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>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me in Poland.
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It's a fascinating country,
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with a vibrant and
a turbulent history.
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It is gone to war with Prussia,
and with Russia, more than once.
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Poland was invaded in the
13th century by the Mongols,
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and by the Swedes
in the 17th century.
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Even Austria controlled
part of Poland at one time.
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A million Poles
died in World War 1.
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World War 2 was
especially hard on Poland.
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World War 2 began in 1939
following the invasion of Poland
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by Nazi Germany.
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Six million Poles
died during World War 2.
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And Poland was a communist
country from 1945 to 1989.
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Today Poland is a beautiful
country, and culturally rich.
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Warsaw's international
airport is named after the
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Polish pianist and
composer Frederick Chopin.
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The first woman
to win a Nobel Prize,
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the only woman to win
two, and the only person to win
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a Nobel Prize in
two different sciences,
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in her case, in
physics and chemistry,
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was Poland's Maria Sklodowska,
better known as Marie Curie.
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Nicolaus Copernicus, the
mathematician and astronomer
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who set a cat among
the scientific pigeons
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when he claimed the
sun and not the Earth
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was the center of
the universe, was Polish.
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He advanced the idea that the
Earth rotated around the sun,
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and not the sun
around the Earth.
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But perhaps Poland's
favorite and most famous son
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is Karol Wojtyla,
who was born here in 1920
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in the town of
Wadowice in the south of Poland,
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about an hour from the
border with the Czech Republic.
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His father served
in the Polish army.
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His mother died
before he was nine years old.
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He had a sister who
died before he was born.
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His older brother went
on to become a physician.
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Karol became a priest in 1946,
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a bishop in 1958,
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an archbishop in 1964,
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and a cardinal in 1967.
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He was the Archbishop of
Krakow from 1964 until 1978.
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In 1978, the white smoke
billowing from the chimney
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on top of the Sistine Chapel
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indicated the College of
Cardinals had elected him pope.
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He succeeded Pope
John Paul the First,
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who spent only
33 days in office.
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British author David
Yallop's book “In God's Name”
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sold six million
copies, and was subtitled,
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“An
Investigation into the Murder
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of Pope John Paul the First.”
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There was enough mystery about
the death of John Paul the First
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that claims like that
don't come as a surprise.
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But Yallop's journalism
has been strongly opposed.
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And that's not
a surprise either.
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John Paul the Second led
the Roman Catholic Church
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for 27 years, until 2005.
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They love him here in Poland.
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Tourists flock here to the
home where the pope grew up.
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He was raised in
this home right behind me.
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And years later,
it's easy to underestimate
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just how popular he was.
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The first non-Italian
pope in more than 450 years
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visited 129
countries during his reign.
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Five million people attended
an open-air church service
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he conducted in Manila
in the Philippines in 1995.
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As a teenager I made my
own pilgrimage to see and hear
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Pope John Paul the Second.
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Five days before his 61st
birthday, while he was greeting
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a crowd in St Peter's
Square in the Vatican City,
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he was shot four times by
a 23 year old Turkish man.
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Just two years later
the pope met with that same
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would-be assassin in prison,
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calling him “my brother...
whom I have sincerely forgiven.”
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The gunman served twenty years
of a life sentence in Italy
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before being released
and deported to Turkey,
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where he served more
prison time on other charges.
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In 2014 he
returned to the Vatican
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and visited John
Paul the Second's tomb.
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As not only a church
leader but also a head of state,
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John Paul the Second had a major
political impact on the world.
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He was
responsible for regime change
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in several different
countries, and has been credited
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with bringing about the
demise of European communism
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in the early 1990s.
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His support for
Poland's Solidarity movement
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led by Lech Walesa
weakened communism in Poland
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and throughout Europe.
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When President George W. Bush
presented John Paul the Second
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with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom,
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he said that John Paul's
“principled stand for peace
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and freedom has inspired
millions and helped to topple
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communism and tyranny.”
