Remembering Pope Benedict XVI, an Antichrist - The Revolt News
The schism of the Western Church was fraught
A product of religious reform sought
Luther, Calvin, and others led the charge
Against the pope's power, indulgences, and their undue large
This movement, fueled by the printing press
Spread throughout Europe, with much success
Protestant denominations now in place
Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, and their grace
The Council of Trent, in response to this fray
Tried to fix the issues that had come to stay
Doctrines were changed, practices were revised
The impact on the Catholic Church would be devised
Canon 9, a point of much debate
Forbade the belief that faith alone can seal our fate
Salvation by grace, through faith, was denied
Anathema to those who upheld it, and so they cried
Protestants and Evangelicals have defended this view
But the Roman Catholic Church has rejected it, and so they skew
Pope Benedict XVI, with a decree in hand
Said that Protestant denominations couldn't be "Churches" in this land
A change in ecumenical strategy, some did say
A betrayal of the movement for inclusivity, and so they pray
Others saw it as a return to pre-Vatican times
Where Bible Christians were seen as heretics, and not as "separated" kinds
The pope's belief in the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church
Was seen as a rejection of the Reformation, its principles and its search
Salvation through faith alone, the authority of the Bible's page
Were attacked upon by this decree, with much outrage
Pope Benedict also placed Mary in the center of it all
As an ideal for Catholics, her example to install
Motivation for goodness, beauty, and purity of heart
But worse still, he urged Catholics to pray to her, and to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary's art
Mary, the pope believed, was the living Ark of the Covenant
Benedict saw her "yes" to God as the key to this event
But in doing so, he made an idol of Mary, it's true
Just like all the popes before him, it seems to be their due
Pope Benedict XVI, and all those before
Were seen by reformers as an antichrist, and so much more
A threat to the gospel, and to salvation's way
True Bible believers knew they must mark and avoid, every day
The reformers knew this truth, deep in their soul
They stood against the pope, and the antichrist's role
For the gospel's sake, and for the Word's command
They marked and avoided the pope, with faith in hand
So let us remember, as we read this tale
The importance of marking and avoiding, without fail
For the pope is antichrist, and the reformers knew
True Bible believers must mark and avoid, and so they do.