed, that a ‘liberal’ Catholic had acted in a similar fashion. As a mental exercise, think of a liberal theologian teaching at a large Catholic university who has publicly — on television — accused an archbishop of heresy. What do you suppose the response would be? Waves of criticism, gallons of angry ink, and possible censure and/or expulsion from his or her teaching position.”
Abstracting from the background dispute, one can say that the image Martin proposes really is unbelievable — but not in the sense he means. It is ubelievable because there is no record of any liberal theologian ever accusing anyone of heresy (which liberal theologian believes heresy, strictly speaking, is even possible?), and there is no record of any liberal theologian being censured or expelled from his school for calling into question someone’s beliefs.