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He met with Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989,
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shortly before
the fall of communism.
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Gorbachev said later, “The
collapse of the Iron Curtain
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would have been impossible
without John Paul the Second.”
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As pope, Poland's favorite
son was considered to be
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the successor of St Peter.
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And while he was loved
and respected by many people
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all around the
world during his reign,
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500 or so years ago,
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he might have been
viewed rather differently.
00:07:41.19\00:07:44.39
I'll tell you
why in just a moment.
00:07:44.43\00:07:47.73
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of the book of Revelation
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¤[Music]¤
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Thanks for joining
me on It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
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Before he became
Pope John Paul the Second,
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Karol Wojtyla was the archbishop
here in Krakow, Poland
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for 14 years.
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Krakow was the capital of the
kingdom of Poland for 500 years.
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The place is beautiful.
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It's overflowing with history.
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The historic
center of the city is now
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an UNESCO World Heritage site.
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The parks surrounding
the old town follow the paths
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of the city walls
that surrounded old Krakow
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in medieval times.
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Wawel Castle was
built in the 14th century.
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The 1300s.
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For hundreds of years it was
the residence of Polish kings.
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Beside Wawel Castle
stands Wawel Cathedral.
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About three dozen
Polish kings and queens
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have been crowned here,
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and a number of Polish
monarchs are buried here.
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The first cathedral
constructed on this site
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was built in the 11th century.
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The one there now has been
standing for about 700 years.
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Wawel Cathedral is the seat
of the Archdiocese of Krakow.
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It's where John Paul the
Second served as archbishop
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for fourteen years.
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Before World
War 2 began in 1939,
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between 60,000 and
80,000 Jews lived in Krakow.
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When the Krakow Ghetto
was formed, 15,000 people were
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pressed into an area
designed to accommodate 3,000.
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There are still small sections
of the wall built around the
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Krakow Ghetto standing today,
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a grim reminder
of a tragic past.
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The plaque on the
old Ghetto wall reads:
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“Here they lived,
suffered and perished
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at the hands of
Hitler's executioners.”
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The vast
majority of Krakow's Jews
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perished in the holocaust.
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Auschwitz is only
an hour west of here.
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Just across the Vistula
River from Krakow's Old Town
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are two museums housed in what
used to be an enamelware factory
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operated by a man
named Oskar Schindler.
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Steven Spielberg's Academy Award
winning movie “Schindler's List”
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was filmed here in Krakow.
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The 1,100 Jews
saved by Schindler,
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worked in this very building.
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Karol Wojtyla became
the Archbishop of Krakow
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32 years after
World War 2 ended.
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He died in 2005.
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His funeral at St
Peter's in the Vatican City
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was an enormous affair.
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It was attended
by kings and queens,
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by more than 70 heads of state,
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including the
President of the United States
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and two former Presidents.
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The people of Krakow
are immensely proud of him,
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especially that
now he's known as
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“Saint Pope John
Paul the Second.”
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He was canonized in 2014.
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Now the Catholic Church
doesn't canonize someone
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without what they
call a verifiable miracle
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having occurred attributable
to the person canonized.
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In 2011, a Costa Rican
woman with a brain aneurism
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was reading a magazine with
John Paul the Second's photo
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on the front cover,
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when he appeared
to her in a vision.
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She says she was healed.
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Doctors seem to agree.
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The church says
there's no medical rationale
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for the lady's healing, or for
the healing of the French nun
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who was healed of
Parkinson's in 2005
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after praying for
John Paul's intercession.
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Fifty two of the
first 55 popes have been
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declared saints by Rome.
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When the
Reformation began 500 years ago,
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Martin Luther began
speaking out against the papacy
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and its teachings.
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Now, even though there
have been some unsavory popes
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down through the years, some
who bought their way into power,
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some who sold indulgences,
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allowing people to
buy their way into heaven,
00:13:40.65\00:13:43.79
some criticized for
not doing more to speak out
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against the Holocaust, others
who were famously immoral,
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Martin Luther's beef wasn't
really with individual popes.
