Well-known Canadian reformed pastor, speaker and author Tim Challies says Pope Francis was "the world's foremost false teacher".
Writing on his blog, which he has updated regularly since 2003, Challies describes the late Pontiff as someone who "communicated heretical doctrines to more people than any other human being".
And he adds that the Papacy is "the foremost and most consistent position of false teaching in the history of the world".
In his post on 5 May, Challies writes: "In the days since Pope Francis died, I have seen a number of Protestants write about his legacy. Some of these writers have expressed great appreciation for him while others have expressed great concern. The reactions to these articles, and especially the critiques, have been interesting to me.
"Some people have expressed dismay that their fellow Protestants would use the opportunity of the Pope’s death to detail their concerns about the man and his office and even to discuss his eternal state.
Key facts
"Though I know it can seem unkind to use a person’s death as an opportunity to write about his flaws, it’s important to remember some key facts about Pope Francis, the papacy, and the Roman Catholic Church.
"This is one of those key facts: For as long as he was Pope, Francis was the world’s most prominent false teacher. Though there are many other false teachers in this world, none of them had even a fraction of his reach or power and none were regarded with such respect."
Pope Francis "consistently affirmed the errors of Catholic doctrine that are detailed in its official documents (such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church) while adding new errors of his own," Challies adds.
"Never in his life did he proclaim a gospel through which sinners are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and never did he expect it of the millions of clergy he oversaw. Rather, he consistently preached a gospel in which human effort must be added to divine grace. Furthermore, he consistently venerated Mary as one who, with Jesus, co-mediates the relationship between God and man."
Blogosphere
Challies is described by The Gospel Coalition US as "a noted speaker, author of numerous articles, and a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere. Tens of thousands of people visit Challies.com each day, making it one of the most widely read and recognised Christian blogs in the world."
He has written a number of books including Visual Theology, The Next Story, and, most recently, Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History. He and his family live near Toronto, Ontario, where he is an elder at Grace Fellowship Church.
R. Albert Mohler Jr, the American evangelical theologian, and ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Luisville, Kentucky, has described Challies as "one of the finest young evangelical thinkers of our day."
The full blog post can be read at https://www.challies.com/articles/the-worlds-most-prominent-false-teacher/
