Posted on 12/31/2001 5:44:20 PM PST by victim soul
The person speaking in John 9:31 is, not Jesus Christ, and not one of his Apostles, but the man born blind trying to justify himself to the Pharisees.
If you want to set him up as a source of religious doctrine, I suppose you can, but I, as a Christian, prefer the message of Christ and his Apostles.
When you finish reading the posts and figure out that I have quoted plainly from the Word of God, get back to me and then we will discuss how even the verses you quoted do nothing to overthrow the verses I quoted!
Actually, the Pope made some comments (I believe in Threshold of Hope) to the effect that Buddhism was essentially atheistic.
The Buddhists were highly offended.
If you want to set him up as a source of religious doctrine, I suppose you can, but I, as a Christian, prefer the message of Christ and his Apostles.
Weird premise you have. I hope David is OK to use too.
Surely you're not going to argue over this point that has already been clarified in the previous posts.
You've quoted nothing to prove your claim that "God does not hear sinners". You have quoted nothing to prove either your implicit claim that you are not a sinner, or, if you admit that you are a sinner, that we should listen to what you say, despite your claim that God does not hear you.
I, not you, quoted plainly from the Word of God. You are the one who sets your false doctrine over and against Scripture.
Repent!
The weird premise I have is that not everyone who is quoted in the Bible is speaking the truth?!?! That's a "weird premise" to you???
When what someone says is backed up by Scripture, they are telling the truth. Again, this has already been discussed in the previous posts. You're confusing the usage of "sinner."
I don't "disagree" with a single jot or tittle in Holy Scripture.
However, I do have this "weird" idea that Scripture should be read according to both context and genre.
The context of Isaiah 1:15 refers to a specific time in Israel's history. To pluck than single verse out of the whole rebuke and make some sort of generic principle out of it is a misuse of Scripture. If you are speaking of a people who were led out of Egyptian slavery by the strong arm of the Lord, given the Law at Sinai, and who then abandoned themselves to every kind of disgusting idolatry, including burning their own children to death to satisfy pagan gods, okay. Otherwise, you can't just pretend that one verse applies to anyone you don't like.
As for the context of Psalm 66:18, I submit the next verse, v. 19, for your consideration:
But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Great. Then I'm telling the truth, because I'm backing up what I say with Scripture.
Or do you really mean, "When someone trashes Catholicism, and claims that they're backed up by Scripture, they're telling the truth." Because that's what you seem to be saying to me.
I'm kind of stunned that you're not smart enough to realize that just plucking a verse out of the Bible that you think backs up your point is not a right use of God's Word. You remind me of the confused nun who was telling her students that there was really no such thing as absolute truth ... "after all, as Jesus said, 'What is truth?'"
If you're not familiar with the passage, she was quoting, not Jesus, but Pontius Pilate.
It applies to unrepentant sinners. So, was the man lying in John 9:31?
Typical BS.
If you listened to the Pope as a whole, not taking individual things out of context, you would understand better his approach to evangelization.
Certainly, the various religious traditions contain and offer religious elements which come from God,85 and which are part of what "the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures, and religions."86 Indeed, some prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are occasions or pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted to be open to the action of God.87 One cannot attribute to these, however, a divine origin or an ex opere operato salvific efficacy, which is proper to the Christian sacraments.88 Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors (cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21), constitute an obstacle to salvation.89
22. With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-30.)90 This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism "characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another.'"91 If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.92 However, "all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged."93 One understands then that, following the Lord's command (cf. Mt 28:19-20) and as a requirement of her love for all people, the Church "proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19), men find the fullness of their religious life."94
In inter-religious dialogue as well, the mission ad gentes "today as always retains its full force and necessity."95 "Indeed, God 'desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim 2:4); that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary."96 Inter-religious dialogue, therefore, as part of her evangelizing mission, is just one of the actions of the Church in her mission ad gentes.97 Equality, which is a presupposition of inter-religious dialogue, refers to the equal personal dignity of the parties in dialogue, not to doctrinal content, nor even less to the position of Jesus Christ -- who is God himself made man -- in relation to the founders of the other religions. Indeed, the Church, guided by charity and respect for freedom,98 must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord, and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus, the certainty of the universal salvific will of God does not diminish, but rather increases the duty and urgency of the proclamation of salvation and of conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
The intention of the present Declaration, in reiterating and clarifying certain truths of the faith, has been to follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the faithful of Corinth: "I handed on to you as of first importance what I myself received" (1 Cor 15:3). Faced with certain problematic and even erroneous propositions, theological reflection is called to reconfirm the Church's faith and to give reasons for her hope in a way that is convincing and effective.
In treating the question of the true religion, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught: "We believe that this one true religion continues to exist in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus entrusted the task of spreading it among all people. Thus, he said to the Apostles: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' (Mt 28: 19-20). Especially in those things that concern God and his Church, all persons are required to seek the truth, and when they come to know it, to embrace it and hold fast to it."99
The revelation of Christ will continue to be "the true lodestar" 100 in history for all humanity: "The truth, which is Christ, imposes itself as an all-embracing authority."101 The Christian mystery, in fact, overcomes all barriers of time and space, and accomplishes the unity of the human family: "From their different locations and traditions all are called in Christ to share in the unity of the family of God's children... Jesus destroys the walls of division and creates unity in a new and unsurpassed way through our sharing in his mystery. This unity is so deep that the Church can say with Saint Paul: 'You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are saints and members of the household of God' (Eph 2:19)."102
The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience of June 16, 2000, granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with sure knowledge and by his apostolic authority, ratified and confirmed this Declaration, adopted in Plenary Session and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, August 6, 2000, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
How do you answer me on account of him asking all religions to come together and pray to The Almighty? Does that not sound proposterous?
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