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Martin Luther and
other reformers had an issue
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with the papacy
as an institution.
00:13:59.27\00:14:03.51
Well, what would Luther
say about the papacy today,
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especially with
popular popes winning hearts
00:14:06.71\00:14:09.64
and making friends
all around the world?
00:14:09.68\00:14:13.45
Well, Martin Luther did
not believe that the papacy
00:14:13.48\00:14:15.92
was instituted by Jesus.
00:14:15.95\00:14:18.19
The Roman church teaches
that Peter was the first pope;
00:14:18.22\00:14:21.69
that the current pope
is the successor of Peter,
00:14:21.72\00:14:25.73
and that all popes
after Peter have the same
00:14:25.76\00:14:28.76
authority that Peter had.
00:14:28.80\00:14:30.77
This is something
called “apostolic succession.”
00:14:30.80\00:14:34.44
Luther knew that
there's nothing in the Bible
00:14:34.47\00:14:36.54
that suggests
Peter was ever a pope.
00:14:36.57\00:14:39.94
There's nothing that
suggests Peter's authority
00:14:39.97\00:14:42.11
was passed along to each
subsequent Bishop of Rome.
00:14:42.14\00:14:45.51
Luther knew Jesus
didn't ever appoint Peter
00:14:45.55\00:14:48.85
as the leader of the church.
00:14:48.88\00:14:51.09
In the Jerusalem Council
that you read about in Acts 15,
00:14:51.12\00:14:54.82
the authority figure
was James, not Peter.
00:14:54.86\00:14:58.96
If Peter was the Bishop of Rome,
00:14:58.99\00:15:00.86
it's unlikely he'd have
referred to Rome as Babylon
00:15:00.90\00:15:04.87
in 1 Peter 5:13: "The
church that is at Babylon,
00:15:04.90\00:15:09.94
elected together
with you, saluteth you;
00:15:09.97\00:15:12.94
and so doth Marcus my son."
00:15:12.97\00:15:15.84
In Old Testament times,
00:15:15.88\00:15:17.38
Babylon was the persecuting,
idolatrous city/state.
00:15:17.41\00:15:22.08
In the New
Testament book of Revelation,
00:15:22.12\00:15:24.45
written by John, a
contemporary of Peter,
00:15:24.49\00:15:27.86
Babylon represents Rome:
00:15:27.89\00:15:30.46
"And on her
forehead a name was written:
00:15:30.49\00:15:33.40
Mystery, Babylon the great,
the mother of harlots and of the
00:15:33.43\00:15:38.20
abominations of the
earth" (Revelation 17 verse 5).
00:15:38.23\00:15:42.44
Keep in mind: John is
referencing Rome here,
00:15:42.47\00:15:46.71
in an uncomplimentary way.
00:15:46.74\00:15:49.18
When John said
“Babylon,” his readers said,
00:15:49.21\00:15:53.05
“Yes, we know who you mean.
You're talking about Rome.”
00:15:53.08\00:15:56.85
So when Peter was
writing about Babylon,
00:15:59.29\00:16:01.82
he definitely was not bragging.
00:16:01.86\00:16:04.09
He wasn't saying that he was
the head of the Roman church.
00:16:04.13\00:16:08.06
Besides, Peter was married;
popes today don't marry.
00:16:08.10\00:16:12.07
Matthew 8 and verse 14
refers to Peter's mother in law.
00:16:12.10\00:16:15.64
Now, the counter to
that is when people say,
00:16:15.67\00:16:18.11
“Well, Peter's wife had died,
00:16:18.14\00:16:19.57
so when he was
involved in ministry,
00:16:19.61\00:16:21.01
he was no longer married.”
00:16:21.04\00:16:22.81
But the Bible
doesn't mention that.
