Oh, sorry I got distracted. What did you say?
Posted on 02/11/2013 12:06:45 PM PST by Alex Murphy
“The entire College of Cardinals has been appointed by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, therefore it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the next pope will not reflect their collective interpretation of the council, which means in worldly terms, a conservative pope,” said R.R. Reno, editor of First Things magazine and professor of theology at Creighton University, in Omaha, Neb. “So the question is whether the College of Cardinals wants another ‘professor pope’ or do they want someone to kind of deal with the Vatican bureaucracy, or a diplomat?
“I’m not a handicapper and I couldn’t begin to speculate,” he said. “But the common wisdom is these things swing like a pendulum.”
William Hill, Britain's largest bookmaker, offered odds of 3/1 against for Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, who is 80 and was once the world's youngest bishop. Odds were set at 7/2 for Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Ghanian Cardinal Peter Turkson.
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power had the same trio as frontrunners, but made Ouellet the favorite. Britain's Ladbrokes had Turkson the leading contender.
Other possible successors include Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna and Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras.
Whomever is selected, Reno said, will have the initial task of providing a “strong, clear identity and purpose” internationally, particularly in Europe and throughout Latin America.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York is a “long shot” at best, Reno said.
“It’s not clear that the rest of the church would accept American hegemony,” he said, despite the fact that Dolan backs the pope’s conservative vision.
[SNIP]
When pressed for whom he thought was the leading candidate worldwide, Bretzke selected the 71-year-old Scola, who was appointed Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2011 after serving as Patriarch of Venice
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Perfect example of "Christ-lam." Make yourself the supreme arbiter of God's word, then attack those who dissent.....
Jesus never referred to that "pagan poet" as Scripture or quoted him by saying, "it is written...", did he? In the reference I gave you from James, Proverbs IS called "Scripture". So, whether or not it is "binding on anyone's salvation" or not, it is teaching from God and means something else it wouldn't be there.
Like I said to Mrs. Don-o, Proverbs is not binding on anyone's salvation. So, put what ever worth you want on the book. If you want to think of it as scripture, more power to ya. I like to read proverbs myself. Personally, I don't give it the same weight as I do the direct writings of the prophets.
It isn't a matter of what I want to think about it, but, if you care about knowing God, you would listen to what He says to you. The Bible is God's love letter to mankind and everything in it serves a purpose. I think you are making a huge mistake by saying you can choose to ignore certain Scriptures based on how you view them.
Let me ask you, did you go look up the cross references I gave you? Had you done so, you would see that there IS revelation in there that affects how you live your life, how you view God and what he wants for your life. For example, at the start of the book, Solomon says:
Proverbs 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young— let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance— for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Then in chapter 2:1-15, Solomon explains the purpose of what he is saying:
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
I don't know about you, but I take these words to heart and I believe them because they came FROM the Holy Spirit. Paul says all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. So, Proverbs, as Scripture, should be heeded no differently than any other Scripture. I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just trying to help you see why we have the Bible we do and how important God's word is in our lives. Proverbs talks about WISDOM and speaks WISDOM - from God, it's best to not depart from it.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding. (Prov. 3:13)
For whoso findeth me (wisdom) findeth life and shall obtain favor of the Lord. (Prov. 8:35)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Prov. 9:10)
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. (Prov. 30:5)
Not Catholic.
But, praying for “the Church”.
That's why I say we need to get MOTB's list of Scriptural books first. Evidently being found in the table of contents of your Bible isn't sufficient.
Because I prayed a short time ago he would, or better yet could, if need be, and it be no loss for His kingdom, but used for His holy purpose? A few months perhaps, then again more recently, both brief prayers rather small, no big deal, really... Not to be rid of the man, but to lift burdens from him. He has been becoming more stooped over here recently. I'm sure I'm not alone in having some compassion towards him for that.
That said, I have and had at the time, only small doubt I was not picking up (to my reference point or view) some long range signals, so to spoeak, possibly a leading of the Spirit. Like the spirit leading me towards what to pray for? I can tell you my own prayer in this was colored by gentleness, mercy & some grace. Not my usual around these parts, I will admit. The better to stand out from my own more typical interior narrative, too.
So not for any reason of a failing I imagine of the man do I recall praying "if this be of you, if this mercy & grace can be extended, then let this come to pass." Nor do I pretend to myself for one second that I am all alone in this. Have mercy.
I have no real idea what it may be, to be that man. One can read his writings, I suppose. That can help give sense of how the man thinks. Though I've not read all that much of his, I would most always be struck by some small aside included, some small thing about how something struck himself to be, and agree I was struck in much the same way by the small thought or item. Cynics have told me he was just manipulating, but I'd not have or get any whiff the man was saying any but what he truly felt (in those small instances).
Consider...or pretend if one must, that Mr. Ratzinger is acquainted with the Spirit of the Lord. No pope in a very long time has retired. Ratzinger will be able to devote himself to prayer and writing much to his own schedule. Hope he sticks around and lives many years.
The church may yet need him. Who in the church would not be influenced yet by the man? He could still continue. I hope and pray he is used prophetically, is led upon occasion to speak words the Lord's Spirit will inhabit, stirring those whom can hear, yes, this thing of the heart of the Lord towards us.
'Pray the Lord uses Him maybe? I mean...why not?
please take note. I'm no Roman...in fact I'm known to dispute many of the claims. if I was picking up on the spirit (if hearing rightly that is) from this distance, with my limited 'spiritual radio' skills (ongoing tuner problems, with periodic long stretches of bad signal/noise ratio), well then, it must have been a good signal at point of origin, huh? lol.
I said "you got pwned."
None believed seriously that a 78 year old shy small man like CArdinal RAtzinger would be made Pope.
None would have believed that a slavic bishop from a communist country would have been made pope in 1979
But it both happened -- due to the Holy Spirit working
So, expect a lot more speculation from the media and a lot more betting and expect the outcome to be unexpected.
whoa, I never thought of that. wonderful!
Some others, in fact the most shrill here, deny the Trinity and the divinity of Christ and have some of the craziest beliefs out there, like gap theory (that the earth was created twice and the old one was destroyed before Adam) to beliefs that aliens are genetically engineered robots controlled by fallen angels. These are not your day to day Protestants, they aren't Christians even, just hiding behind the term, so let's not include our good Lutheran, Anglican, Pentecostal, Methodist etc. brethren with these scum
He’s retiring from the office of Pope, but he will remain devoting himself to prayer and writing and teaching. If you read the Pope’s homilies and meditations on the Word, you would see that Pope Benedict’s greatest gift is teaching. He is moving back to that role
Vienna, Austria, Mar 11, 2010 / 08:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After media outlets misinterpreted an article by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn to say that he is questioning the Church's rule of priestly celibacy, several high ranking churchmen have spoken out in praise of celibacy as a gift. They also dismissed the idea that celibacy is connected to pedophilia.
I think you have a good point there, but it's an unusual way to define the word "Scripture." I suspect you'd have to explain your re-definition every time you use it. Which is OK if you want to do that. Bless you.
It's best to use the word "Scripture" the way most people use it, I think, beause it avoids almost inevitable misunderstanding, like, "Well, this is how I define Scripture."
The Psalms and Proverbs are, as you point out, most definitely a part of Scripture for all Christians and Jews that I'm aware of.
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