Posted on 01/13/2005 8:10:49 AM PST by Rutles4Ever
(AGI) - Vatican City, 12 Jan - The Pope commented today on the Apocalypse before the 7,000 people attending the General Papal Audience today in the Nervi Hall, indicating that the fight between good and evil, personified by Satan, is a very hard one, as shown by the manifold violence and injustice in the world today, however the outcome is certain, evil will be vanquished. Pope John Paul II explained, "God and the Lamb, Christ, surrounded by the 'Council of the Crown', are judging human history in good and evil, but showing us however the ultimate end in salvation and glory. The songs which are found in the Apocalypse and which serve to illustrate the issue of divine glory which regulates the flux, often disconcerting, of the tide of human events". Of great significance is the first part of the hymn intoned by the 24 ancients who seem to incarnate the chosen people in their two historic stages, the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Church. The Pope continued, Satan, the original adversary, who accused our brothers in the heavenly court, has now been cast down from heaven and therefore no longer has great power. He knows he has not much time left because history is about to see a radical turning point in freedom from evil and therefore he is reacting full of great fury. And then the resurrected Christ will rise up, whose blood is the principle of salvation and who received from the Father royal power over the entire universe, in Him are centred salvation, strength and the kingdom of our God. In his victory are associated the Christian martyrs who chose the path of the cross, not yielding to evil and it virulence, but delivering themselves to the Father and uniting themselves to the death of Christ by means of a testimony of donation and courage which brought them to give up life in order to die". He concluded, "the words of the Apocalypse regarding those who have vanquished Satan and evil through the blood of the Lamb, echo also in the splendid prayer attributed to the Christian martyr Simeon, from Seleucia-Ctesifonte in Persia, 'I will receive life without pain, worry, anguish, persecutor, persecuted, oppressor, oppressed, tyrant or victim, there I will see no threat of king, or terror of prefects, no-one will quote me in court or terrorise me and no-one will drag me or scare me". (AGI) . 121425 GEN 05
That's good because he has already lost. [ 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6 Luke 10:18; Isaiah 14:12 Rev.20:10]
Background: Everything God created was "good" - the angelic world did not have evil angels or demons at that time. [Genesis 1:31].
But sometime between the events of Genesis 1:31 and Gen. 3:1, we find that some of the angels had turned against God (sinned) and became evil. By that time, we find their leader, the "Adversary" [Satan], in the form of a serpent, successfully tempting Eve to sin, also. [Gen.3:1-5]
There is no great "struggle between good and evil", Satan can only do what The Almighty Supreme Sovereign Creator God gives him permission to do and nothing more. [Job 1:12; 2:6; Isa. 46:9-10; Mark 1:27]
Neither he, nor any of his demons, have any power over God's people to take them out of his hand. [Romans 8:31-39; Luke 10:17; James 4:7; Acts 8:7; 16:18; 1 Pet.5:8-9; 1 John 3:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:8; 2:16, etc.]
That's absurd. Where did I state the Apocalypse had no credibility before the Pope spoke of it?
The lack of credibility comes when people with bad hairdos get on T.V. and start picking dates and times for the Second Coming (think Jack van Impe), which is EXPLICITLY contrary to the very words of Christ Himself on the subject of the end times.
You make your comment with a lack of understanding of Catholicism and our approach toward Revelation. Revelation is not only historical, it's prophetic as well as it is a blueprint of the Catholic Mass - the letters to the churches (readings), the altar, the lanterns (candles), the priest in white, the angels singing "Hosanna", the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), and Victory over Satan (the Eucharist).
I am familiar with and have believed in the end time happenings for most of my life as I do the entire Word of God from the book of Genesis through the book of Revelation!
That really is wonderful. I wish more of my fellow Catholics understood scripture...
These are just a few of the guys who would heartily agree with that.
From primary sources:
Judges 17:10, the Ephraimite Micah asks a transient Levite, "Stay with me; be father and priest to me."
Later (Judges 18:19), a Danite war party persuades the same Levite to leave Micah, saying: "Come with us and be our father and priest." The Bible finds priesthood and fatherhood inseparably united.
St. Paul says he is the father of his Christian converts (1st Thess. 2:10-11).
Acts calls Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David fathers (4:25, 7:2, 8, 14).
Paul says Timothy is his son, and he (Paul) is Timothy's father (Philip. 2:22).
Every Catholic priest is ordained in Christ to say, "In Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel" (1st Cor. 4:15).
Any questions?
The Pope has Parkinsons and his prognosis is not very good. The Vatican has been contacting Parkinsons Research Centers looking to see if he a candidate for "Deep Brain Stimulation". However, given his age -- not Doctor in his right mind would operate on him.
Well, what are YOU waiting for?
