Charles Hodge Letter to the Pope

No Compromise Radio

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:01

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

00:07

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

00:16

Apostle Paul said, "...but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you."

00:24

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

00:30

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the

00:37

Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

00:44

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I am still trying to recover from this bronchial thing that I've gotten.

00:51

I don't know how I got that, lack of faith, too much aspartame. No, I think this is month 12 now, aspartame -free.

01:01

By the way, do you know how hard it is to find vitamin C? That is, A, vitamin

01:07

C, B, chewable, and C, aspartame -free.

01:13

That is very, very difficult. I did find something at Rite Aid the other day that had some kind of phenolphthalein -free.

01:22

I don't know what it was free, but it had no aspartame. So the listeners out there that are very anti -DSMO, anti -aspartame, anti -acid, one year free of aspartame, hoorah.

01:36

Now, I might have occasional Diet Coke with Splenda, but that doesn't have any aspartame, so hooray for formaldehyde molecules instead.

01:45

Well, today on No Compromise Radio, I'd like to read a letter. And so on occasion,

01:51

I've read letters that have been written to me, but I don't think so far in the history of No Compromise Radio Ministry, about 700 shows,

02:00

I've ever read a letter written by someone else to someone else. And some of you know my style and are probably thinking

02:07

I'm going to read a Bible letter. Well, close, but not quite. No, actually not too close.

02:12

And the other thing, by the way, that's going on is I'm taking all these steroids for this bronchial chronic thing and talk about amped up.

02:21

If you do a nebulizer with some albuterol and then throw back a few pregnazones, that is a cocktail,

02:29

I'm telling you. I think I could do 19 shows in the next 24 minutes. So if I'm reading quickly or I am aspirating or I'm inhaling, you'll know why.

02:41

I like to read this letter that's an older letter and it is, let's see,

02:47

I don't know how many pages. It's not really that long, but I read it and it was such a great letter.

02:53

I thought I need to read this on No Compromise Radio Ministry. What's good for the goose? Charles Hodge's letter to Pope Pius IX.

03:04

And so let me just give you the first little intro before the letter so I can set this up.

03:09

The text of a letter written by Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary. That was when it was good, of course.

03:16

You had to read the two -volume Princeton Seminary history by Calhoun. That would behoove you to do such a thing.

03:25

Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary on behalf of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the

03:31

USA, explaining why the Pope's invitation to Protestants to send delegates to the

03:38

First Vatican Council of 1869 -70 was being declined. Now, for those of you that listen and think

03:46

I hate Roman Catholics, that is not true. As a matter of fact, I love

03:51

Roman Catholics enough to tell them the truth. I wish some of my Roman Catholic listeners would try to convert me because we both can't be right.

04:00

So wouldn't you think that you'd want to tell me kindly and nicely and thoughtfully and provocatively?

04:06

This is the truth. This is what the Bible says. So I'm not trying to hate anyone.

04:12

Furthermore, Charles Hodge's letter is an exemplary letter when it comes to being kind, contending for the faith, and not trying to be a fighting fundamentalist, putting, you know,

04:26

West Side Baptist. It's not West Side Baptist, is it? It's something, who are those people that picket and God hates signs and stuff?

04:32

Who are they? Where's Steve? Anybody out there know? If you could yell loudly into your radio right now,

04:38

I could probably figure it out. West Lake, West Side, Westernhausen.

04:45

I have no idea. Westboro. No? That's a city around here. Anyway, Charles Hodge wrote this letter and it was republished in Banner of Truth's little encyclical, their little magazine that I would encourage you to get.

04:59

As a matter of fact, I got a free book in the mail today from Banner of Truth, The Forgotten Spurgeon by Ian Murray.

05:04

How about that? It said, with compliments, Banner of Truth. So they either heard the No Compromise radio show,

05:10

I think they're probably listening, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Probably every day they're tuning their iTunes to No Compromise radio.

05:17

Or since we're using that book for our discipleship class, for men's discipleship here on Sunday mornings, we have about 18 guys in that class, including my 15 -year -old son, maybe they sent me a free copy because I just sold them about 19 copies.

05:30

Buy 19, get one free. By the way, the book that I wrote, the second book, no longer on sale through No Compromise radio ministry with the author discount.

05:41

You can get it through Amazon link there and that's all I can do. If you'd like to order 50 or 100, maybe

05:47

I can help you. Maybe I can help you. We can dropship them in.

