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Protestantism, Modernism, Atheism
Crisis Magazine ^
| November 28, 2017
| Julia Meloni
Posted on 11/28/2017 12:09:34 PM PST by ebb tide
The reality of the apostasy of faith in our time rightly and profoundly frightens us, said Cardinal Burke in honor of Fatimas centenary.
In 1903, Pope St. Pius X declared himself terrified by humanitys self-destructive apostasy from God: For behold they that go far from Thee shall perish (Ps. 72:27). How much more daunting, said Cardinal Burke, is todays widespread apostasy.
In 1910, St. Pius X condemned the movement for a One-World Church without dogmas, hierarchy, or curb for the passionsa church which, under the pretext of freedom, would impose legalized cunning and force. How much more, said Cardinal Burke, do todays movements for a single government of the world and certain movements with the Church herself disregard sin and salvation?
In Pascendi, St. Pius X named the trajectory toward the annihilation of all religion: The first step
was taken by Protestantism; the second
by [the heresy of] Modernism; the next will plunge headlong into atheism.
So let us, said Cardinal Burke, heed Fatimas call for prayer, penance, and reparation. Let us be agents of the triumph of Marys Immaculate Heart.
A few weeks after that speech, the Vatican announced its shining tribute to the Protestant revolution: a golden stamp with Luther and Melanchthon at the foot of the cross, triumphantly supplanting the Blessed Virgin and St. John.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider has asked how the Vatican can call Luther a witness to the gospel when he called the Mass
a blasphemy and the papacy an invention of Satan. The signatories of the filial correction have expressed wonderment and sorrow at a statue of Luther in the Vaticanand documented the affinity between Luthers ideas on law, justification, and marriage and Pope Franciss statements.
At a 2016 joint commemoration of the Protestant revolution, Pope Francis expressed joy for its myriad gifts. He and pro-abortion Lutherans with female clergy jointly declared that what unites us is greater than what divides us. Together they raise[d] their voices against violence. They prayed for the conversion of those who exploit the earth. They declared the goal of receiving the Eucharist at one table to express their full unity.
In Martin Luther: An Ecumenical Perspective, Cardinal Kasper confirms that the excommunicated, apostate monk is now a common church father, a new St. Francis of Assisi. This prophet of the new evangelization was forced into calling the pope the Antichrist after his call for repentance was not heard. But Kasper finds ecumenical hope in Luthers statement that he would
kiss the feet of a pope who allows and acknowledges his gospel.
Kasper says Pope Franciss Evangelii Gaudium, without mentioning him by name, makes Luthers concerns stand in the center.
So its Luthers gospel of grace and mercy behind, apparently, the high disdain for self-absorbed promethean neopelagianis[ts] plagued by a soundness of doctrine thats narcissistic and authoritarian (EG 94).
So its Lutherthe bizarre protagonist of ecumenical unitybehind the demand for a conversion of the papacy that gives genuine doctrinal authority to episcopal conferences (EG 32). Sandro Magister says the pope is already creating a federation of national Churches endowed with extensive autonomy through liturgical decentralization.
So its Luther behind the demand to accept the unruly freedom of the word, which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our
ways of thinking (EG 22). Kasper says Luthers faith in the self-implementation of the word of God gave him a heroic openness to the future.
Ultimately, Kaspers Luthera prophet of openness to futurity, a Catholic reformer waiting for a sympathetic popeemerges as a symbolic father for Modernisms struggle to change the Church from within. Modernism falsely claims that God evolves with historymaking truth utterly mutable. So Kasper the Modernist says dogmas can be stupid and Church structures can spring from ideology and denying the Eucharist to adulterers because of one phrase from Christ is ideological, too.
Kasper baldly calls the changeless God an offense to man:
One must deny him for mans sake, because he claims for himself the dignity and honor that belong by right to man
.
We must resist this God
also for Gods sake. He is not the true God at all, but rather a wretched idol. For a God
who is not himself history is a finite God. If we call such a being God, then for the sake of the Absolute we must become absolute atheists. Such a God springs from a rigid worldview; he is the guarantor of the status quo and the enemy of the new.
A shocking ultimatum from the man hailed as the popes theologian: either embrace a mutable God whos not an enemy of the newor profess absolute, unflinching, hardcore atheism.
Kasper says the Church must be led by a spirit that is not primarily the third divine person. That ominous spirit, says Thomas Stark, is apparently some Hegelian agent of creations self-perfection. Pope Francis, against all the sourpusses (EG 85), describes our final cause as the utopian future (EG 222). Because God wants us to be happy in this world, its no longer possible to claim that religion
exists only to prepare souls for heaven (EG 182).
But Christ said, In the world you shall have distress (Jn. 16:33). The 1907 dystopian novel The Lord of the World hauntingly imagines the travails of historys last days, when humanity has heeded Kaspers call to resist God with absolute atheism if necessary. By this point, Protestantism is dead, for men recognize at last that a supernatural religion involves an absolute authority. Those with any supernatural belief left are Catholicpersecuted by a world professing no God but man, no priest but the politician.
