Protestantism’s in a pickle! On one hand, Protestantism properly professes “Jesus is God. God is truth.”
On the other hand, Jesus did say “Verily, verily I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”
The dilemma: How do 43,000 brands of Protestantism say, “Jesus gave the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven to one man. Jesus did not appear to the founder of our denomination and give him the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”
Protestantism’s perplexing problem requires that people believe: “God did not give the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven to our denomination’s founder but Pastor Bob says I can get in, anyway. He also says we should give him some money.”
Protestantism’s problem is profound. Peter was given the keys to Heaven because an all powerful God had put a lock on the gates. Can any lesser being get past God? Can a created being be greater than The Creator? Can we make our own key? If anyone who wants to go to Heaven can get in, then why did Jesus suffer and die?
Protestantism’s puzzle perplexes people in the pews. “I am risking my immortal soul, and the immortal souls of my children, on a denomination whose founder was not given ‘the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven’? And, I am giving it my hard-earned money. Is this intelligent?”
Some people realize that all of Protestantism’s credibility hinges on hairsplitting the meaning of the word “rock” in Greek, not in the Aramaic that Jesus spoke. Intelligent people wonder, “Are my donations helping to increase the confusion that has already messed up the world with abortion and other sins?”
