Posted on 04/13/2013 2:54:16 PM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic faith is not centered simply on a book -- the Bible -- but on Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, Pope Francis said.
"The sacred Scriptures are a written testimony to the divine Word," which came before the Bible and exceeds it, the pope said April 12 during a meeting with members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international body of scholars that advises the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Commission members met at the Vatican April 9-12 to conclude work on a document about inspiration and truth in the Bible, which is likely to be published in the coming months.
Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the doctrinal congregation and president of the commission, told the pope the aim was to help people interpret the Scriptures "in accordance with the nature" of the Bible itself. The focus on "inspiration," he said, was an attempt to explain the divine origin of the Bible and the focus on "truth" was an attempt to describe what the Bible says "about God and his plan for salvation."
The archbishop said the commission recognized that when the church describes the Scriptures as being divinely inspired and true certain "challenges come from the Bible itself," including when passages seem to contradict scientific or historical evidence.
Another challenge, he said, is posed by "the violence in some passages" that seems to contradict basic Christian teaching and even phrases the Bible attributes directly to Jesus.
The point of the document, he said, is to help Catholics "overcome both fundamentalism and skepticism."
Pope Francis said the themes of biblical inspiration and truth are important not only for individual believers, "but for the whole church because its life and mission are based on the Word of God, who animates theology and inspires all of Christian existence."
Interpreting the Bible in an honest and authentic way means respecting its nature and recognizing its purpose, the pope said.
"The texts inspired by God were entrusted to the community of believers, the church of Christ, to increase the faith and guide the life of charity," he said. It is only with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and with full respect for the tradition and teaching of the church that the Scriptures' true meaning can be understood.
He who is IN me is greater than He who is in the world.
Does it matter if you study but you do not obey? No. It is important to study, yes. But it is also important to obey the word of God. Just reading isn’t enough. Being intellecutally aware of God - isn’t enough. Obedience and submission to God is everything.
And yes - that means being obedient and submitting to his Apostles and to their authority. If you believe in yourself, what have you gained? Certainly not Christ.
You keep adding that word where it does not appear. “You must interpret the scriptures, yourself.” According to the gospel of SMVoice.
Then you look at scripture and Paul tells Timothy - to apply what he has learned - from the teachers of the law. None of us can stand alone. We stand with Christ and our brothers and sisters. What does it profit us, if we simply take what we are and put it in, rather than listen to what Christ himself is telling us? Nothing.
” . . ..not one pope ever erred in matters of faith or morals.”
I’m so very pleased for you, that you possess a standard by which you are able to determine that no pope ever has erred regarding such important matters.
You are richly blessed.
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you WILL PERFORM IT until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6.
One of my favorite scriptures :)
And just what is Christ telling you? I’m curious. Just what is “keep adding that word where it does not appear”?? Studying the Word of truth IS being obedient to God. At least that’s what HE said.
Excellent. And that is why it is important to understand the nature of the Bible (the word of God) and to read it.. these stories, commandments, parables start to all run together to give us this beautiful picture of God’s will for us.
Oh really?
The phrase "full of grace" in Greek is "plaras karitos" and it occurs in only two places in the New Testament.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:14).
"And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people," (Acts 6:8).
Neither one of those verses is about Mary. The verse that the RCC tries to make “full of grace” a deceitrul attempt to inject a meaning that is NOT there. Here’s the Greek interinear of that verse.
Kai eiselthōn pros autēn eipen Chaire kecharitōmenē
And having come to her said Greetings [you] favored one
Ho kyrios meta sou
The Lord [is] with you [http://interlinearbible.org/luke/1-28.htm]
In the King James Version
Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
The Catholic Church needs to stop with the deceit.
Read my tagline!
Only one of the non-catholics pinged in my post has responded with an example of how prayer is woven through her day. We have such a deep pool of rich devotional prayers, scripturally based and a plethora of books, some written by great theologians.