05:52

How's that? Charles Hodge's letter to Pope Pius IX. A, I'd like you to think about how wonderful this letter is in terms of truth, in terms of demeanor, and in terms of logic.

06:06

And so you'll soon find out that he's not hating, he is really trying to respond. He's not trying to be the

06:13

West, is it Westboro Baptist? Boy, I sure wish I knew. He has all the steroids and can't sleep either.

06:21

To Pius IX, Bishop of Rome. By your encyclical letter dated 1869, you invite

06:27

Protestants to send delegates to the council called to meet at Rome during the month of December of the current year.

06:33

That letter has been brought to the attention of the two general assemblies of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America.

06:40

Those assemblies represent about 5 ,000 ministers and a still larger number of Christian congregations.

06:47

Believing as we do that it is the will of Christ that his church on earth should be united and recognizing the duty of doing all we consistently can to promote

06:58

Christian charity and fellowship. We deem it right briefly to present the reasons which forbid our participation in the deliberations of the approaching council.

07:08

It is not because we have renounced any article of the Catholic small -c universal faith. We are not heretics.

07:15

We cordially receive all doctrines contained in that symbol which is known as the

07:20

Apostles' Creed. We regard all doctrinal decisions of the first six ecumenical councils to be consistent with the

07:27

Word of God, and because of that consistency we receive them as expressing our faith. We therefore believe the doctrine of the

07:34

Trinity and of the person of Christ as those doctrines are expressed in the symbols adopted by the

07:40

Council of Nicaea 8321, that of the Council of Constantinople 8381, and more fully that of the

07:48

Council of Chalcedon 8451. We believe that there are three persons in the

07:54

Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are the same in substance and equal in power and glory.

08:03

We believe that the eternal Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, and so was and continues to be both man and God in two distinct natures, and one person forever.

08:19

We believe that our adorable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the prophet who should come into the world, whose teachings we are bound to believe and on whose promises we rely.

08:32

He is the high priest whose infinitely meritorious satisfaction to divine justice and whose ever prevalent intercession is the sole ground of the sinner's justification and acceptance before God.

08:50

We acknowledge him to be our Lord not only because we are his creatures, but also because we are the purchase of his blood.

08:58

To his authority we are bound to submit. In his care we confide, and to his service all creatures in heaven and earth should be devoted.

09:08

We receive all these doctrines concerning sin, grace, and predestination, known as Augustinian, which doctrines receive the sanction not only of the

09:18

Council of Carthage and other provincial synods, but of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus AD 431, of Zosimas, Bishop of Rome.

09:29

We therefore cannot be pronounced heretics without involving in the same condemnation the whole ancient

09:34

Church. Neither are we schismatics. We cordially recognize, as members of Christ's visible

09:42

Church on earth, all those who profess the true religion together with their children. We are not only willing but earnest to hold

09:50

Christian communion with them, provided they do not require, as conditions of such communion, that we profess doctrines which the

09:59

Word of God condemns, or that we should do what the Word forbids. If in any case any

10:06

Church prescribes such unscriptural terms of fellowship, the error and the fault is with that Church and not with us.

10:14

But although we do not decline your invitation because we are either heretics or schismatics, we nevertheless, debarring from accepting it, because we still hold with ever -increasing confidence those principles for which our fathers were excommunicated and pronounced accursed by the

10:34

Council of Trent, which represented and still represents the Church over which you preside."

10:42

Charles Hodge's letter goes on to Pope Pius IX. The most important of those principles are, first, that the

10:50

Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

10:57

The Council of Trent, however, pronounces anathema on all who do not receive the teachings of tradition, pari pietatis effectu, with equal pious affection, as the

11:12

Scriptures themselves. This we cannot do without incurring the condemnation which our

11:18

Lord pronounced on the Pharisees who made void the Word of God by their traditions. Matthew 15, 6.

11:24

Secondly, the right of private judgment. When we open the Scriptures, we find that they are addressed to the people they speak to us.

11:33

We are commanded to search them, John 5, 39, to believe what they teach. We are held personally responsible for our faith.

11:41

The Apostle commands us to pronounce a cursed apostle or an angel from heaven who should teach anything contrary to the divinely authenticated

11:49

Word of God, Galatians 1, 8. He made us the judges and has placed the rule of judgment into our hands and holds us responsible for our judgments.

12:00

Moreover, we find that the teaching of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ not to the clergy exclusively, but to all believers.

12:11

It is written, Ye shall all be taught of God. The Apostle John says to believers,

12:18

Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you.

