Posted on 07/08/2014 11:57:45 AM PDT by Gamecock
Gamecock:
Well to be fair to Pope Francis, the entire quote is cited below:
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/gmg-26831//pag/4/
Frankly (no pun intended) I find the entire comment just as disturbing.
Why?
Scripture teaches no one is searching.
Gamecock:
Well, I am not sure I agree with your view about scripture saying nobody is searching. I think it does imply people were searching and actually exhorts humanity to do so. When Saint Paul talked to the Hellenist, he indicated they in their philosophy were actually searching for God for example in Acts 17: 27-28 “having determined allotted periods and boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us for..” [then Saint Paul quotes the Greek poet Epimenides].
In the OT there are plenty of calls for man to search/seek God, e.g., Deutoronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him, if you search after him with your heart and with your soul”
In Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently and find me”
Back to the NT, In Matthew 7:7-8 the well known “seek and you shall find” discourse, etc.
There are numerous other examples of the Scriptures exhorting for humanity to seek and search for God. So maybe the Protestant translations you read render these verses differently and avoid the use of the words search or seek to make the scriptures convey a Calvinist absolute double predestination theology. I honestly don’t know as I do not own any Protestant translated bibles, i.e. King James or NIV, etc.
So while the Pope may have been naïve or pastorally not prudent with this quote, I don’t think he was technically saying anything unorthodox or contradictory to the Sacred Scriptures. You substitute someone struggling with sexual temptation who is heterosexual, maybe drug or alcohol addiction, then I think this is not a discussion. The fact that the Pope was discussing those Catholics who struggle with homosexuality tendencies was what got it press.
This person needs to learn the difference between “eros” and “agape” love. Her focus is exclusively on “eros”, a word which never appears in the bible.
Do you often find yourself "remembering" things that didn't happen?
Nah. I’m not Roman Catholic!
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