Posted on 04/17/2012 7:04:32 AM PDT by marshmallow
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his 85th birthday today with guests who treated him to Bavarian “oompah” music and folk dancing in the apostolic palace.
Earlier in the day, in an impromptu homily, the Pope had said: “I find myself on the last stretch of my journey in life, and I don’t know what is awaiting me.”
“I know, however, that the light of God exists, that he is risen, that his light is stronger than any darkness and that God’s goodness is stronger than any evil in this world, and this helps me go forward with certainty,” he said.
Later Bavarian bishops, minister-president of Bavaria Horst Seehofer and a 150-person regional government delegation visited the Pope in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.
They were accompanied by a small Bavarian band, three female singers and 10 children who danced the skirt-swirling, shoe-stomping, thigh-slapping “Schuhplattler” before the Pope.
The Pope’s 88-year-old brother, Msgr Georg Ratzinger, also attended the festivities as well as representatives from the Lutheran Church and the Jewish community in Bavaria.
The children, dressed in traditional costume, presented the Pope with white flowers and a maypole covered with colourful ribbons. They also recited a German birthday poem.
The delegation presented the Pope with gifts of a wooden crucifix sculpted by a well-known 18th-century Bavarian woodcarver, Ignaz Gunther, and a large Easter basket filled with traditional cakes, dark bread, ham and painted eggs.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicherald.co.uk ...
Unless he repents his idolatry he is headed for hell
Look it up.
The simple response is "says who?". Unless you can establish infallibility in your interpretation of the entire revealed Word, not simply cite carefully chosen versus pleasing to the Protestant eye, then you are expecting me to accept your own personal interpretations over the Magisterium of the Church whose human authors produced the Scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whom I consider to be infallible. No reasonable man would take you up on that since God does not ask us to believe anything that is counter to reason.
Do you honestly believe that Pope Benedict XVI, and all Catholics for that matter, are going to hell? Are you saying that those who say all one has to do is believe are wrong? Are they going to hell too? Isn't it possible, according to your theology, that Pope Benedict XVI is among the elect and that none of his "idolatry" has any consequence in his Salvation?
For the record, didn't you also argue that Mother Theresa is going to hell for not requiring deathbed conversions in exchange for love, compassion, food and comfort?
Someone posted earlier that they should beat you up for not reading beyond the title, but that they wouldn’t.
You deserve to be beaten heartily about the head and shoulders. Inability to gather and process information is the major reason we have today’s problems in the political arena.
As I am also “retired Army”, I hope you did a better job analyzing your mission orders than you did this article.
this is what Jesus said
Isn't Jesus pretty clear? you MUST have faith to be saved by the freely given grace of salvation, but however, it is not faith ALONE -- Christ HIMSELF says belief, repentance, baptism, Eucharist, enduring to the end etc.
Do you believe Jesus's words or not?
We are all (if we accept it) assured of the redemption of Christ, the act that saves us by the Grace of God.
Christ Himself tells us to repent, belief, be baptised, eat of His body and blood and endure to the end to be saved by Him. None of those by themselves save -- Christ is the one that does the saving, the salvic grace granted by His sacrifice is what saves us -- and He tells us that we should accept this by repentance, belief etc. --> those who just croon "Lord, Lord" will not be saved as He said
Remember Romans 11:22 "See then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off"
Through following His Words (repentance, belief, eating of His body etc.) Christ grants the assurance of His redemption
Not him, but those who detract. How hot is it for you there?
The cult outside the Apostolic Church believe that all Christians will go to hell. This cult trades in hate. The cultists are filled with the spite of the Devil, not the love of Christ. And it shows....
I re-read the article and stand by my position.
If you come up with a fact or argument, let me know. I won’t be reading this a third time.
I have taken the time to exegete the Thessalonian passage ... perhaps you could give your translation and exegesis of 1 John 5:13 and show me where I am wrong.
Another top ten passages that the RCC cannot exegete.
