Unpopular (un-pope-ular?) truth

As I ponder, ponderously, what to write on the event of John Paul II's passing, I direct your attention to James White's blog. White is providing his essential function of saying the indispensible "Yeah, but --" and, as usual, is catching very Heck for it. Particularly worth a read are his interaction with a letter from a Roman Catholic, and his observations on Dr. Dobson's remarks embracing Roman Catholics as Christian brothers ("How to Remove the Gospel from the Center").

By stark contrast, we have Hugh Hewitt (who I enjoy greatly, listen to and blogread daily, and am forced to see as Biblically...um... how to say this...maybe not as well-schooled as he is in law?). With no apparent regard for Roman Catholic doctrine (to say nothing of the Bible), Hugh has pronounced it as a "lock" that the Pope is currently in Heaven, has been hosting festivals of adulation for the Pope, and has been dwelling approvingly on Roman Catholic mysticism and hagiolatry. The only callers I've heard him be dismissive of are whacko extremists (i.e. callers to Hugh's right), who dare not to share his boundless enthusiasm for this departed Pope and the Roman church -- an enthusiasm he maintains in spite of unspecified, but evidently nonessential "doctrinal differences."

And, no surprise, Christianity Today managed to find "a Lutheran theologian and religion editor for UPI" named Uwe Siemon-Netto, willing to give vent to the lavishly adoring essay, He Was My Pope, Too. In this almost unintelligible threnody, the hyphenated writer embraces the late JP2 as the spokesman for all Christian believers throughout the globe, and speaks of him as preaching the gospel tirelessly. (Any reader who can link me to any occasion in which the Pope preached the Biblical Gospel of salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone -- ever! -- please email me.)

NOTE: immediately after I posted this, I saw a misspelling in the title. But at that moment, Blogger.com chose to have an "issue" (Geekspeak for "brain-exploding problem"). Only now have I been able to edit this post. If you have a blog here, clear your www.blogger.com cookie and try again.

UPDATE: James White points out that musician Steve Camp has broken from the pack to write Waking Up in Perdition, a somber reflection from one who didn't set his Bible aside to be caught up in the popular well of sheer emotion. Another sobering and truthful note is sounded by Marcus Sheffield, who fears that The Protestant Reformation Is Dead.