More and more clergy apostatize. Man has learned his own divinity. Yet Fr. Percy Franklin still adores the Eucharistic Lord, still believes that the reconciling of a soul to God is greater than the reconciling of nations. He secretly hears a dying womans confession before the real prieststhe euthanizerscome.
Her daughter-in-law, Mabel, scoffs that the new atheism has perfected Catholicism:
Do you not understand that all which Jesus Christ promised has come true, though in another way? The reign of God has really begun; but we know now who God is. You said just now you wanted the forgiveness of Sins; well, you have that; we all have it, because there is no such thing as sin. There is only Crime.
And then Communion. You used to believe that that made you a partaker of God; well, we are all partakers of God, because we are all human beings.
Mabel and the rapt multitudes ritually worship Man. God was a hideous nightmare. Their spirits swoon before a politician promising the universal brotherhood of man.
That savior of the world is the Antichrist. All must deny God or die.
For history, like the novel itself, ends not with rapturous utopia but with tribulation, apostasy, martyrdoms, and Gods triumph over the revolt of evil [in] the form of the Last Judgment (CCC 677). In the throes of his own tribulation, Fr. Franklin calls us to cling to the faith and those refuges of old:
The mass, prayer, the rosary. These first and last. The world denies their power: it is on their power that Christians must throw all their weight.
TOPICS: Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: francischurch; oneworldchurch
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To: ealgeone
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
21
posted on
11/28/2017 2:34:48 PM PST
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
To: vladimir998
Learn from that. Sure vlad.
To: metmom
Youd think if God wanted us to understand all that stuff, hed have not inflicted multiple languages on us at the Tower of Babel.
He gave us the Holy Spirit to take care of that issue.
You’d think so, but there are many who will tell you the Holy Spirit isn’t a sufficient teacher. But then, that’s not very ecumenical.
23
posted on
11/28/2017 2:44:40 PM PST
by
sparklite2
(I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
To: metmom
And those aren’t suggestions either!
24
posted on
11/28/2017 2:44:41 PM PST
by
ealgeone
To: sparklite2
There is a belief among some in Roman Catholicism that you may or may not have the Holy Spirit in contradiction of Ephesians 1:13-14.
25
posted on
11/28/2017 2:55:32 PM PST
by
ealgeone
To: ebb tide
Do you take some particularly sardonic delight in trashing non-Catholic Christians that you have to post such filth?
How would you like an article titled “Catholicism, Catechism, and Child Abuse”? Are Protestants really to blame for atheism? Are evangelical Christians to blame for the heresies of churches to which they do not belong? Or, are perhaps, even the best Catholics responsible for the heinous crimes of a few of the clergymen of their Church?
I know what Catholicism is. What is “Protestantism?” Is it being a Protestant? Is it reserved for just some subset of Protestants? Personally, I think it is a term made up to malign anyone who disagrees with certain doctrines of the unrepentant and heretical church that long ago usurped the authority of the church of Rome and of the the whole world.
But I am tired of the never ending debates with Catholics who constantly preach purely Catholic heresy.
I will simply point out, after the author maligns Christians who reject Romish heresies, she proceeds to provide her ideas of a solution, which turns out to be Romish heresies.
Let’s note what is absent here: Jesus. Yes, Jesus is absent in the solution to the problems as espoused by Cardinal Burke and Julia Meloni.
Sure, Jesus is mentioned in passing. By name, only once, in a quote from one “Mabel” whom we will agree is heretical. Why is Marbel the only one speaking in the name of Jesus?
And, yes, Jesus is alluded to in a purely cynical way as the “Eucharistic Lord.” Apparently Jesus is addressed in this very non-Biblical way as to distinguish the Catholic Jesus from the Jesus of non-Catholic Christians. And indeed He is, but not in the way the author thinks.
And, yes, the term “Christ” is used as well. But only for a passing reference to attribute something He said to Him.
Why is this so significant?
Because this very anti-Protestant rant offers no Gospel of Jesus Christ as an answer to the supposed problems. In the place of the true Gospel is Marian “devotion.”
“So let us, said Cardinal Burke, heed Fatimas call for prayer, penance, and reparation. Let us be ‘agents’ of the triumph of Marys Immaculate Heart.”
Tag onto this message a call to the rosary, and a reminder of the supposed message of Fatima, as if there is any substance to this beyond what God already gave in His holy word.
Anti-evangelical Christian screeds seem to be the ONLY thing that certain Catholics can post on the religion forum. It’s all Pope this, Pope that, Mary this, Mary that, rosary this, ad infinitum. But oops, you missed something kind of important:
Jesus is Lord. Everything in the Bible is about Jesus. Not Mary. Not the Pope. Not the Catholic Church. Not even all or some particular Protestant Church.
My Bible says that people need Jesus. Atheists need Jesus. Protestants need Jesus. Catholics need Jesus. Being born into a particular religion, including a Catholic or Protestant Church, exempts anyone from needing to receive Jesus for salvation.
