There’s No Smoke Without Fire

There’s no smoke without fire, or so the old saying goes. Well I just found out this evening that this old saying isn’t always true.

Tonight the eyes of the world’s media were fixed on a narrow chimney pot sticking out of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. They wee all waiting for that puff of white smoke to indicate that a new Pope has been elected. However, the smoke that blows out of this chimney is not created by the burning of ballot papers as many suppose, oh no. According to a Vatican insider, on BBC 5 live this evening, the smoke is generated by the release of chemicals from a canister.  So much for the ozone layer!

Their pretend smoke from a non-fire isn’t the only bit of fakery that will come out of Rome this week. Another classic lie that will come from Rome this week will be one of the titles that will be bestowed upon the newly elected Pontiff.

Pontifex Maximus

For those of you like me who do not read Latin the term literally means ‘The Greatest Bridge Builder’.

Now that’s quite a title to take to yourself.  The idea, of course, is that the Pope is the greatest bridge builder that the Roman Catholic can find between himself and his God. If you will, he is a mediator between God and men.

However, that particular role is already held by someone who, unlike Benedict, has not retired or, unlike John Paul II, has not died. You see the only person who can really be called Pontifex Maximus is the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul said to Timothy…

‘For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;’ 1 Timothy 2 v5

How dare Rome bestow such a title on a mere man!

A Bitter Harvest

The Roman Catholic Institution has had to face a drip feed of sexual scandals amongst it’s clergy now for decades. The most recent high profile case is the former Cardinal Keith O’Brien who on Sunday the 3rd of March admitted inappropriate sexual relations with other priests. Now the Roman Church is not the only religious body to have to face such scandals but no other religious group has had to face the volume of revelations as them.


So what on earth is the problem? Well to my mind they are reaping a very bitter harvest for their insistence on a celibate priest hood. Celibacy of course is not to be found in the Bible, as is the case with most of the doctrines of Rome, in fact celibacy in the Bible is described as a doctrine of devils.

‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.’ 1 Timothy 4 v 1-3

What the Hierarchy of the Church of Rome does not seem to realise is that their insistence on celibacy does not give her priesthood the opportunity to vent their sexual desires. Now sexual desires are not sinful, they are normal: they are a part of what we are as human beings. The problem comes when we channel these desires in a way that is contrary to God’s Word.

God’s word only allows for these desires to be fulfilled within the marriage bond between a man and a woman, any deviance from this Biblical pattern is sin. By banning their priests from the only Biblically condoned opportunity to channel their sexual desires these men are expected to dam up these desires and sadly for society and many thousands of innocent children the dam wall bursts all to often.

The Apostle Paul addressed this very issue in his first letter to the Church at Corinth saying…

‘ I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.’ 1 Corinthians 7 v8-9

There is an army of Roman Clerics around this world who are burning with sexual desire and their Church won’t let them follow the advice of Paul and they wonder why they have a problem!

Far be it from me to give advice to the Roman Church as it continues on it’s course of self destruction, for the destruction of this institution would give me great pleasure, but do the world a favour and let your priests get married.