[The Lumster]

The real story is WHY the pope thinks Islam cannot be reformed.

Here is his quote

This basic difference, Pope Benedict continued, makes Islam unlike Christianity and Judaism. In the latter two religions, “God has worked through His creatures. And so, it is not just the word of God, it’s the word of Isaiah, not just the word of God, but the word of Mark. He’s used His human creatures, and inspired them to speak His word to the world.” Jews and Christians “can take what’s good” in their traditions and mold it. There is, in other words, “an inner logic to the Christian Bible, which permits it and requires it to be adapted and applied to new situations

Whereas the Bible is, for Benedict, the “word of God that comes through a human community,” he understands the Koran as “something dropped out of Heaven, which cannot be adapted or applied.” This immutability has vast consequences: it means “Islam is stuck. It’s stuck with a text that cannot be adapted.”

So the Pope thinks that the bible is adaptable and thus can (and must) be changed to mean whatever we want it to mean because it came through men but the Koran is a direct unchanging word from God even though it came through Mohammed.

Since I believe that the Bible is the unchanging word of God, I suppose that I too am stuck with a text that cannot be adapted

This is why true bible believeing Christians can never submit to the leadership of the pope.

We do not "adapt" God's word to suit our needs. We must adapt ourselves to the word.

By Faith Alone In Christ Alone!

[mojito]

Here is a link to an article in Chiesa that has the conversation that Hugh Hewitt had with Father Fessio.

http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=45084&eng=y

[heartwood]

When situations come up that never occurred in Biblical times, or were not explicitly addressed you have to take existing text, and apply it. It may not be an exact fit, hence the adaptation.

[mojito]

I believe that you are misunderstanding the Pope's comments: he does not believe that the word of God can be altered for expedient purposes. Rather he is making a distinction between a faith that is essentially totalitarian in it's conception of how men should live in society, and the Christian faith, in which men can chose freely how to govern themselves.

[The Shootist]

Since I believe that the Bible is the unchanging word of God, I suppose that I too am stuck with a text that cannot be adapted

If so, are you still "suffer(ing) not a witch to live"?

[Campion]

So the Pope thinks that the bible is adaptable and thus can (and must) be changed to mean whatever we want it to mean

That's not remotely close to what he means. He means that the Bible was given through humans to a human community to understand and apply to their situation, and to situations not directly described in the Bible.

but the Koran is a direct unchanging word from God even though it came through Mohammed.

Orthodox Muslims apparently don't believe that. They believe that the Koran prexisted all things in the mind of God, and was dictated to Mohammed by an angel, word-for-word. Mohammend simply acted as a scribe.

[Aquinasfan]

So the Pope thinks that the bible is adaptable and thus can (and must) be changed to mean whatever we want it to mean

He didn't say that. You're reading what you want to believe into his words. For example, you failed to highlight this line:

“an inner logic to the Christian Bible, which permits it and requires it to be adapted and applied to new situations"

This is why true bible believeing Christians can never submit to the leadership of the pope.

Which is why there are almost as many Protestant denominations as Protestants, since there exists no authority higher than the person interpreting (or misinterpreting) Scripture.

The misinterpretation of Scripture is exemplified by this statement...

By Faith Alone In Christ Alone!

...which contradicts Scripture

James 2:24

You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

[Nebr FAL owner]

I believe that the Pope was stating that in the muslim world view that the dictation by Mohammed (curses be upon him) are literally marching orders & anyone who thinks otherwise is an apostate/heretic subject to a throat cutting just for grins & gigles. Also the nasty habit of honor killings is a manifestation of this mindset.

[hershey]

The Pope said Islam is stuck on stupid. He's right.

[BubbaTheRocketScientist]

Since I believe that the Bible is the unchanging word of God, I suppose that I too am stuck with a text that cannot be adapted

In what language do you read the bible? If English, your text has already been adapted.

[Remole]

Dial it back just a little bit from 11, ok?

What the Pope is saying is pretty clear and is consistent with Christian and Jewish tradition: the Scriptures of Christianity and Judaism need to be interpreted and applied by means of reason in order to be made understandable and real at any stage in human history.

In both traditions, there is the view that one of the glories of the human person is the ability to reason, to see what needs to be seen in Scripture, to find the emphasis, etc. The Jewish tradition virtually places at its center the long tradition of Rabbinic discussion on the meaning of Bible texts and the laws that were handed down orally from Moses. And the Christian tradition has always seen that all of the Bible needs to be interpreted and applied (otherwise Christians would be stoning a whole lot of people every day), that the task of interpretation is to find the SENSE of Scripture, and that many passages contain more than one Sense.

The Pope is saying, in contrast, that if you believe that the sacred text is a dictation from the mouth of God, then of course the human mind can do nothing in the way of interpretation and application into life.

Thus, Islam does not have the intellectual and theological mechanism to even consider the possibility that some of the passages of the Koran should be read metaphorically or spiritually instead of literalistically.

[apro]

I don't follow what the Pope says and even I understood what he meant by his comments in this interview. I interpreted what he said as such: he is not saying that we do not follow the word of God but God gave us as human beings brains to use, to think and better ourselves, to evolve with time. My grandmother always had a little story she would tell which is similar to this way of thinking; A man was drowning and he looked up towards the Heavens and yells:

"Oh, God! Why don't you save me?!"

To which God responds:

"I gave you a brain to think; arms and legs that work. Move your arms and legs and swim to shore, you fool. Save yourself. Do expect me to do everything for you?"

In other words, yes God giveths but what you do with what God giveths can either save you or destroy you.