Posted on 07/20/2007 8:52:53 AM PDT by Between the Lines
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Instead of taking offense at a recent Vatican statement reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, evangelicals should seize the chance to respond with equal candor that “any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church,” according to a prominent Southern Baptist leader.
The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote on his blog that he appreciated the document’s clarity in voicing a key distinction between Catholics and Protestants over papal authority.
He said those differences are often forgotten “in this era of confusion and theological laxity.”
“We should together realize and admit that this is an issue worthy of division,” Mohler wrote.
“The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church. Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church.
“This is not a theological game for children, it is the honest recognition of the importance of the question.”
This month, the Vatican released a document restating the contention that the Roman Catholicism is the one, true path to salvation. Other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches, the document said, restating the views of a 2000 document.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict XVI headed before becoming pope, said it issued the new document because some contemporary theological interpretations of the Second Vatican Council’s ecumenical intent had been “erroneous or ambiguous” and had prompted confusion and doubt.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Judge for yourselves, gentlemen, is it a shame for a woman to have her head shaved?
There is a huge difference between sexual sin and not covering the head. Tell me about women with alopecia due to disease or women who are undergoing chemotherapy.
I was circumcised by Christ, not with hands or any other physical member, either.
May the Lord bless you, Brother, but don’t bind where it’s not a matter of salvation.
there is no difference between saying scripture is wrong for trivial things or sexual things. none at all.
denial of scripture is denial of the Word (CHRIST).
comely (attractive) not shameful. but that is what you get with the ebonics bible.
why don’t we ask the GREEKS on that one and not english speakers looking at ONE word of 300.
wait all the greek churches still cover their heads. hmm.
wait all the archaeological drawings and art of women in church depicts them with covered heads. hm.
oh wait until the 1900s and feminism the holy spirit never relayed the truth that st paul lied my bad.
As a good friend said to me recently, “Oy!”
Unfortunately, he misses the issue of hyper-denominationalism.
Pope Joseph Ratzinger is a serious hyperdenominationalist.
Fortunately, such thinking is clearly wrong. Hyper-denominationalists think they're either the only who've arrived or the only ones who "really" are right. Obviously, that makes everyone else somewhat less than acceptable. The hyper-denominationalism of the pope sees anything different from him as, at its very best, "dhimmi Christianity" to borrow a word from Islam. "Dhimmi's" are those who are tolerated, but who really are 2nd or 3rd class citizens.
Everything in the New Testament, though, testifies to the reality (and acceptability) of different approaches to following Jesus.
From the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation to the Pauline and Petrine letters to churches, to the churches depicted in the Book of Acts, to the very words of Jesus Himself, we realize that the bible teaches that different approaches will be taken and that those folks are still FULLY Children of God, too.
In the Gospel of Luke, we read these words of Jesus. Luke 9:49 "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." 50 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."
Also, very few European men are circumcised, unless for medical reasons. Women are never circumcised. A common response upon hearing of such traditions is one of disgust and incomprehension. Most Europeans will, in fact, say that the custom is cruel and violent.
European countries have evolved in a liberal direction. Abortion is a right that has existed for decades in most countries, same sex marriages are performed, divorce rates are as high as 50 per cent, people living together and having children outside marriage is common and the number of single parent families is high.
I've been blessed to be born in a time when I can access multiple translations of the Bible as well as the original Greek of Paul's letters and grew up in a culture that studied the Bible for its meaning. The word translated as "comely" means "proper." Other verses in 1 Corinthians 11 use the word for shameful, to bring down shame.
What a shame for us to dispute these words, to judge our Father's children, to not strive to show the world that we are one in Him, as Christ is One in Him, to show that He sent His Son. Is this the discussion we want to show to the unbeliever?
Let's preach Him and only Him, as one for a witness to the atheists and weaker brothers.
So, if she is uncovered, shave her head. But since her long hair is her "cover" then she is never uncovered...except when her hair is shaved (probably as punishment).
Personally, I think the good apostle probably had one too many when he was writing this one...as he seesm to jump from one topic to another.
Amen. The weakest in intellect among us isn’t prevented from salvation because he can’t read the Greek or understand the esoteric points of theology. The most brilliant and educated isn’t saved by what he knows, beyond knowing that God sent His Son, Jesus.
The simplest answer is that we must all come to Him “as a child,” and that “whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but has life ever lasting.” Jesus didn’t die for us to cover our heads or understand doctrine. He died so that we could become one with Him in God, so that we could be reconciled to God, by God.
There are those who interpret those verses to mean that a woman is not “covered” unless she has long hair - so if a woman has her hair bobbed short, she might as well shave it off, as she no longer is covered in the glory God gave ehr...
Are you sure that all the hyper-demonationalists are wrong?
-A8
As one who has placed his trust in the words of the Lord, I’m sure that Jesus was right.
He said, “those not against us are for us.”
So, yes. They are wrong about their exclusive hold on the Kingdom of God.
-A8
Why doesn't he just say so? Maybe he had a page quota to meet.
All kidding aside, that sounds like a reasonable interpretation. The next steps is to shear all soccer moms and feminists in church!
At best, he sees us as dhimmis.
My sense is that when one puts together this document, +Dominus Iesus, eucharistic theology, and hyper-denominationalism (and perhaps his new Catholic fundamentalism), that deep down he thinks we’re not even Christian.
That's just plain false. And if you knew Catholic doctrine better, you would know that your accusation is false.
I don't understand your position, because you are accusing the Pope of seeing Protestant theologies as defective. But don't you think that Catholic doctrine is defective? So how are you any better than the Pope (on this issue)? In other words, why is it wrong for him to think that Protestant theologies are defective, but not wrong for you think that Catholic doctrine is defective? It seems like you have a double standard.
-A8
Your zo write.
How could you? Once the bail out from the one true Church started in 1517, you've all subdivided into a gazillion (mostly little) groups.
Kind of hard to be "exclusive" when you're busy multiplying.
Oh, I know! And you'd never find Protestant kings . . . uh . . . beheading people so that they could marry wife number 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or . . . how many wives was it that got Protestantism started in England?
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