00:16:22.84\00:16:24.15
That's conjecture
of the worst kind.
00:16:24.18\00:16:26.75
There's nothing in the
Bible to indicate that a priest,
00:16:26.78\00:16:29.08
or a pastor, or a minister,
or a pope, or a bishop,
00:16:29.12\00:16:31.29
or an archbishop, or a
cardinal, or anybody else
00:16:31.32\00:16:34.56
should not marry
and should be celibate.
00:16:34.59\00:16:36.36
Now, of course, if that's the
lifestyle that somebody chooses,
00:16:36.39\00:16:40.20
that's between them and God.
00:16:40.23\00:16:42.36
But there's nothing at all about
mandated celibacy in the Bible.
00:16:42.40\00:16:48.74
Five hundred years after
the beginning of the Reformation
00:16:48.77\00:16:51.81
in 1517, we have a church
declaring people to be saints,
00:16:51.84\00:16:58.11
dispensing God's
grace through sacraments,
00:16:58.15\00:17:02.02
claiming the
authority to forgive sin,
00:17:02.05\00:17:05.49
selling forgiveness for money,
00:17:05.52\00:17:08.42
and claiming church tradition
is as authoritative in matters
00:17:08.46\00:17:12.56
of faith as is the Bible.
00:17:12.59\00:17:14.86
Now, these were things
that Martin Luther opposed.
00:17:14.93\00:17:18.77
They sparked the Reformation.
00:17:18.80\00:17:21.30
But 500 years later, the
same conditions still exist.
00:17:21.34\00:17:26.47
What would
Martin Luther say today?
00:17:26.51\00:17:28.88
What should anyone say?
00:17:28.91\00:17:31.25
Now, didn't Jesus
build His church upon Peter?
00:17:31.28\00:17:36.28
Well, Martin
Luther didn't think so.
00:17:36.32\00:17:38.52
I'll tell you
why in just a moment.
00:17:38.55\00:17:40.89
¤[Music]¤
00:17:40.92\00:17:42.69
>>Announcer: In Matthew
4:4, the Word of God says:
00:17:42.72\00:17:45.13
It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:17:45.16\00:17:48.03
but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.
00:17:48.06\00:17:52.17
“Every Word” is a one-minute,
Bible-based daily devotional
00:17:52.20\00:17:55.40
presented by
Pastor John Bradshaw,
00:17:55.44\00:17:57.21
and designed especially
for busy people like you.
00:17:57.24\00:18:00.38
Look for Every Word
on selected networks,
00:18:00.41\00:18:03.14
or watch it online
every day on our website,
00:18:03.18\00:18:05.65
ItIsWritten.com
00:18:05.68\00:18:08.08
Receive a daily spiritual boost.
00:18:08.12\00:18:10.15
Watch “Every Word.”
You'll be glad you did.
00:18:10.19\00:18:12.59
Here's a sample.
00:18:12.62\00:18:16.12
¤[Theme music]¤
00:18:16.22\00:18:22.36
>>John: I about
fell off my chair.
00:18:22.40\00:18:24.10
I was watching a
nature documentary
00:18:24.13\00:18:25.67
when a man being interviewed
said these exact words.
00:18:25.70\00:18:28.94
He said,
00:18:28.97\00:18:30.21
“It says in the Bible, and
other writers have said it too,
00:18:30.24\00:18:33.38
the paradise is so
close that you can't see it.”
00:18:33.41\00:18:37.88
Now, that's an interesting
thought, except that,
00:18:37.91\00:18:40.22
you're right, it's
not in the Bible at all.
00:18:40.25\00:18:41.98
It's like that pop
song, “We Are the World,”
00:18:42.02\00:18:44.25
that contains a line that says,
“As God has shown us by turning
00:18:44.29\00:18:47.99
stones to bread,” except that
that's not in the Bible either.
