Is Jesus the Only Way? A Discussion on Pope Francis' Recent Statement

Jesus said “no one comes to the Father but by Me”. He also says “the only sin that is not forgivable is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”, who gives testimony of Me. Also, rejecting Christ.
It doesn’t matter what some church or the Pope says if it contradicts Jesus. Before you start, your argument is not with me, but with Jesus. Tread carefully.

Hi,
Those of you who are believers, are you still looking for God? No, you found Him. So why would a Muslim or a Hindu seek the true and living God. They know their gods. They have found their gods. So I disagree that they are still seeking God.
What is the first of the ten commandments?

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. KJV

So worshipping other gods is a “big deal” to the true and living God.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Its life and death.
So the Pope erred from the truth.
Can we forgive him? Of course we are all sinners saved by grace. But if I were the Pope I would go back to wearever I was speaking, and acknowledge the mistake, and correct it. How cool would that be?

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Matthew 23:9
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

GREEK

pappas

father

GREEK

papas

bishop, patriarch

LATIN

OLD ENGLISH

papa

pope

This is a great question and one that must have been asked millions of times. I’ll try to be a bit colorful in my answer.

Imagine you’re stranded in the middle of a stormy ocean with no land in sight, and suddenly, a lifeboat appears. It’s not one of many. It’s the only one and the captain extends a hand.

That’s Jesus in my opinion.

In John 14:6, He doesn’t mince words or cut corners. He clearly says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

While the world might offer countless philosophies and paths, Jesus claims exclusivity because He doesn’t just point to salvation.

He is salvation.

It’s not about shutting doors but about throwing open the only one that leads to life eternal. The choice, as always, is yours, but the invitation is as personal as it gets and I love Jesus for it. :heart:

Amen.

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I understand your concerns about the Pope’s teachings, but it’s important to remember that faith journeys can differ. While the Pope advocates for unity and compassion, many hold firm to the belief that salvation comes solely through Jesus Christ. Let’s continue to focus on Christ as the way to eternal life, as the Bible teaches.

Yes, Jesus is the only way.

I get why this is a sticky subject, but I think it’s one that we as believers should be able to answer. Unfortunately the answer is one most people don’t want to hear.

The word Catholic means “universal” and the word church means “house of god”. I left the big G off of god intentionally because the word “church” actually comes from an English/Germanic word with an Ancient Greek root, which was used by pagans in their houses of worship (of pagan gods). source: Oxford dictionary, Origin-Old English cir(i)ce, cyr(i)ce, related to Dutch kerk and German Kirche, based on medieval Greek kurikon, from Greek kuriakon (dōma) ‘Lord’s (house)’, from kurios ‘master or lord’. Compare with kirk.

At best it means the Lord’s house, at worst it was used to describe a house of pagan worship aka idolatry. Don’t forget that Baal (the OT version of anti-Christ) also means ‘master or lord’.

Either way it is a patent mis-translation. The Greek word for church is ekklēsia From a compound of ἐκ ἐξ G1537 and a derivative of καλέω G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a congregation.

When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What he meant if you look at the Greek text, which was originally taken from Hebrew is this: That thou art Petros (“a rock or a stone”), and upon this Petra( 1. a rock, cliff or ledge a. a projecting rock, crag, rocky ground b. a rock, a large stone)
I will oikodomeō (to be a house builder, that is, construct or (figuratively) confirm: - (be in) build (-er, -ing, up), edify, embolden.
my ekklēsia; From a compound of ἐκ ἐξ G1537 and a derivative of καλέω G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a congregation and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

My paraphrase based on the above is this: because Peter, (a little rock) believed Jesus was the Christ (the great rock that all his little rock’s come from) he would be included as a lively stone, that Jesus the master builder would use to build up (upon the foundation of the great rock) or edify the people who he has called out, and that the gates of hell wouldn’t prevail against them.

Peter states this very clearly in his own letter. 1 Peter 2:1-8
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

He is of course right, and people who embrace universal churchianity continue to stumble today. But Jesus is faithful and true and continues to build us up upon his foundation of the apostles and prophets, himself being the head cornerstone.

Simply put, just like Israel was called out of Egypt to worship in the wilderness, learn to depend on him, be taught to be his people (which are his sanctuary), be willing to give their lives in obedience by entering into a blood covenant, conquer God’s enemies as their own, and obtain their inheritance from God.

(As a side note, the enemies of God, would have represented all of the other known religions of the day.)

We are also called out, to be separated unto him in our own wilderness, and to become that spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. By entering a new covenant in his own blood, and overcome our enemies just as he has, while we journey towards our inheritance.

The Catholics turn this on it’s ear by claiming that Peter was the first Pope, and the misinterpretation of this verse is used to say that Jesus was going to build the Catholic Church and that Peter the first Pope is the foundation (not Jesus) that the church is built upon. Am I making sense? By implication they are also calling Peter “Pontifex Maximus” too which is beyond ridiculous, but also a contradiction since Caesar Augustus held the title concurrently with the time of Christ and Peter.

The first Pontifex Maximus was the 2nd Emperor of Rome “Numa Marcius”,. He took on the title of pontifex maximus created in Ancient Rome around 700 BC as the position of the one who was over all religions (sound familiar?)

Constantine in the year 325 also took on the title of Pontifex Maximus (while professing to be Christian) His actions aside from easing persecution of believers was to simply “christianize” the rest of the world and this included all of their pagan religions.

