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What If Pope Francis Isn’t Catholic? (A Protestant reflection)
The Gospel Coalition ^ | 03-20-2018 | Collin Hansen

Posted on 05/20/2018 12:47:05 PM PDT by NRx

In her Nobel Prize-winning book Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, Svetlana Alexievich interviews scores of Russians who lament the loss of the Soviet Empire, even as they recount its horrors in excruciating detail. The Soviet Empire may have been barbaric, but at least they were great! The world feared them! They had defeated Hitler! (No thanks to the British and Americans.)

Several unapologetic Soviets complain they lost their beloved empire without a shot. Why didn’t blood flow in the streets in her defense? They blame Mikhail Gorbachev. As one Soviet observes, the Communist system could withstand any challenge from below. It could suppress any revolution. Except one. What if the party’s leader was no longer a true believer? What if Gorbachev betrayed the cause from within the Kremlin, from the very top, where no one could stop him?

Ross Douthat ponders an analogous takeover within the Vatican in his new book, To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism. What if Pope Francis isn’t Catholic? What if he aims to overturn centuries of dogma? What if he plans to stack the College of Cardinals with liberal allies who will ensure his revolution can’t soon be reversed? What if he banishes his conservative critics to the church’s periphery? Who, then, will enforce the teaching on sexuality and marriage preserved against Western cultural trends by the late Pope John Paul II and self-titled Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI? Indeed, how can the vicar of Christ so confidently dismiss the words of Christ on marriage and adultery from the Gospels?

(Excerpt) Read more at thegospelcoalition.org ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Evangelical Christian; Theology
KEYWORDS: popefrancis
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To: boatbums

It’s a silly question at the title.......he’s a Jesuit Catholic with a staff in hand that follows the Global Agenda.


141 posted on 05/22/2018 2:41:35 PM PDT by caww
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To: ebb tide; Luircin

I see you still post things out of context. I guess dishonesty is a consistency with some Roman Catholics.


142 posted on 05/22/2018 2:54:57 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone; Luircin
Martin Luther: ‘A True Heretic’
143 posted on 05/22/2018 3:05:59 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide

Your. Denomination. Is. Falling. Apart. And you are acting like a modern day Luther.


144 posted on 05/22/2018 3:12:13 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: ebb tide; Luircin; ealgeone
The answer is, "No". And that's why I'm angry with both Bergoglio and his predecessors, your so-called "Reformers". Both have have changed the "moral truth". To quote the father and hero of the reformers, Martin Luther, "Be a sinner and sin boldly".

I would think you HAVE TO know by now that Luther never advocated for licentiousness - regardless of what his dishonest detractors might claim. If the best you can do is pull a few words out of context to prove your point, your point is, frankly, pointless as well as deceptive. On the other hand, your Pope came right out and said "Who am I to judge?" when asked about homosexual clergy and their relationship with Almighty God. Luther was MORE a defender of the Biblical moral truths than any of the Popes were during the Reformation. Much like today, the Vatican was a place of debauchery and immorality. Obviously, there is a drastic need for reform. Other than daily complaints and threads on an Internet forum, what are you and your co-complaintants doing about it?

145 posted on 05/22/2018 3:13:54 PM PDT by boatbums (The Law is a storm which wrecks your hopes of self-salvation, but washes you upon the Rock of Ages.)
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To: ebb tide

Dude, you SHOULD know as well as I do that in that statement, Luther was encouraging going to Confession and freely and openly admit that yes, you are a sinner.

You repeat proudly over and over how much you go to Confession, right?

Well, good for you, you’re JUST LIKE Dr. Luther.

http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2005/12/luther-be-sinner-and-let-your-sins-be.html


146 posted on 05/22/2018 3:37:59 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: ebb tide

Oh lay off ebb.

Considering the fact that you haven’t even read anything at ALL Luther other than doctored quotes from people who hate him, you are certainly no authority.


147 posted on 05/22/2018 3:40:57 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: Luircin; boatbums; ealgeone
The Facts about Luther


148 posted on 05/22/2018 3:58:48 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide

I repeat.

Considering you haven’t read anything at all from Luther other than doctored quotes from people who hate him, you’re no authority.

And your little propaganda links are laughable.


149 posted on 05/22/2018 4:00:21 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: ebb tide

I would give you some short quotes directly from what Luther actually taught people and ask you to tell me what’s so bad about them.

But quite frankly, I don’t think that you’d have the guts to risk that Martin Luther said anything that you might agree with.


150 posted on 05/22/2018 4:05:05 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: Luircin; boatbums; ealgeone
50 Reasons Why Martin Luther Was Excommunicated

Leo and Luther—The Real Story of the Pope and the Heretic

Martin Luther the Heretic!

151 posted on 05/22/2018 4:23:15 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: Luircin
You repeat proudly over and over how much you go to Confession, right?

No, I have never done so. Why do make stuff up?

152 posted on 05/22/2018 4:25:23 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide; ealgeone; boatbums

Tell you what; I’ll look at your links after you read what I post that Luther actually wrote and tell me what’s so wrong with it.

I’m sure that if the man is so evil, you’ll be able to point out where his teaching is in error, right?


153 posted on 05/22/2018 4:25:40 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: ebb tide

No, I have never done so. Why do make stuff up?

***

...so you’re telling me that you DON’T go to confession?


154 posted on 05/22/2018 4:26:06 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: ebb tide

Why do make stuff up?

***

Accusing another poster of lying is against the Religion Forum rules too; you really shouldn’t do that.


155 posted on 05/22/2018 4:27:38 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: Luircin

Don’t bother. I know more about Luther than I think you know about him.

That’s why I’m still a Catholic.


156 posted on 05/22/2018 4:27:46 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: Luircin

Don’t bother. I know more about Luther than I think you know about him.

That’s why I’m still a Catholic.


157 posted on 05/22/2018 4:30:00 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide; boatbums; ealgeone

Don’t bother. I know more about Luther than I think you know about him.

That’s why I’m still a Catholic.

***

Let the record show that ebb has refused to read even one sentence from Luther’s Small Catechism but demands that we read page after page of his propaganda.


158 posted on 05/22/2018 4:30:16 PM PDT by Luircin
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To: Luircin
Accusing another poster of lying is against the Religion Forum rules too; you really shouldn’t do that.

I never said you were lying. I merely asked why you claimed, "You repeat proudly over and over how much you go to Confession, right?" when I've never done so.

159 posted on 05/22/2018 4:33:05 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide; ealgeone; boatbums

I never said you were lying. I merely asked why you claimed, “You repeat proudly over and over how much you go to Confession, right?” when I’ve never done so.

***

Distinction without a difference.

But okay, I’ll believe you.

May the record show that ebb tide has stated that he does not go to Confession.


160 posted on 05/22/2018 4:34:24 PM PDT by Luircin
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