00:18:48.02\00:18:51.23
Deuteronomy 4:2 says: You
shall not add to the word which
00:18:51.26\00:18:55.16
I command you, nor take from it,
00:18:55.20\00:18:56.90
that you may
keep the commandments
00:18:56.93\00:18:58.23
of the Lord your
God which I command you.
00:18:58.27\00:19:00.67
John says something very similar
in the Book of Revelation.
00:19:00.70\00:19:03.81
It's a good thing to quote the
Bible, but you want to be sure
00:19:03.84\00:19:06.78
it's really the
Bible that you're quoting.
00:19:06.81\00:19:09.91
I'm John Bradshaw
for It Is Written.
00:19:09.94\00:19:11.91
Let's live today by every word.
00:19:11.95\00:19:13.52
¤[Music]¤
00:19:13.55\00:19:27.03
Thanks for joining me
today on It Is Written.
00:19:27.10\00:19:30.30
¤[Music continues...]¤
00:19:30.33\00:19:32.13
Krakow, Poland, is home
to one of the most renowned
00:19:32.17\00:19:35.50
Christmas
markets in all of Europe.
00:19:35.54\00:19:38.77
The market is set up every
year in the old town square,
00:19:38.81\00:19:42.68
the largest medieval
square of any city in Europe.
00:19:42.71\00:19:46.82
There's plenty to eat,
00:19:46.85\00:19:48.32
plenty to drink,
00:19:48.35\00:19:50.19
plenty to look at.
00:19:50.22\00:19:51.79
¤[Music]¤
00:19:51.82\00:19:58.09
Karol Wojtyla was the Archbishop
of Krakow for 14 years before
00:19:58.13\00:20:02.23
becoming Pope
John Paul the Second.
00:20:02.26\00:20:04.83
He was the leader of the world's
one billion or so Catholics
00:20:04.87\00:20:08.20
for 27 years.
00:20:08.24\00:20:10.11
But did Jesus really
establish the papacy?
00:20:10.14\00:20:14.21
Was the church
founded upon Peter,
00:20:14.24\00:20:17.51
and was Peter
really the first pope?
00:20:17.55\00:20:21.35
In Matthew 16, the
disciples say to Jesus:
00:20:21.38\00:20:24.42
"Some say you're
John the Baptist,
00:20:24.45\00:20:26.49
Some say you're Elijah,
00:20:26.52\00:20:27.86
some say Jeremiah or
one of the prophets."
00:20:27.89\00:20:30.83
Jesus says, "Who
do you say that I am?"
00:20:30.86\00:20:34.20
And Peter says,
"You are the Christ,
00:20:34.20\00:20:37.70
the son of the
living God" thats verse 16.
00:20:37.73\00:20:41.30
So Jesus says to Peter:
Blessed are you, Simon Barjona:
00:20:41.34\00:20:47.18
for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you,
00:20:47.21\00:20:50.18
but my Father who is in heaven.
00:20:50.21\00:20:52.75
And Jesus then says in verse 18:
00:20:52.78\00:20:55.58
"And I also say to
you, that you are Peter,
00:20:55.62\00:20:59.19
and on this rock I
will build my church;
00:20:59.22\00:21:03.32
and the gates of Hades
shall not prevail against it."
00:21:03.36\00:21:07.66
Now, this is straightforward.
00:21:07.73\00:21:09.43
Jesus said, “You are Peter.”
00:21:09.46\00:21:12.67
In the Greek in which this
passage was originally written,
00:21:12.70\00:21:15.90
Jesus says, “You
are Petros.” “a stone.”
00:21:15.94\00:21:20.31
And then, referring to Himself,
00:21:20.34\00:21:21.98
Jesus said, “Upon this
rock; “Petra”, a large stone,
00:21:22.01\00:21:27.35
maybe a boulder even,
“I will build my church,
00:21:27.38\00:21:31.62
and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.”
00:21:31.65\00:21:35.52
Jesus didn't build His church
upon Peter, or upon any man.