  • The Pontifex Maximus was the head of the Collegium Pontificum, the most important priesthood in ancient Rome.
  • The Pontifex Maximus was responsible for maintaining peace among the gods, interpreting omens, and punishing those who broke religious law.
  • The Pontifex Maximus also advised magistrates and organized the Roman calendar.
  • The role of the Pontifex Maximus changed over time. For example, during the imperial era, the emperor usually served as Pontifex Maximus.
  • The title of Pontifex Maximus was eventually given to the pope, the bishop of Rome.

The Pope’s statements are very much in line with Constantine’s beliefs, and so it should be no surprise (and is certainly no coincidence) that Pope Francis the current Pontifex Maximus would make such a statement.

There is much, much, more to be said about this subject.

The “original text” would have been Greek-- not “taken from Hebrew.” Greek is the language of the new testament writings. Since that Greek text is quoting Jesus, he was probably speaking Aramaic-- the common language spoken at that time in that region, but he might well have known some Greek too. He certainly knew Hebrew and could read it, but it would have been uncommon and unusual for him to be speaking in Hebrew to Peter- a regular fisherman who spoke Aramaic as his everyday language, and probably not Hebrew-- the scholar’s language of study.

The point is-- Petros (Peter) isn’t from the Hebrew at all. It’s pure Greek. Jesus calls him by his proper name-- Shimon Barionas-- Simon bar Jonah. Then he gives him this Greek nickname-- Petros. It would be like saying to a friend-- You are Jack Johnson, but I’m going to call you Rocky.

The Catholic claim of Peter who was the first leader of the church in Jerusalem (and not Rome) being the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church- is extremely weak. I agree with you on that small point.

That the original text of the New Testament was Hebrew is a topic of debate among scholars. Hebrew is however the mother of all languages, and Jesus certainly knew Hebrew. Aramaic being very closely related is considered by some to be very similar to what Adam would have spoken.

The Aramaic manuscripts in question are referred to as the Peshito-Syriac. There are a number of historical reasons to believe the Peshito-Syriac text pre-dated the Greek. The use of Acu, instead of the name Ptolemais as the name for the ancient costal town is an interesting one. The Peshito text mentions the town in it’s ancient name Acu, where the Greek calls it by the modern name of Ptolemais which the Romans renamed it (possibly around 250 AD).

I’m still studying the subject, the Hebrew language however provides more concrete definitions than the Greek being a pictographic language. Greek terms tend to be more abstract.

This is how I see Peter’s new name being more significant than simply a nick-name. The Greek grammar in the book of Revelation is also supposed to be pretty bad, and not very consistent with John’s other writings. This seems to point to the possibility that it was translated from Peshito-Syriac and not the other way around.

I thought the original language was Greek also, but I’m presently leaning the other way.

A matter of debate certainly and not likely to be settled. It’s extremely speculative to suggest that the new testament writings were anything but Greek. Why? -Because all of the manuscript evidence we have (writings) are Greek. That’s strong evidence, whereas we have no manuscript evidence of a Hebrew origin. Even the very contemporary and prolific writer-- the apostle Paul, a Jew among Jews, penned his epistles in Greek-- unless you have some evidence to the contrary.

As far as Hebrew being ‘the mother of all languages’ again, there is no actual evidence to support this ‘hunch’ you might share with others who rely strictly upon the Moses narrative recorded in Genesis that wasn’t written until sometime around the 14th-13 century BC. Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian are all considered ancient languages, along with Hebrew and Aramaic-Syriac.

The fact is that we don’t know.

I don’t think that there is any controversy however, regarding “Petros” being Greek, rather than a translation from Hebrew.

The good news, Jesus worshipped no man-made theology. And he definitely would have never knelt to catholicism nor protestantism (which is essentially diet catholicism) had he stuck around for another couple centuries. It’s all so goofy. Jesus came to put an end to religion worship and they killed him for it . Lucky for us, his 2nd time around he’ll be cutting down all these false gods and for eternity we’ll never have to hear about these ritualistic, idol worshipping, “good works” based cults ever again. You will remember this.

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Jesus was not a Christian, and Christian theology was in its infancy, so of course He didn’t follow it.

If Jesus will destroy Christianity, why bother?

Hi,
A very good discussion.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. KJV

How is “but by me,” not exclusive?
You get to the Father only if you believe in Jesus.
How is that not clear?
So that settles the “only way” question real fast.
The fact we are discussing this may show a belief problem.

Popes can be wrong too
They are flesh and blood; the same as you or me.
I think I get the analogy of “all roads lead to God.”
Either path you take in life, the straight and narrow, or the broad and wide, both lead to God.
But the distinction is with whom you meet.
The straight and narrow path leads us to our Father.
The broad and wide path leads unbelievers to their Judge.
Maybe that is what he was trying to say, and misspoke.
It goes back to what I said earlier.
He needs to go back and correct himself.
Everybody makes mistakes.

Blessings

This sounds like the mind frame that will be necessary to structure the coming One World Religion. (anti-Christ, beast, etc.) It looks like events are marching on towards the Rapture. Isaiah 46:10. In any regards, It is the blood sacrifice of Jesus - Son of God/Son of Man - that enables to exist in the prescence of a Holy God. The actual Holiness of God is completely uninhabitable by sin, sin in any form or degree can’t exist, that’s why we need the Grace of God - through the acceptance of Jesus’s taking on the punishment/seperation. Also, there are no other Gods that can save. no other gods exist - there is only one - so to say any other god is able to save, then you are lying. Religion is mankind working to get salvation. That is also incorrect. Only Jesus, who is the vine, can bring life and Christian fruit/works, to the branches - us. Jesus Is Lord.

Pope’s on the ropes.

He’s been hospitalized with a lung infection and bronchitis. Serious for any elderly person (he’s 88) but moreso for Francis as he only has one lung.

Beware the Ides of March.