Btw, Lutherans and Orthodox and indeed most of the Christian world believe His words on this
if you read in the Bible, starting from John 6:30, we read
They asked Him for a sign, saying that Moses gave them manna in the desert. If Jesus (according to them) was aspiring to the level of Moses, He should do something as big as that.
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
And now the crowd is openly rebellious saying “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Note -- Jesus doesn't clear up the Metaphor, like he did in Matt. 16:5–12
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.So, Jesus DOES indicate when it is a metaphor and when it isn't.
6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?
9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
You cannot say that this was just bread and wine of that this is a metphor for coming and having faith in the Lord or some kind of metphor for believing in Christ because of the reaction of the Jews and the very language -- to eat one's flesh and drink the blood means to do violence on some one. You see it even in Hindi where a threat is "Mein tera Khoon pie jaongaa" or "I will drink your blood" -- and this is among vegetarians! To drink a persons blood means a serious threat of injury.So, if you believe that this was just a metphor, you mean to say that Christ is rewarding people for crucifying Him?!! That's nonsensical, sorry.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”...
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Even in the literal sense -- Christ says he is the gateway to heaven and the vine such that we get nourishment with him as the connecting path. But John 6 is much much more than mere symbolism as He categorically states that "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" (John 6:55).
Even at the end of John 6, Jesus rebukes those who think of what He has said as a metaphor by emphasising that
Jesus repeats the rebuke against just thinking in terms of human logic (Calvin's main problem) by saying
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life.
64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”
Just using human logic as Calvinist thought does, without God's blessings behind it fails in grace.John 6:63 does not refer to Jesus's statement of his own flesh, if you read in context but refers to using human logic instead of dwelling on God's words.
John 8:15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
and also 1 Cor 11:27-29
6 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
How clear can Paul get? "The bread IS a participation in the body of Christ" and "who eats the bread... will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord" This is not just mere bread and wine anymore. This is the body and blood of Christ.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
Isn't Jesus pretty clear? you MUST have faith to be saved by the freely given grace of salvation, but however, it is not faith ALONE -- Christ HIMSELF says belief, repentance, baptism, Eucharist, enduring to the end etc.
Do you believe Jesus's words or not?
How remarkable would it be for John 6 to introduce the concept you believe pertains to the Lords Table and yet fail to mention it being performed in the upper room discourse (John 13-17)!! John is the only gospel to not include the Lords Table! Sorry, it strains exegetical credibility beyond all hope to assume John 6 pertains to the Lords Table but John 13-17 doesn't mention it at all. And please, the "that's an argument from silence ... it doesn't count" is bogus. In this case the silence is thunderous.
I also noticed you skipped over verse 47, which makes my previous point again ... "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life." Present active verb form ... he HAS eternal life.
True, it falls on the background and that context is clearly in favor of the Eucharist --> the feeding of many from a small initial amount. We read this as a significance of how Christ's body can feed the multitudes of believers
How remarkable would it be for John 6 to introduce the concept you believe pertains to the Lords Table and yet fail to mention it being performed in the upper room discourse (John 13-17)!! John is the only gospel to not include the Lords Table -- irrelevant to the point. The Gospel of John was written after the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. There may be no need to describe a known blessing (and NOTE the didache, dating from AD 70, before the Gospel of John shows how this , the Eucharist was being followed) -- the ?In this case the silence is thundero is incorrect. There is no silence if a known historical fact is not repeated by the Gospel of John, which we KNOW focuses more on the deeper meaning behind the actions and deeds, hence the emphasis on the eating of His body
Verse 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ties in to Verse 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and verse 27 food that endures to eternal life and this is emphasised in Peter's response in verse 68 to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Jesus died on the cross to save us all from sin and the eternal separation from God that sin causes
the promise of eternal life is a gift, freely offered to us by God.
Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death Rom 5:12
| 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned |
| 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. |
| 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. |
| 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. |
| 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. |
| 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers |
| "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." |
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