Because children can't be accused of having an agenda. The same reason she won't appear before a Hollywood producer, a poltician, a CEO, or a televangelist.
By your logic, why wasn't Jesus Christ born in a castle? Why was He born to a poor carpenter and his wife in the backwater town of Nazareth? Any ideas?
The spectacle of a dead man boasting that he's dead is hilarious!
He sounds almost post-mill.
"This is an extraordinary theological statement made by the Pope. I don't recall the Pope ever invoking the Apocalypse so directly and with such detail.
As a Catholic, I can tell you that the Pope doesn't just opine on the Apocalypse to general audiences. I'm legitimately stunned - I don't go in for "end times" prognostications, but this is completely different. This reads like an encyclical, and we had all better sit up and take notice..."
-As a Roman Catholic with an Ivy League Divinity Degree, I agree completely. This quote made the hair on the back of my neck stand up...simply stunning.
AS IF? So this is your interpretation. From someone who knows less than ZERO about the Catholic faith (by evidence of your posts). Where does the Church command WORSHIP of the pope? Tick tock...tick tock...
Blasphemy and Heresy!!! MARY CANNOT SAVE YOU FROM ANYTHING.
She cooperated in Salvation by saying "yes" to Gabriel of her own free will. She also saved Jesus her infant Son from Herod by taking Him to Egypt. Christ came as a defenseless infant and RELIED on His Mother for nourishment, clothing, shelter, education, religious upbringing, and physical protection. So, unless you have some personal revelations to the contrary, it's obvious that God did not pick some slouch to be the Mother of His only Son. She is the holiest of God's creation, and could not be otherwise to carry the Saviour in her womb. I think it's funny how terrified "Bible" Christians are of this "handmaid" of the Lord...the woman who would put enmity between the serpent and her offspring...
Wedding at Cana: Why didn't Jesus just turn the water into wine without waiting for the intercession of His mother?
Hmmmm... Jesus makes a pretty strong statement about the importance of His mother when He deviates from the path He had planned and begins His ministry and march to the cross at that wedding, by revealing His miraculous powers to the world -- because the Blessed Mother asked him to.
But you probably already know that since you are a student of the Bible.
But but but but -- if MARY can't help me with her intercession, how in the world can YOU?
But boy them PREACHERS can bring you to salvation, can't they?
Oh my goodness - are you serious?
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:21-23)
Like shooting fish in a barrel. It's almost not fair.
The Church does not teach that works get you into heaven. The Church teaches that faith saves, not works - HOWEVER - without works, faith withers on the vine. I could copy and paste the entire book of James (OH NO - not the BOOK OF JAMES!), but that would probably put you into an apoplectic fit.
I guess if this "shoots this whole rosary crap right out the window," it pretty much throws out all prayer, devotion, Sunday services, altar calls, praise and worship, Kumbayah singalongs, etc...
The "problems" you list show one thing. You're claiming that it said things it didn't say, and you reveal that your beliefs are centered around a variation of a 160-year young doctrine called, "dispensationalism".
It's not surprising that you have such a viewpoint on eschatology - it's what has been pushed in mainstream churches all your life to the point that many people think it's "the gospel truth".
Amillennialism: A Word Direct From The Scriptures
The word amillennialism is not a word which you will find in the scriptures unless you know exactly what the word delineates. Then you will discover that (like the word trinity) though it's not a word actually written in scripture, it is clearly a word used to describe Biblical doctrine. Therefore, what the word represents is taken directly from the Word of God.
Everything which Reformed Amillennialism signifies is explicitly expressed on the pages of Holy Canon. And in this exposition, we will show this without ambiguity, and conclusively. What is today commonly called Amillennialism, is 'nothing more' than what the scriptures themselves plainly declare.
Including the truth that the prophesied kingdom, Messiah, rule, deliverance, peace, safety, government, temple building, righteousness, and reign of Christ, has come! And if this be true, then Amillennialism is simply the witness of scripture itself, and the testimony to it's fulfillment in Christ.
Silly rabbit. If you can't understand Ch. 6, you're among the disciples that walked away from Christ in Chapter 6:66... ah -- I believe this is also where JUDAS turned his heart against Christ - because he couldn't grasp the teaching of the Eucharist.
Please, please read the Old Testament and learn a thing or two about the Passover sacrifice, the blood of the Lamb, the necessity of a living sacrifice to God, the celebration of this sacrifice as fulfillment of the Old Law through the Holy Mass... It's all there. This is not by accident.
Read the Church Fathers (there's that "f-word" again) and discover what has been taught from day one - that the Holy Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Christ. It's there. It's in the public domain. It's not a secret except to those who refuse to do their due dilligence before proclaiming their "holier than thou" interpretation of God's will for mankind...
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