00:21:35.56\00:21:40.43
He built the
church upon Himself.
00:21:40.46\00:21:42.56
Besides, the gates of
hell did prevail against Peter.
00:21:42.60\00:21:46.94
Peter denied Jesus three times.
00:21:46.97\00:21:49.50
Jesus was referring to Himself
when He referred to a “Rock.”
00:21:49.54\00:21:55.91
1 Corinthians 10, verse 4 says:
00:21:55.94\00:21:58.21
"The rock that followed them,
in the wilderness, was Christ.
00:21:58.25\00:22:02.72
Psalm 18, verse 2 says:
00:22:02.75\00:22:05.12
The Lord is my rock,
00:22:05.15\00:22:07.42
Psalm 89, verse 26, calls
God “the Rock of my salvation.”
00:22:07.46\00:22:12.73
Jesus called Himself
the “Chief Cornerstone”
00:22:12.76\00:22:16.80
in Matthew 21 and verse 42.
00:22:16.83\00:22:18.83
The church was built
upon Jesus, not Peter.
00:22:20.80\00:22:24.41
And that's no
disrespect to Peter.
00:22:24.44\00:22:26.24
He was a fine man.
00:22:26.27\00:22:27.54
He was a great man.
00:22:27.58\00:22:29.14
God worked miracles through him.
00:22:29.18\00:22:30.88
He preached at Pentecost.
00:22:30.91\00:22:33.08
He wrote two books of the Bible.
00:22:33.11\00:22:35.38
He was a great guy.
00:22:35.42\00:22:37.39
But he wasn't a pope,
and he wasn't the rock
00:22:37.42\00:22:40.26
upon which
Christ built the church.
00:22:40.29\00:22:42.46
Jesus was that Rock.
00:22:42.49\00:22:43.99
The church was
built upon Jesus himself.
00:22:44.03\00:22:46.96
A pope is said to be infallible
when he speaks “ex-cathedra,”
00:22:47.00\00:22:50.23
something that only
happens very occasionally.
00:22:50.27\00:22:53.37
Yet in Galatians 2
verse 11 Paul writes:
00:22:53.40\00:22:55.97
"Now when Peter
had come to Antioch,
00:22:56.00\00:22:58.17
I withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed."
00:22:58.21\00:23:01.38
Now, the passage would
make you think that Peter
00:23:01.41\00:23:04.21
had no more or less authority
than any of the other apostles.
00:23:04.25\00:23:09.02
There's nothing to suggest that
Peter ever possessed anything
00:23:09.05\00:23:12.82
like infallibility, ever.
00:23:12.85\00:23:16.56
The Reformation
began 500 years ago,
00:23:16.59\00:23:19.46
and even though since that
time men like Pope John Paul the
00:23:19.49\00:23:22.33
Second of Poland have done a lot
to make the papacy very popular,
00:23:22.36\00:23:26.23
around the world,
00:23:26.27\00:23:28.00
you'd have to
imagine that Martin Luther
00:23:28.04\00:23:30.41
would feel much the
same about the papacy today
00:23:30.44\00:23:34.54
as he did half a millennium ago.
00:23:34.58\00:23:36.95
Luther had major problems
with statements made by Rome,
00:23:36.98\00:23:40.25
statements such as this one
made by Pope Boniface in 1302.
00:23:40.28\00:23:46.05
Boniface wrote:
00:23:46.09\00:23:47.29
"Furthermore, we declare, we
proclaim, we define that it is
00:23:47.32\00:23:52.76
absolutely
necessary for salvation
00:23:52.79\00:23:55.53
that every human creature be
subject to the Roman Pontiff."
00:23:55.56\00:24:00.90
One thing that troubled Luther
in his day was that the church
00:24:00.94\00:24:03.64
exerted an enormous amount
of influence on the government,
00:24:03.67\00:24:07.48
taking a lot of positions
that are not found in the Bible.
