Catholics should be Christians, not Martians.
| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 09/27/2014 9:10:14 AM PDT by Religion Moderator, reason:
Godwin’s Law |
Posted on 09/11/2014 11:19:06 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
Pope Francis has been a breath of fresh air for many Catholics seeking greater liberty and a growing concern for conservative Christians who take issue with his comments about homosexuality and other cultural issues.
But the pontiff's latest statement is sparking an uproar from believers around the world. Pope Francis sent a tweet Tuesday that absolutely violates the truth of Scripture:
"The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan," Pope Francis tweeted.
As of the time I wrote this column it had been retweeted about 4,000 times and many of the responses were in appropriately unkind. It's not appropriate to attack the pope for his beliefs. It's more appropriate to share the truth...
I’m no orphan. I have a Holy Father. (And He’s in heaven, not Rome.)
The Pope is Catholic? Who’da thunkit?
in what way?
“Poor, sorrowful Mary. “
Mary has no sorrow at all! She is in heaven rejoicing, not weeping.
The “behold your mother” argument that Mary is everybody’s mother:
Jesus, as the first male child, was responsible to take of his mother in her old age. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen. Jesus, knowing what would happen to his brothers (or, half-brothers or step-brothers), knew none of them would be able to take care of his mother in her old age either. So, he passed the responsibility onto a friend, his beloved disciple John.
If there is a deeper meaning than this, it is that we should view all the old women and old men of the church as our parents in the sense that we should take of them in their old age. The New Testament draws some parameters about this in terms of when people are to be self-responsible, when they are to be taken care of by their family, and when they are to be taken care of by the church.
As to what Pope Francis means could be almost anything. There is his misspeaking in Italian (a foreign language to him) and his need for what he says to be cleaned up by people at the Vatican. Then there is the misreporting of what he says by the liberal media. Possibly, he does mean to disrespect our actual mothers the way he disrespects those who work. He seems to love the poor who do nothing but wait to be taken care of. Those whom God has cursed by making them able-bodied and willing to work are to work selflessly so that the truly worthy aren’t degraded by working among the thorns. And as for honoring those who go through the pain of childbirth, why should he? What was God thinking to kick us out of the garden and force us to be so degraded by work and childbirth?
Calling Mary “Theotokos” does not deify Mary at all.
You are not accurately describing what it means.
In fact if you understood what it means, I bet that YOU even believe she is the Theotokos. For trinitarian Christians it is an uncontroversial fact.
What does Theotokos mean? Theotokos means GOD-BEARER.
It simply means that Mary had Jesus in her womb, and gave birth to Jesus — and that Jesus was God. It DOES NOT mean that God originated from Mary — God was uncreated and existed for all time.
So when you say Theotokos is deifying Mary, that is completely false.
Do you believe Jesus is God? Do you believe Mary had Jesus in her womb and gave birth to her? Do you believe God existed at all times? Then you believe the same.
Yes.
And people actually follow this idiot...
You then have no Father since without Mary, you'd be an orphan...
No, he passed the responsibility on to his spiritual brother, whom Jesus placed above blood siblings and parents...
“The commentary on this thread alone brings Mary much sorrow. “
This sounds like mind-reading, since Scripture never says anything about Mary after the upper room days. From what we know of heaven, there are no more tears, no more sorrow, no more grieving. I’m sure she is quite happy there and not reading FR threads, great site though it is...
And Scripture doesn't say that every religious truth is contained in Scripture, or that Scripture the sole rule of faith.
“And Scripture doesn’t say that every religious truth is contained in Scripture, or that Scripture the sole rule of faith”
I don’t know a single person who believes either of those items. Perhaps you do?
First, God has revealed authoritatively what He wants us to know.
Second, that revelation is His Holy Word, which is the ultimate or final source of knowing truth. Every teaching is to be judged by what He said. Every tradition is to be judged by what He laid out. Every doctrine is to be grounded in what He revealed.
best.
Catholics should be Christians, not Martians.
Yup, and defend him, too.
I am no orphan.
God is my Father and Jesus is my older brother.
And my mother?
Galatians 4:22-26 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Heh, I guess Paul didn't get the memo from the Catholic church or the pope that (supposedly) Mary is our mother.
Hey Alex, as you well know, Mary is a redeemed sinner.
Just like the rest of us.
Thanks for your posts.
It's just another Catholic talking point that is mindlessly repeated whenever a Catholic wants to justify the church ignoring Scripture and adding tradition.
There's no interest in learning the truth because they've been told it often enough and yet still persist in mindlessly repeating their Catholic talking points.
metmom,
I think it is human nature to idealize what we believe and to characterize what others believe that is in opposition. So nothing unusual. It’s how we are as people.
We can rise above this temptation by seeking truth, wherever it takes us. But if you outsource your mind to Rome or anywhere else, your pursuit of truth dies in the crib.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.