12:28

But as the same anointing teacheth you all of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him, 1

12:39

John 2, 20, 27. This teaching of the Spirit authenticates itself, as this same

12:46

Apostle teaches us, when he says, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself, 1

12:53

John 5, 10. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth, 1

13:03

John 2, 21. Private judgment, therefore, is not only a right, but a duty, from which no man can absolve himself or be absolved by others.

13:14

Thirdly, we believe in the universal priesthood of all believers. That is, that all believers have through Christ access by one

13:23

Spirit unto the Father, Ephesians 2, 18. That we may come with boldness to the throne of grace.

13:29

That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4, 16.

13:36

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water,

14:02

Hebrews 10, 19 -22. To admit, therefore, the priesthood of the clergy, whose intervention is necessary to secure for us the remission of sin and other benefits of the redemption of Christ, is to renounce the priesthood of our

14:17

Lord, or its sufficiency to secure reconciliation with God. Fourthly, Charles Hodge says to Pope Pius IX, Fourthly, we deny the perpetuity of apostleship.

14:32

As no man can be an apostle without the spirit of prophecy, so no man can be an apostle without the gifts of an apostle.

14:40

Those gifts, as we learn from Scripture, were plenary knowledge of the truth derived from Christ by immediate revelation,

14:47

Galatians 1, verse 12, and personal infallibility as teachers and rulers.

14:54

What the seals of apostleship were, Paul teaches us when he says to the Corinthians, Truly the signs of an apostle will rot among you in all patience, in signs and wonders, in mighty deeds, 2

15:07

Corinthians 12, 12. As for prelates who claim to be apostles and who demand the same confidence in their teaching and the same submission to their authority as that which is due to the inspired messengers of Christ, without pretending to possess either the gifts or signs of the apostleship, we cannot submit to their claims.

15:27

This would be rendering to erring men. The subjection due to God alone are to His divinely authenticated and infallible messengers.

15:37

Much less can we recognize the Bishop of Rome as the vicar of Christ on earth, clothed with the authority over the church and the world which was exercised by our

15:47

Lord while here in the flesh. It is plain that no one can be the vicar of Christ who has not the attributes of Christ.

15:53

To recognize the Bishop of Rome as Christ's vicar is therefore virtually to recognize Him as divine.

15:59

We must stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. We cannot forfeit our salvation by putting man in the place of God, giving one of like passions with ourselves the control of our inward and outward life, which is due only to Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom dwells all the fullness of the

16:21

Godhead. Other and equally cogent reasons might be assigned why we cannot with a good conscience be represented in the proposed

16:30

Council. But as the Council of Trent, whose canons are still in force, pronounces all accursed who hold the principles above enumerated, nothing further is necessary to show that our declining your invitation is a matter of necessity.

16:49

Nevertheless, although we cannot return to the fellowship of the Church of Rome, we desire to live in charity with all men.

16:56

We love all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. We regard as Christian brethren all who worship, love, and obey

17:04

Him as their God and Savior, and we hope to be united in heaven with all who unite with us on earth in saying,

17:11

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto

17:19

God and his Father, to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

17:25

Revelation 1 6. Signed on behalf of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the

17:30

U .S. of America, Charles Hodge. Wow. Wow, what'd you think of that?

17:38

What'd you think of that letter, Charles Hodge to Pope Pius IX? Now I notice when he first starts writing, he makes it plain, we'll receive the letter, and we have to tell you why we're going to decline the invitation.

17:53

And he knows that he is called a heretic, a schismatic, and then he says, well, if you're going to have to call us a heretic, you're going to have to call everybody else who early on affirmed the

18:08

Apostles' Creed, the Church of the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Constantinople, and the

18:14

Council of Chalcedon. You are going to have to mark all those as schismatics and heretics who believe in the eternal

18:23

Son of God who became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, so Charles Hodge says.

18:31

Very, very important letter writing. What happened to the days where we could just disagree and say, you've asked me to be involved in something and I'm just going to have to say no thank you?

18:45

And these are the reasons. Hodge says, and this is still the issue today,

18:50

Protestants aren't schismatic and heretical. We believe in what the Apostles taught.

18:56

But the issue is, how can we do things in partnership with Rome, whether that's marching for church rights, marching against homosexual marriage, marching for the life of unborn babies, how can we join in spiritual resolve with people who disagree with us on these major doctrines?

19:19

Furthermore, Council of Trent, which is still in effect, says that we have all kinds of anathemas on us.