00:24:07.51\00:24:11.41
Five hundred years later,
you still have the same thing.
00:24:11.45\00:24:15.48
Back then it was
reason to start a reformation.
00:24:15.52\00:24:19.45
So let me ask you
who you're building on.
00:24:21.96\00:24:25.09
Who does your faith rest upon?
00:24:25.13\00:24:27.40
In the parable, Jesus
spoke about a wise man who built
00:24:27.40\00:24:30.80
his house upon a rock.
00:24:30.83\00:24:33.57
When the rains came
and the floods came up
00:24:33.60\00:24:35.47
and the wind blew, the
house on the rock stood firm.
00:24:35.50\00:24:40.91
He also talked about another
house, built on the sand,
00:24:40.94\00:24:45.75
and when the same thing
happened, that house fell.
00:24:45.78\00:24:50.45
It wasn't built upon the rock.
00:24:50.49\00:24:55.39
In San Francisco there's
a luxury apartment building
00:24:55.42\00:24:58.09
called the Millennium Tower.
00:24:58.13\00:25:00.66
It's said to be one of
the ten best residential
00:25:00.70\00:25:03.26
buildings in the world.
00:25:03.30\00:25:05.10
It's 58 stories high.
00:25:05.13\00:25:07.27
But in the last few years
the building has sunk 16 inches.
00:25:07.30\00:25:12.67
Which isn't altogether alarming.
00:25:12.71\00:25:14.98
Buildings do settle.
00:25:15.01\00:25:17.08
But not only has it begun to
sink, it's also begun to tilt.
00:25:17.11\00:25:22.92
It's not the Leaning
Tower of Pisa by any means,
00:25:22.95\00:25:25.62
but it has a little
lean that's noticeable
00:25:25.65\00:25:27.89
if you're
living in the building.
00:25:27.92\00:25:29.89
So why is it sinking?
00:25:29.92\00:25:31.66
Well, there are
varying theories.
00:25:31.69\00:25:33.73
Some say it's because
of a tunnel built nearby
00:25:33.76\00:25:35.80
for a transit center.
00:25:35.83\00:25:38.07
But what we know is the
foundations of the building
00:25:38.10\00:25:41.64
go down 80 feet, into sand.
00:25:41.67\00:25:46.61
The rock is 200 feet or so down.
00:25:46.64\00:25:50.48
The building isn't
built upon the rock.
00:25:50.51\00:25:55.52
What's your faith built upon?
00:25:55.55\00:25:58.05
Jesus is the Rock of Scripture.
00:25:58.09\00:26:00.86
He's the Savior of the world.
00:26:00.89\00:26:03.02
He died on a cross
for the sins of the world,
00:26:03.06\00:26:06.96
and He did that for you.
00:26:07.00\00:26:10.20
Are you building
upon this Rock, Jesus?
00:26:10.23\00:26:13.87
Are you basing
your life on His word?
00:26:13.90\00:26:17.21
Are you taking time to
allow God's word to mold you,
00:26:17.24\00:26:20.78
to shape you,
00:26:20.81\00:26:22.38
to change you?
00:26:22.41\00:26:24.18
Are you allowing
God to transform you?
00:26:24.21\00:26:27.95
Jesus is coming back soon.
00:26:27.98\00:26:31.19
In that day we'll see
how important it is to build
00:26:31.22\00:26:33.49
upon Jesus, to
build upon His word,
00:26:33.52\00:26:37.73
and to lean your
life totally on Him.
00:26:37.76\00:26:40.96
Go deep into the prophecies
of the Book of Revelation
00:26:43.13\00:26:46.67
with this week's free offer.
00:26:46.70\00:26:48.40
It's called “The
Fall of Babylon.”
00:26:48.44\00:26:51.54
Now, here's how you can get it.
00:26:51.57\00:26:53.11
Visit us online at
www.itiswritten.com
00:26:53.14\00:26:57.85
or call us on 800-253-3000.
