Pope Francis and the Pacifist Jesus

http://www.crisismagazine.com ^ | 12/13/2016 | Andrew Latham

[heterosupremacist]

In his recently released message for the 50th World Day of Peace, Pope Francis called on humanity to adopt nonviolence as a “style of politics for peace.” Continuing a tradition inaugurated in 1968, the Holy Father began his message by painting a picture of a “broken world” in which humanity finds itself “engaged in a horrifying world war fought piecemeal”—a world torn apart by wars, terrorism, crime, violence against women and children, abuse of migrants and victims of human trafficking and environmental devastation.

By way of a solution, the pope suggests a politics of nonviolence. Such a politics would begin with a purification of the heart, but would also entail the abolition of nuclear weapons, an ethic of fraternity and peaceful coexistence, a willingness to “face conflict head on” and resolve it, and a commitment to active peacebuilding at the local, national and international levels.

Like many of the Holy Father’s public statements, his message for the 50th World Day of Peace embodies what might most charitably be called “constructive ambiguity.” On the one hand, despite the efforts of an increasingly assertive Catholic pacifist movement to persuade him otherwise, Pope Francis said nothing in his message on the issue of Catholic Just War Theory.

He neither embraced nor condemned it, choosing to remain entirely silent on the topic. On the other hand, the Holy Father has clearly embraced two of the other main planks of the new pacifist platform: “Just peace” and “Gospel nonviolence.”

[heterosupremacist]

What do I mean by this? Well, let me begin by addressing the fatally flawed underlying assumptions first. The Gospel nonviolence argument, as reflected in the Holy Father’s call to adopt nonviolence as a style of politics, is premised on the belief that “Jesus himself offers a ‘manual’ for this strategy of peacemaking in the Sermon on the Mount.”

According to this perspective, which the theologian Karl Rahner famously called “Christology from below,” understanding Jesus and his teachings with respect to war and peace requires that we start not with Jesus the Christ, but with Jesus of Nazareth—a flesh-and-blood, historical human being confronting the evils of his time and place. Once one adopts this perspective, Rahner and some recent advocates of Gospel nonviolence argue, the Jesus that comes into view is a man who lived a life of heroic resistance to the “powers that be.”

[2ndDivisionVet]

He who hath no sword let him sell his cloak and buy one.

[HLPhat]

>>Pope Francis called on humanity to adopt nonviolence as a “style of politics for peace.”

Because pacified sheeple are more easily sheared and BBQd?

"The Jesuit [Communist] Reductions of Paraguay, one of the most singular and beautiful creations of Catholic missionary activity"

http://duckduckgo.com/?q=Paraguay+Reductions+Beautiful

Observe how the folks indoctrinated by Frankie's Jesuit bros in Paraguay were NEVER educated enough to actually run the farm - just enough to be pacified into submissive servitude for the benefit of the communist swine who were eating all the apples and drinking all the milk (and whiskey) in the centrally banked communal farm house.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pope+communist+crucifix&t=hs&iax=1&ia=images

 

NO SALE Comrade Frankie!

[dp0622]

abuse of migrants...

he must have meant abuse BY migrants

[SkyDancer]

Then of course there was that “acting out” in His Father’s house where he told those people to quietly leave.

[Paulie]

Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever. Jesus is God, correct?
Examine the Old Testament and take note of the way God operates. Not exactly a flower child of the 1960’s.

Matthew 10:34 (KJV)-

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”

This is why I often say that we serve a God that means business.

[beethovenfan]

Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”.

What say to that, Mr. Pope?

[Paulie]

I was addressing the article, not you specifically. Just so you know.

[x_plus_one]

Someone needs to drain the vatican swamp.

[shibumi]

[heterosupremacist]

I was addressing the article, not you specifically. Just so you know.

Understood. Have a Blessed Day. †

[Boogieman]

“11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.” Rev 19:11-16

He’s not going to be a “pacifist” when He comes back!

[circlecity]

"By way of a solution, the pope suggests a politics of nonviolence. Such a politics would begin with a purification of the heart, but would also entail the abolition of nuclear weapons, an ethic of fraternity and peaceful coexistence, a willingness to “face conflict head on” and resolve it, and a commitment to active peacebuilding at the local, national and international levels."

One BIG problem with this solution. If just one group refuses to abide by this then nobody can because you have to be able to defend yourself.

[heterosupremacist]

Re : Post #7 *Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”.* What say to that, Mr. Pope? I believe he would say that, "Jesus indeed did say that, but it is so difficult for laity to interpret, and only a Jesuit could possibly have the correct understanding of what Our Blessed Lord actually MEANT !!

[Roman_War_Criminal]

For those who think Jesus, Son of God, is a pacifist - please read the parable of the ten minas in Luke 19.

“But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.”

When he comes back to rule, every single soul that rejected Jesus throughout the ages will be mercilessly judged or killed if they remain alive.

This “Pope” is a fool!

[Jmouse007]

This guy is a communist, socialist loon who doesn't know his Bible. Jesus is not a "pacifist"; quite the contrary:

In Isaiah 37:*36 - 38; the pre-incarnate Christ, in the person of "The Angel of the Lord" personally killed 185,000 Assyrians in their sleep, in fulfillment of God's promise to deliver besieged Jerusalem from King Sennacherib and the entire Assyrian army (Isaiah 37:33 - 35).

In answer to the straw-man argument: "oh but that's the Old Testament":

The last time I checked, the New Testament in Revelation 19:11 - 21 clearly says The Lord Jesus Christ is going to personally kill and destroy ALL OF HIS ENEMIES AT HIS SECOND COMMING! To top it off, Zechariah 12:11 - 15 describes in explicit, gruesome detail EXACTLY HOW JESUS IS GOING TO KILL THEM, AND IT ISN'T PRETTY... but His Judgment is JUST! (See Revelation 6:9 - 11)

This so-called "pope" is nothing but a spiritually dead, communist, anti-Christ heretic. A clear case of "the blind leading the blind".

[stocksthatgoup]

So much for Coptic Christians.

[45Auto]

Yes. I have had discussions with Catholics about the right to self defense up to and including the use of lethal force. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

Section2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not."65

2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.66

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm.

[GreyFriar]

Hetro, I think that Msgr Charles Pope wrote an article about Jesus as being a strong man and NOT being a pacifist. Perhaps Salvation can confirm this and knows where it is at.

[heterosupremacist]

Re : Post#19

*Hetro, I think that Msgr Charles Pope wrote an article about Jesus as being a strong man and NOT being a pacifist. Perhaps Salvation can confirm this and knows where it is at.*

I remember(vaguely) reading what the Msgr. wrote, as well.

This may help you to find it.
http://frpope.com/audio/recordings.php free mp3 downloads