19:30

For instance, we have anathema on us because we believe in justification by faith alone.

19:37

Faith alone justifies. We have anathema because we don't think that the body and blood of Christ is the real body and blood of Christ when you're eating a cracker and some juice or wine.

19:48

It doesn't get changed into anything, and we deny that it does. We deny transubstantiation, and therefore

19:55

Trent holds us cursed, damned to hell for that. So how can we get together when

20:01

Trent still exists? So Hodge is basically saying, reexamine Trent, and if you want to be so open and you want to be so acceptable and you want to be so accepting, then get rid of Trent.

20:15

But short of God's intervention, they're not going to get rid of Trent. Notice that he talks about the priesthood of all believers.

20:23

If you're a Christian, aren't you glad you don't have to go to a priest? Aren't you glad you can go to the high priest?

20:29

We don't have this line anymore of Aaron and these men who lived and then they died.

20:36

We have the eternal high priest. That's why we can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

20:43

If I had to draw near to God through a man who was a priest and a man who was a mediator,

20:49

I need the God -man as my mediator and advocate and priest. I need to be sprinkled clean with his life and his death, and I need to have the benefits of Christ's redemption, the high priest put into my account.

21:07

Charles Hodge says, oh, you're going to say there's still apostles today? Then why can't you do what apostles do?

21:12

He says, well, what about having a vicar? Rome's pope is the vicar of Christ?

21:20

And then Hodge says, well, then you're basically saying he is divine. But maybe my favorite thing is the last paragraph.

21:30

And he, Hodge, Charles Hodge, there's two new biographies out in the last year of Charles Hodge if you're interested, and of course he has his very famous three -volume systematic theology.

21:42

You ought to go up to Princeton Seminary and they have the gravesite there if you'd like to see some of the presidents who've lived and died, presidents of Princeton Seminary, that is.

21:52

But I like at the very end, it is evangelistic. It is an appeal to the pope.

22:00

Would that not have been amazing to see the pope regenerated and be made born again?

22:08

And so he uses a verse in Revelation chapter 1 verse 6 that has all kinds of wonderful Bible truth.

22:17

And he says, we want to be united with people who believe this Jesus, who love this

22:23

Jesus, and we want to regard as a Christian brother anyone who believes this.

22:30

And so you say, well, he could be thinking there are certain, you know, maybe he thinks the pope is a Christian, maybe he thinks there are some people in the

22:37

Catholic Church who are Christian. I think the second is true, but I don't think that is what

22:43

Charles Hodge is saying. Hodge is saying, for those real Christian brethren we want to have fellowship with, we can't have fellowship with you, so we don't think you're real

22:54

Christian brethren. But look at this verse that points to Christ Jesus, if I could say it in a biblical fashion in the context of this argument, in a

23:03

Protestant fashion. Listen to Revelation 1 verse 6. If you're a Roman Catholic, this is the

23:09

Jesus that we want you to believe in, not the Jesus that needs to be slain repeatedly. This is the once and for all slain

23:16

Jesus, the high priest, the mediator, and you need to have faith alone in him alone to the glory of God alone.

23:40

I think Hodge's intent there at the end is evangelistic, and so my intention is evangelistic as well.

23:48

My grandmother was a Catholic, and I love my grandmother. My grandmother loved me.

23:53

Actually, you're not supposed to admit this, but I loved my grandmother who was a Catholic more than I loved my grandmother who was a

24:00

Lutheran. You're not supposed to have favorites, but I had a favorite grandmother, and her name was Nona. And so I wrote her a letter, and I'm not going to read that letter today, although maybe that would be a good letter to read one day.

24:12

And I wrote her a letter in love, spelling out what the Bible teaches about sin, death, hell,

24:20

Christ, forgiveness, redemption, who this resurrected Jesus was, and the response to that great gospel message that Jesus died for sinners, the response of repentance and faith and trust and submission, words like that.

24:39

And so I don't know if she ever responded. She didn't respond to me, although we were still friends until the day she died, and I had the privilege of doing her funeral service.

24:48

And one day I hope to see Grandma Nona, Nona Anderson, in heaven. Why? Because she was a good person?

24:55

No. Because she was a Catholic? No. But because God in His grace snatched her out of her deathbed on her dying day and saved her.

25:04

I hope that's why I see her. And if I don't, I'll say, God, you're still good. What about you? You're going to die one day, and then what?

25:10

You will answer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

25:20

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

25:30

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

25:37

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

25:46

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.