Posted on 02/25/2005 9:17:07 PM PST by Ryan Bailey
>> It could correctly be interpreted in good faith (or twisted by evil, whatever you feel most comfortable with) to mean P.Romanus will be the one to lead his flock to the slaughter. <<
Preposterous. Feeding a lamb has nothing to do with leading it to slaughter! If he had written "lead them amid," one could have taken him to mean, "lead them into." But as it was written, your assertion has nothing to do with what was written.
OK... what do we know:
(1)There will be many tribulations.
(2)Peter will feed his flock amid these tribulations.
Now, would a Catholic use the name of "Peter" to describe a wicked Pope? Not hardly: the Catholic tradition is that Peter was the first and greatest Pope. Further, there is an apparent reference to "Peter, feed my lambs." from the Resurrection narrative of the gospel of John, so Peter the Roman is likely doing the will of Christ by feeding his lambs. Lastly, the Catholic take on "feeding" the flock is a eucharistic take... in other words, Peter is offering them Jesus Christ, showing himself to be a true priest and no sort of apostate or heretic.
If there's one thing I may have presumed without sufficient grounding, nothing says the tribulations are the Church's and not Peter's. It just seems to me that with all the suffering various Popes have endured, it seems unlikely to me that -- given the end of the Church an all -- the suffering of a Pope would be so newsworthy.
>> According to the Hebrew bible which the Christian bible was derived, Satan was an angel that at the gates of heaven spoke up against a soul that wanted to enter heaven with all of that souls bad past deeds. <<
That is not in the bible. It is, however, a bit of context that Christians need to know. When Jesus said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand," to charges he must be a demon to command demons, he was refuting the dualism which the Jewish authorities were supposing, and which Christianity inherited.
"Diabolos," from which we get the word "Devil" means "accuser."
BUT while the diabolos argued against the salvation of Man, he is defeated by the "paraclete," or "advocate," who is man's defense attorney.
In short, the Judge will come to rule the world. The devil has argued that Man is not worthy of salvation, but the paraclete will argue that he should be saved anyway. Praise be to God that the Paraclete has triumphed over the devil!
>> The last pope COULD be Satan as he will lead the unrighteous from the gates of heaven. <<
"I am the good shepherd," -- Jesus.
"Peter, tend my sheep," -- Jesus, appointing Peter to be Pope
"Simon [Peter], you are Rock, and upon the Rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not withstand it." -- Jesus, defining the duties of the Pope.
"Peter the Roman, who shall feed the flock amid tribulations" -- St. Malachy.
Hard to figure that the role of the Pope would be to lead the flock (the faithful Christians) away from Heaven.
>> It is in the ORIGINAL old testament books BEFORE the Torah was written. <<
Are you referring to the Talmud, which was, indeed, written long after TaNaKh (Jewish bible)? Or some apocryphal works? (In which case, you are wron to refer to them as being a Hebrew bible, or in the Old Testament)
>> This is what the Christians envision as hell, with Peter The Roman (sah - tun) tending the straying flock. <<
I provided those quotes to demonstrate that Peter could not be tending the straying flock, but rather it must refer to the faithful when it says "flock." (Also, by definition, strays have left the flock. They are not a flock onto themselves, so the use of the word, "flock" would be wierd.)
>> If I'm not mistaken ins't Gabriel the Arch angel suppose to be our advocate? <<
I think I might have heard something along those lines among Muslims who deny that the Holy Spirit is the paraclete and also deny that Jesus is the Son of God.
You're not Muslim, are you? I know the Muslims believe that the Jews and Christians misrepresent the true scriptures. Is that what you mean by the ORIGINAL old testament... some sort of Muslim notion of what was in the old testament before the Jews supposedly changed it?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Do my postings sadden you?
I only get involved in this issue because I am concerned the effects on the faith if it is widely believed that a future Pope will be an anti-Christ.
I should make clear my motives: I put little stock in the prophecies (although I'll admit I find myself wondering if a new Pope will have anything tie to something that could get him called "Glory of the olives." That Cardinal Martini was once very papabile breaks me up!) But I believe it is effective to dhow that there is no such prophecy as people believe.
I believe that the list of popes contains an error. My theory is that John Paul I was only pope for a month, so Malachy's list didn't include him.
Consider this; the designation of John Paul II as "De Medietate Lanae" (Of the Half Moon) would make a lot of sense, since he was pope during the rise of Islamic power and conflict between Christianity (US) and Islam (Iraq/Iran). The symbol of Islam is a crescent moon.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5b02c77a-a431-11d9-9778-00000e2511c8.html
There is talk that the next pope could come from Africa or Latin America. FT.com article linked above says that some the papal candidates have connections to the Latin American church's utopian Marxist movement in the 70's and 80's. "De Medietate Lunae" -- (The Toil of the Sun) would be a fitting name for a pope from an equatorial region with ties to socialist/labor movements.
To Ryan Bailey the Mason, I'm so sorry I just can't even entertain the thought of listening to what you have to say about this subject. You of all people can't connect as to why we, as Catholics, look for undersanding in the writings of St. Malachy. Your thinking and comments are being used as a poleax in the midst of a Christian debate/discussion. Saddly, This is just a dirty little hobby for you....
Spartan 73
I think all these pope's connections to the prophecies are too vague to be considered solid.
Well, I am impressed you used the correct terminology, that a bishop is consecrated. (a priest is ordained) Is that terminology used among episcopalians too?
Actually you can make a stronger case for the Pope being the False Prophet of Revelations than that of the Anti-Christ.
John Paul II born on a day of the eclipse and will be buried on the day of an eclipse (April 8th). Meanwhile eathquake warnings being sounded all over the place thru the weekend. Stay tuned.
So do you want to also ignore the fact JP was buried at the time of an eclipse also? I think you need to reread other areas beside the liberal reading section at the local library.
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