Bridge of Reason

I recently watched an interesting discussion between Kris Vallotton, a senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California and a young female student enrolled on the church’s School of Supernatural Ministry. What was interesting about this exchange was that the student was a Roman Catholic. Jessica Bond happily announced that Pope Francis was her pastor, and this prompted Vallotton to share his story of when he met the Pope. Vallotton said that he was part of a group of 40 charismatics that had been invited to the Vatican to meet the Pope. He recalled how Pope Francis told them about the time that he was baptised in the Spirit. This prompted Jessica to say how much she loves the Pope. When Vallotton met the Pope back in 2016, he posted about the event on his social media. He said this: ‘I had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis today with some other pastors. He is really a great man; I love him a ton!’ I am pretty sure that if social media existed at the time of Luther, Calvin, Cra...

  The Council of Trent was the 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It met from 1545 to 1563 in Trento, Italy in response to the ever-growing influence of the Protestant Reformation. The Council was particularly concerned about a former German monk named Martin Luther. He was teaching that a person could be saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, without the need for the sacraments and ceremonies offered by the Roman Catholic Church. It was his doctrine of ‘sola fide’ (Latin for ‘by faith alone’), amongst other things he taught, that angered the Council, causing them to gather and respond forcibly. They were furious that Luther was preaching and teaching that salvation could be obtained outside the visible Church. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus The Roman Catholic Church taught, and continues to teach (though they seek to make it a little more palatable these days) extra ecclesiam nulla salus, which means that ‘outside the Church there is no salvation’. It teaches that ...