00:26:57.88\00:27:02.82
It's absolutely free,
00:27:02.85\00:27:04.15
and you will be
blessed by this resource,
00:27:04.19\00:27:06.32
which will grow your
understanding of God's word.
00:27:06.35\00:27:08.79
“The Fall of Babylon.”
00:27:08.82\00:27:09.76
Call 800-253-3000
00:27:09.79\00:27:12.49
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00:27:12.53\00:27:14.60
is a faith-based ministry.
00:27:14.63\00:27:16.63
And your support
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00:27:16.67\00:27:18.30
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00:27:18.33\00:27:22.37
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00:27:22.40\00:27:24.41
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00:27:27.41\00:27:29.98
Thank you for your
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00:27:30.01\00:27:32.61
Again, our toll-free
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00:27:32.65\00:27:37.89
And our web address is:
00:27:37.92\00:27:39.49
www.ItIsWritten.com
00:27:39.52\00:27:42.66
Our Father in heaven, we
are thankful today for Jesus,
00:27:44.73\00:27:46.86
the Rock.
00:27:46.90\00:27:48.50
The Rock of scripture,
the Rock of our salvation.
00:27:48.53\00:27:52.10
We thank you for your word,
00:27:52.13\00:27:53.17
which shines light on
our pathway, to lead us away
00:27:53.20\00:27:56.77
from darkness and fully
into your marvelous light.
00:27:56.81\00:28:01.21
Father in heaven, I
want to pray today that,
00:28:01.24\00:28:04.01
that we would
open our hearts to you,
00:28:04.05\00:28:06.51
that your Spirit
would take over our lives,
00:28:06.55\00:28:08.22
that we would seek
to follow and honor
00:28:08.25\00:28:10.79
and worship and obey Jesus, that
Jesus would be everything to us.
00:28:10.82\00:28:15.39
Friend, how is Jesus to you?
00:28:15.42\00:28:17.99
What are you
building your life on?
00:28:18.03\00:28:19.33
It might be a tradition.
00:28:19.36\00:28:21.46
It might be a teaching
that's not in the Bible.
00:28:21.50\00:28:23.33
It might be the
say-so of somebody else.
00:28:23.37\00:28:26.30
It might be
pleasure and self-seeking.
00:28:26.33\00:28:28.24
Perhaps you're
neglecting this Jesus the Rock.
00:28:28.27\00:28:31.57
Perhaps you're not
taking the Bible seriously.
00:28:31.61\00:28:33.81
Are you reading God's word?
00:28:33.84\00:28:36.88
Are you allowing it
to be your strength,
00:28:36.91\00:28:38.85
your source of
wisdom and guidance?
00:28:38.88\00:28:40.48
Friend, if it's time now for
you to surrender fully to Jesus,
00:28:40.52\00:28:44.35
do so, would you?
00:28:44.39\00:28:46.49
Lift up your heart to Jesus.
00:28:46.52\00:28:47.82
Raise your hand to Jesus.
00:28:47.86\00:28:49.09
Open up your life to Jesus.
00:28:49.12\00:28:51.73
Father in heaven, take
our hearts; make them yours.
00:28:51.76\00:28:55.73
Give us grace to allow your
Spirit to guide us and keep us.
00:28:55.76\00:29:00.64
And join us
inextricably to yourself.
00:29:00.67\00:29:05.24
We thank you, and
we pray in Jesus' name,
00:29:05.27\00:29:08.68
Amen.
00:29:08.71\00:29:11.21
Thanks for joining me today.
00:29:11.25\00:29:12.31
I'll look forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:29:12.35\00:29:14.82
Until then, remember:
00:29:14.85\00:29:16.55
“It is written,
00:29:16.58\00:29:18.75
man shall not
live by bread alone
00:29:18.79\00:29:21.72
but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.”
00:29:21.76\00:29:26.39
¤[Theme Music]¤
00:29:26.43\00:29:41.41