I don’t know who first made the accusation, it had to have come from the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, that those who listened to Luther and Zwingli and Calvin had exchanged the Bishop of Rome for a “Paper Pope.” They had traded the ex cathedra dictates of popes and councils for a new religious authority: Sola Scriptura, the bible alone.

Sola Scriptura is the uniquely Protestant Christian belief that there is no rule of faith and practice for humanity other than the uniquely inspired, God-breathed writings of the prophets encapsulated within the bindings of that unique book, the Bible. (Yes, I used “unique” or “uniquely” three times in that sentence. I wanted to emphasize the “only-ness” of the Reformation Sola.) Now this doesn’t mean that the bible can be used as some divinely bestowed rule book – yes, there are rules within it: Don’t Murder; Don’t Worship Your Genitalia; Don’t Take What’s Not Yours, and so forth – it is a record of God’s dealings with the human race during a long period of time in this distant past. We are to bring every facet of learning and reason to bear as we study it. But our learning and reason cannot come to a rightful conclusion contrary to what it plainly reveals.

Please note, I did say, “Plainly reveals.” There are many things in the bible that are not clear. Some things are clouded by the changes of language and culture. We ask, does this word mean this or does it mean that? And sometimes the answer is, no one knows for sure. But for the really important things, things like: Is there a Supreme Being who created all things? Why is there evil in the world? Why do we die? Can we live again? How am I to treat my neighbor? Who is Jesus? You know, the really important questions that keep us awake at night, for those questions there is clear revelation in the bible. (By the way, in case you’re wondering, the answers are: Yes; Because our first ancestors chose to listen to a creature rather than the Creator; Because life is conditional on staying connected to its Origin; Yes; As I would like to be treated; and, God who became one of us so that we could become one with him.

So, for me, a Protestant Christian, I was caught by surprise this morning when the secular thought leaders in the media got all ecstatic that the Pope had changed Roman Catholic dogma to state that execution for capital crimes was contrary to Roman Catholic belief. (They do get giddy when some religious “authority” says or does something that comports with current secular thought. And they declare him starkraving mad when he goes the contrary.) Now there is nothing intrinsicly wrong with changing your mind on a doctrine. You can have firm beliefs on something that given time and further study you come to conclusion that your first thoughts (or second thoughts, or third thoughts) on the subject were wrong and now you have a better understanding and a different opinion. But where the scripture is clear there can be no deviation or change.

The bible says God created the universe. I can’t say he didn’t. We can discuss all day and into next year what the text means when it says he created everything, but when someone steps outside the text to say he did not create, then the discussion ceases and we go our separate ways. So, where the bible is clear, so must I be. We can talk, even argue over the meaning of the text, but never over the truthfulness of the text.

God gave a universal command for all of humanity recorded in Genesis chapter 9, verse 6, that those who take another human life (with the implication of “for either profit or pleasure”.) must have their lives taken from them – no exceptions. Murderers must die at the hands of the living. So the Pope is wrong. We can have a reasonable and rational discussion on the application of the death penalty in modern society, and I would agree that the American system of execution is an abomination, but the text is the text and it is irrevocable.