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Thank you so very much for your encouragements, dearest sister in Christ!

I strongly agree with you that Pope Benedict is a world class philosopher. And I can see why you appreciate him so much.

I also perceive him to be quite conservative in his theology, but he should be read through the Catholic lens to be understood.

The odd thing is that Protestants are deeply concerned with End-times prophecy, while Catholics (for some strange reason) seem almost perfectly indifferent to it. They just don't seem to worry about the End-times much at all. They know there will be an End; the Pope references it in this encyclical. They just don't seem to exercise themselves too much about it. I can't explain the reason for this difference, but observe it is definitely there.

I suspect that if the Pope were to announce that the end times prophecies are being fulfilled right now, then all the Catholics would be on high alert.

Many Protestants and some Catholics are already on high alert because of what they see in the world v what they understand from Scripture. I share many of their views, but I am not concerned at all - instead I say:

Maranatha, Jesus!!!

Many Protestants and some Catholics are already on high alert because of what they see in the world v what they understand from Scripture. I share many of their views, but I am not concerned at all - instead I say:

Maranatha, Jesus!!!

Looks like a universal train wreck shaping up for sure, dearest sister in Christ. Yet like you, I'm not concerned, and will join you in declaring:

Maranatha, Jesus!!!

I strongly agree with you that Pope Benedict is a world class philosopher. And I can see why you appreciate him so much.

Thanks dearest sister in Christ! I've been an admirer of his since the early '90s, when I first became aware of him.

Oh, this is really off-topic in a way, but I wonder if you noticed how "Rosenian" some of Benedict's remarks were in Chapter 5. In particular, his emphasis of "relationality" and the idea of natural causation as involving a hierachical (rather than linear) system of entailments....