The message that is completely absent in this article is quite simply, the Gospel:
1. Jesus died for our sins,
2. according to the scriptures (substitutionary death prophesied).
3. He was buried.
4. He rose again,
5. according to the scriptures (resurrection prophesied).
6. He was seen alive by hundreds of witnesses (including ALL who ever had or will have apostolic authority).
7. God commands all men, everywhere to repent, and...
8. Believe the Gospel.
I will further point out that, like so many Romish doctrinal heresies, conferring a special title of “Immaculate Heart” exalts Mary rather than (and as opposed to) Jesus, who is Lord of all. His is the name above all other names. It is He who must increase while all others decrease. God alone is Holy, innately. Not Mary. Not Peter. No one but God is Holy. All others who are made holy are holy by virtue of God’s Holiness. Not vice versa. No one’s holiness is contingent upon the holiness of Mary. Her heart is only immaculate in the same sense that all who trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sins receive a new and clean heart. Any other gospel is a false gospel from the pit of hell. And I mean this in the nicest possible sense.
26
posted on
11/28/2017 2:56:18 PM PST
by
unlearner
(You will never come to know that which you do not know until you first know that you do not know it.)
To: unlearner
“Being born into a particular religion, including a Catholic or Protestant Church, exempts anyone from needing to receive Jesus for salvation.”
Should have read: Being born into a particular religion, including a Catholic or Protestant Church, exempts no one from needing to receive Jesus for salvation.
27
posted on
11/28/2017 2:59:48 PM PST
by
unlearner
(You will never come to know that which you do not know until you first know that you do not know it.)
To: ealgeone
Does saying one has the Holy Spirit suffice to prove one does? I wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to determine whether one is with the Holy Spirit or not. But blind acceptance seems to give is Jim Bakers and Robert Tiltons and Jimmy Swaggarts.
28
posted on
11/28/2017 3:04:17 PM PST
by
sparklite2
(I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
To: unlearner
29
posted on
11/28/2017 3:04:50 PM PST
by
ealgeone
To: sparklite2
You will know them by their fruits!
30
posted on
11/28/2017 3:05:29 PM PST
by
ealgeone
To: ealgeone
I know a lot of nonbelievers with good ‘fruits.’ The Holy Spirit is not uniquely necessary in that regard.
31
posted on
11/28/2017 3:07:58 PM PST
by
sparklite2
(I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
To: unlearner
To: sparklite2
Youd think so, but there are many who will tell you the Holy Spirit isnt a sufficient teacher. Not in the circles I run in. That is NOT a teaching I have heard from Evangelical Christianity.
I would conclude that the only ones who claim that are the ones who want to suck you into a cult where they are the sole repository of Truth, because they have special training or insight.
33
posted on
11/28/2017 3:31:08 PM PST
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
To: ebb tide
Oh lordy, here we go again on the wild n’ wacky tilt-a-whirl of psychotic Catholic Luther-bashing.
Whee!
To: unlearner; Alex Murphy; bkaycee; boatbums; CynicalBear; daniel1212; dragonblustar; Dutchboy88; ...
WHOA!!!!
PREACH IT, brother!!!
AMEN AND AMEN!!!!!!!!!!
35
posted on
11/28/2017 3:36:21 PM PST
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
To: aMorePerfectUnion
These verses establish that something doesn’t have to be in the Scriptures to be valid.
36
posted on
11/28/2017 3:36:23 PM PST
by
Mmmike
To: sparklite2; ealgeone
Does saying one has the Holy Spirit suffice to prove one does? I wouldnt want to be in the position of having to determine whether one is with the Holy Spirit or not. But blind acceptance seems to give is Jim Bakers and Robert Tiltons and Jimmy Swaggarts. By their fruits you will know them.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
37
posted on
11/28/2017 3:38:09 PM PST
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
To: Mmmike
These verses establish that something doesnt have to be in the Scriptures to be valid. It's not a matter of *being valid*.
It's a matter of being Truth. And those verses do NOT give people license to make stuff up years or centuries after the fact and pass it off as truth.
38
posted on
11/28/2017 3:42:09 PM PST
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
To: Mmmike
These verses establish that something doesn’t have to be in the Scriptures to be valid. None of these verses establish that something doesn't have to be in the Scriptures to be valid.
To: ealgeone
“Yes, but what’s not there is what nullifies it.”
No, actually nothing nullifies it.
“It only takes a little false teaching mixed in with Truth to render it useless.”
Hence, Protestantism is useless then - according to your logic.
“Sure sounds like a sinner’s prayer to me.”
I don’t think even you believe it does. I put it quotes for a reason, and it would be disingenuous for anyone t pretend those quote marks were not there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinner%27s_prayer
“Sure sounds like an altar call.”
But it wasn’t and isn’t. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altar_call
40
posted on
11/28/2017 3:54:11 PM PST
by
vladimir998
(Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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