Was it not said that he would be first shall be last and he would be last shall be first? The fall of Lucifer was the result of his pride and Mary's blessings were the result of her unconditional service.
As written about in the The Mystical City of God by the Venerable Sister Mary of Jesus of Agreda (whose body is incorrupt after nearly 350 years) details how God tested the angels by revealing for the His plan for the future redemption of man. Lucifer, unable to accept that the Son of God would have the fully human nature of a lesser being and whose mother (Mary) would become the Queen of all angels rebelled and was cast down. God them promised that Mary would be the one to crush the serpent's head. Exorcists will tell you that it is Mary whom demons fear most.
The irony is that those who have accepted Satan's promise of being able to determine for themselves what is right and wrong, what is true and not true without dying are the same ones who share Satan's pride based rejection of Mary as the Theotokos and Queen of Heaven.
I have yet to have a Protestant provide me with a cogent definition of "rightly divided". Is the object of rightly divided, the word of truth, or the one doing the studying? I would appreciate your efforts to explain this to me. I will say that if you have to refer to a source other than Scripture or even multiple different translations of Scripture it is an admission that Scripture is not sufficiently self interpreting to supplant the teaching authority of the Church.
Peace be to you.
Matthew 6:7 - But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
That’s all I ever see from Catholics. That rote recital of repetitive words is somehow supposed to be prayer? How about going before the Father in Jesus name in your own words asking for His guidance and praising Him in your own words?
“The phrase “full of grace” in Greek is “plaras karitos” and it occurs in only two places in the New Testament.”
What then does kecharitomene mean?
“The Catholic Church needs to stop with the deceit.”
Charity - charitomene. Same root. ;) Are you saying that Charity has nothing to do with the spirit?
Clearly - “rightly divided” = whatever my conscience tells me is the case.
So tell me. Why do you have a problem with the Nicene Creed? Is it vain repetition too?
Telling me? He told me that there is just one Church, and not many. That he has just one Bride and not many.
Which verse are you referring to there? “rightly divided”?
Psst - you left out a word. ‘most highly favoured one’. ;)
The KJV uses the phrase in 2 Timothy 2:15. I see is as a very frequently used phrase explaining various and particular Sola Scriptura and Bible Only doctrines, but I have received many different explanations of what it means. It was used again here by SMVOICE. I just want a point of reference for how it is to be defined in the context of his/her comments.
Peace be to you
Ephesians, Chapter 2.
"Wherefore remember that ye being in TIME PAST Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands: That AT THAT TIME" (what time? TIME PAST)"ye were WITHOUT CHRIST, being ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, AND WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD:"(v. 11,12)
"BUT NOW in CHRIST JESUS ye who sometimes were far off are made NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST."(v.13).Why?
"That IN THE AGES TO COME he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward US through Christ Jesus."(v.7).
So right here, in one Chapter we have 3 divisions made by God. TIME PAST, BUT NOW, and AGES TO COME.
What brings TIME PAST into BUT NOW? THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. That means that everything BEFORE Christ's shed blood was TIME PAST. EVERYTHING BEFORE the CROSS was TIME PAST. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. TIME PAST. When, again, did BUT NOW begin and TIME PAST end? At the CROSS.
TIME PAST was TRUTH. BUT NOW IS TRUTH. THE AGES TO COME WILL BE TRUTH. But they are divided, by God, and His plan for mankind. To be studied rightly divided. Meaning, to get your doctrine for God's approval as a workman that needed not to be ashamed, where would you go now for instructions?: BUT NOW. If you are trying to get your instructions for righteousness from TIME PAST, you are following instructions for another group of people, before the Cross.
That's just one example.
Psst – you need to read scripture and stop putting Mary on a pedestal.
The words spoken to Mary were no different then were spoken to Jael in Judges. In fact, Jael was called blessed above women. Mary was called blessed among women.
Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Judges 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
Those words were also spoken of Noah, Moses, and David.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.