Filed under: "Wow, I Had No Idea" and "Didn't See That One Coming"
-----
This just in from MSNBC...The Pope is a Romanist. Keeping things a buzz in the blogosphere, and goading believers in Jesus Christ from every background, the Pope has come out, once again, saying that Christian churches not connected to Him are not true churches of Jesus Christ (with the exception of the Orthodox folks, so that's good news for them).
So, anything new here? No. The Pope's just doing his job being [Roman] catholic.
The article also reports that,
Father Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the document did not alter the commitment for ecumenical dialogue, but aimed to assert Catholic identity in those talks.
“The Church is not backtracking on ecumenical commitment,” Di Noia told Vatican radio.
The dictionary defines 'ecumenical' as "promoting or relating to unity among the world's Christian churches." So either we need to change the definition, or to quote Inigo Montoya, "I don't think that word means what you think it means" because if he means that he is committed to unity among all Roman churches, well, good for him, but that's a textbook case of stating the obvious. Ho-hum.
4 comments:
Ah John, don't pick on the Pope!
He is just saying what they've been saying since the beginning.(circa AD 33)
Papa Benedict...just towing the line.
In the meantime, what do you make of the recent workings in the ecumenical world as respects to massive amounts of conservative Anglicans moving towards Rome and the inching closer toward unity with the Eastern Orthodox? Say what you want but this Pope is doing a lot towards bring Christians towards ecclesiastical unity.
My good friend Sean,
I'm not picking on the pope, just pointing out the obvious.
My take on your question is that the recent move of Anglicans towards Rome has more to do with Anglicanism rotting from the center since they've caved and punted the ball, and not b/c the Pope is doing a lot. I could be wrong, but that's how I see it.
The point of my post was that (1) the pope is simply towing the lie; (2) many of his followers don't know what 'ecumenical' means, since, given Rome's definition of the Church, he can only unite Romanists and possibly Orthodox. Everyone else is outside the pale .
I still think the pope could do a lot to move the church forward, but that would entail (1) cleaning up a ton of mistakes historically [e.g., excommunicating folks like Luther and sainting heretics like Alphonsus Liguori]; (2) reforming key points of doctrine that remain the dividing line b/t Rome & others.
BTW, I'm an equal opportunity picker-oner. Evangelicals, Reformed types, and Romanists all do and say silly stuff. I'm perhaps Exhibit A. And that's why I need the Lord Jesus.
G&P,
John
John...who married me to my covenant wife 4 years ago...the one who is carrying our second child who we will name Mary (ha...don't think what you're thinking! Its also a family name!)
I think it all boils down to how one defines 'church.'
Don't hold your breath for the Pope to reverse Trent...that won't happen. But I do think that a fresh look at the Reformation, Trent and the 'way things were' in Luther's day would show that the Catholics aren't saying what everybody thinks they were saying and the Reformers weren't quite saying what the Catholics thought they were saying and yada yada...
Surely you don't think that the rampent disunity in Christiandome is a good thing?
I remember that wonderful day when God gave you your beautiful bride. You certainly have much to be thankful about!!!
I think there was a lot of misunderstanding in the days of the Reformation--on both sides of the issue. I also think in the heat of everything going on at the time and with the rampant corruption and power plays (most of my RC friends readily admit this much), Rome inadvertently backed herself into a corner that she didn't need to go into, and we're living with the results ever since.
No, I don't think the rampant disunity is a good thing. It pains me and is a frequent subject of my prayers. But I also think that Rome is every bit as much responsible for the fracture of Christianity into a thousand pieces as the Reformers, some of whom, at least at the beginning, wanted to reform and purify the church.
I'm just not convinced that Rome / the Pope is going to reunify everything by pointing fingers of blame at other Christian 'communities' while continuing to ignore her own culpability in the whole thing.
That's how I see.
I hope to see you all when we are back in TX!
Give Steph a hug for us.
Post a Comment