Posted on 04/03/2019 11:39:25 AM PDT by McQ444
Well, I don’t think he worships Satan, I just think he is in terms of Doctrine not solid, he is not too bright and his tendency to shoot from the hip is problematic.
In summary as Popes go, he would rate among the lower decile at best, maybe worst 5% of all time.
The reality is the areas of the world most of these Protestants come from did not even know Christianity till centuries after the time of Christ.
Early Christianity was among Gentiles, a predominantly a Mediterranean European faith (Greeks and Italians), along with Arabs in the Middle East, Berber-Amazigh North Africans, Egyptians, and Ethiopians in sub-saharan Africa.
He is doing his best to prove that to be true.
The more that this pope speaks, the more that I’m glad that I’m not Roman Catholic. Thank God for Martin Luther!
I'm glad I'm not Catholic, he is an embarrassment.
Hey, Pope, if I was Jewish, could I convert them, or if I was Hindu, or Buddhist...would you let me convert them to Christianity?
From the jawbone of an ass.
I imagine he won’t tell Christians to not convert to Islam though...
I think you are correct but it is proof that the papacy is not worthy of the honor it is given. Those men are no more virtuous than any other and maybe less. The papacy is a fraud ad totally unnecessary to salvation and may be a detriment.
No the papacy is not a fraud. The fact that there are bad Popes does not negate the Papacy, in fact, I would argue, kingdoms have risen and fallen yet the Church of Rome and Bishop of Rome are still here. The fact that there is a continuity with the Bishop of Rome and the languages of Latin and Greek, which were 2 of the 3 languages that the words the King of the Jews was written on the Crucifix which Christ hung is itself incredible. Christianity is not a Gnostic religion, it is an Incarnational religion, a religion of the 2nd Person of the Trinity becoming Incarnate of the Virgin Mary. The CHurch as the Body of Christ makes present Christ and this just as Christ was A Divine Person with a fully Divine and human nature, the Church is both invisible (the communion of saints in heaven) an visible (faithful on earth). Hence, the Church and the Bishop of Rome connect down through space and time in direct continuity Christ, the Apostles, the early Popes to this day.
The fact that human sin and stupidity have not caused the downfall of the Church of Rome and by extension the Pope (Bishop of Rome) is IMO, only explainable by Divine Providence. The Faith delivered the Apostles, the faith of the early Church Fathers, the faith of the 4 great early Councils is still the faith today despite the stupidity and foolishness of Francis.
But Francis is not the first apostate pope. I wouldn’t trust a pope to speak with authority because he can do a lot of damage because people have been told to believe what he says. This guy is leading the gullible straight to hell.
Who are the apostate Popes? There were sinful Popes yes, but none have ever dogmatically defined a Heresy. Now as a Lutheran or Reformed, yes, I wouldn’t expect you to care about what the Pope says, that has been true since the 16th century. Ok, I got it.
I call a pope telling unsuspecting parishoners that they can get to heaven by paying an indulgence to be a heresy.
Well, Not sure that is what was said. You may interpret it that way but that was never the way Indulgences were done. There were abuses of them but Indulgences are only theologically valid done after the Sacrament of Confession. Indulgences would require some form of penance but yes there were priests asking for money to be donated to the Church as part of indulgences, and who knows what was being done.
Furthermore, Indulgences had nothing to do with heaven, Contrition in the Sacrament of Confession related to that. Indulgences related to temporal punishment. So lets say you lied about some persons character in serious mannner, i.e false witness, that person passes on and you can’t make amends in this life to restore his name. You confess the sin, thus it is forgiven but the temporal consequences of that sin remains with respect to that persons name and his family. Indulgences would be part of the penance that would be only connected to temporal punishments which if not remitted here, purgatory would be the cleansing fire that results. Now, I know you don’t accept Purgatory or indulgences but indulgences are related to temporary punishments remitted and purgatory, not buying your way into heaven. That is not a correct characterization.
So yes I know you reject both of them, but at least if you are going to talk about Catholic theology, lets first understand what it is and what it is not.
I read plenty about it and know that Catholics can be scared into paying indulgences believing they can earn their way to heaven. That is so sad because scriptures clearly say that salvation is a gift of God and there is nothing we need to do to earn it. Don’t make it hard. If you believe there is such a place as purgatory how does one get out? Your answer has to contain some kid of work but that is clearly unscriptural.
Luther’s 95 Theses
Agree
Gutenberg invented the printing press shortly before Luther so the Word spread.
You get out of purgatory when God’s Grace has perfected the Soul to be in the presence of God since nothing not in a perfect state of Grace can be in God’s presence in heaven.
I don’t know about paying indulgences, as I said, Indulgences are tied to penance, which has to follow the Sacrament of Confession. So and indulgence most be ex post Confession, not ex ante, for it to be valid.
I feel sorry for folks like you that cannot see that Christ took care of all your guilt on the cross. What can you possibly do to make Christ’s work complete? The Catholic Church ( and other churches that emphasize works) rob sinners of the confidence that Christ did it all for those who believe. It is a GIFT to those that believe. You are a doubter because you have been taugt that what Christ did is not enough. Read John 3:16 and believe.
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