Posted on 10/19/2014 9:38:43 PM PDT by detective
Pope Francis has closed an assembly of Catholic bishops that revealed deep divisions on how to respond to homosexuality and divorce, saying on Sunday the Church should not be afraid of change and new challenges.
Francis, who has said he wants a more merciful and less rigid Church, made his comments in a sermon to some 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square for the ceremonial closing of a two-week assembly, known as a synod.
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
Well, he doesn't say homosexuality is a new thing. He doesn't specify what these spiritually salutary new things may be.
And that's what's disturbing. The equivocation.
Could be, a "church" ordained "reverend" Al $harpton when he was 5 years old.
These people run a business not a church, not that there is anything wrong with running a business.
It is a Church Organization and pretty mainstream. Nice people, I attended school with some of their kids in Chile.
The Bible is certainly legititate, but so is Sacred Tradition, as St. Paul says. Yes, Scripture is profitable, equipping the man of God for every good work, and the book of John was written to help bring us to faith in Christ, but these passages do not equate to Luther's doctine of "the Bible as the sole or ultimate rule of faith."
Regardless, playing by Luther's rule, the Bible shows the saints in heaven offering the prayers of the saints on earth to God.
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.If the saints in heaven receive our prayers, then certainly Mary can, since she is the Queen of Heaven.
We know this because Jesus is the King of Heaven, and the King of the eternal, redeemed Davidic Kingdom.
The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
Historically, the Gebirah, Queen Mother, or the mother of the Davidic king, held an exalted position, sitting at the right hand of the king.
Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right hand.Since Jesus is the King of the eternal, redeemed Davidic Kingdom, Mary is the Queen Mother of this Kingdom.
This explains the image of Mary in the Book of Revelation.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman* clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars._____________She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.*
Consider also that the Jews pray for the dead to this day, as they did in Jesus' time.
_____________
This historical practice is recorded in 2 Macabbees, a book that motivated Luther to remove it from the canon.
OMG...you are ONE SICK PUPPY!!!! Jesus said to EAT HIS BODY and DRINK HIS BLOOD!!!! You must be a HEATHEN or a Jew??? You certainly are NOT a Christian talking like this!!! I’m guessing HEATHEN!!!
I am Catholic.
I never thought I would see the day when a living Pope issued such a transparent oxymoron!
By definition, God is all knowing, which includes the future.
So what's with this PC "new" things stuff?
This guy is tearing down the Church. What a juvenile statement! So God can be swayed by a sophisticated Madison Ave. advertisement. Right. Actually, I think Francis is a Marxist jerk. Bob
Yeah they were ordained according to the article...
http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/10/new_america_ordained_ministers_threatened_with_jail_unless_they_perform_same_sex_marriages.html
Yes, it’s true that sinfulness has always been man’s nature, but the Bible speaks of the decadence and immorality becoming even worse as we approach the end. We see that happening now.
Certainly you’re right that every generation has believed they were in the end times, but Scripture gives us evidence so that we can know.
Those other generations didn’t live to see the rebirth of Israel, nor the great increase in knowledge and “many people running to and fro.” In earlier times, most people didn’t stray far from the area in which they were born. Now, it’s no big deal to hop a plane to the other side of the world; many do it regularly.
Before, there was no technology available to enforce the mark of the beast worldwide. We have that ability now.
Read about the two witnesses in Revelation; the Bible says the whole world will see their dead bodies, which is only now possible with the worldwide TV news feeds we have.
Christians will turn away from the truth and toward false doctrine; also there will be a rise in occultism. Both are rampant.
There’s nothing arrogant in being able to read the word of God and understand the signs He gives us...I don’t know how you get that. I’m not bragging nor weeping about it; it is what it is. Besides, SOME generation will have to be the one, right?
Israel will not be destroyed. Scripture is clear about that.
You’re right, John had no words to describe the visions that were given to him, which is why they were given to him by the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is God-breathed, If we’re going to doubt that, we might as well toss it all away.
Freedomstar, I would suggest a study of Biblical prophecy, beginning with those in Daniel, which correctly predicted the rise of the four world empires.
Jerusalem has always been at the heart of the Bible, but Scripture talks about the massive world armies that will come against her during the last days, which are said by many Bible scholars to be those of Russia and China, among others.
You said it yourself...the world is headed off a cliff; we are headed for some major issues. And you’re right.
There’s no way to interpret those prophecies. There are many many many many different interpretations. The mark of the beast could as easily just be a tattoo, or a brand. Doesn’t have to be an RFID or bar code. John referred to the “whole world” however, the only world he had ever seen was the Middle East. Many of the events could take place in just the Middle East, some worldwide. Who really knows? We won’t know until the Tribulation begins. Then Revelation will become clear. But it is arrogant to think we are living in the end times, the Tribulation could start tomorrow. It could start a thousand years from now. Saying definitively that prophecy specifically meant “this event, or this event” doesn’t mean anything. Any certain opinion could be wrong because no one else has experienced John’s vision. Could be anytime.
I won’t be certain we are living in the end times until most people have a “mark” to buy and sell.
If you lived during WWII, you could draw parallels between Hitler and the anti-christ and say “this is it” , but you would have been wrong. 1918 you could have said, this is the plague from revelation. You would have been wrong. It’s a matter of perspective and no one can possibly know that we are even close. That’s what it is arrogant.
You are right though, that there are things that could be interpreted as signs, however it doesn’t mean that it’s the specific prophecy. That is why it is arrogant. “7 years” could have meant something completely different then what we think it does, men compiled the Bible. Every book isn’t even there. Why is that? Because men are fallible.
Many, many Bible scholars are in agreement as to what they mean. As for the mark of the beast, it doesn't matter whether it's a tattoo or a brand---it amounts to the same thing.
Just as Genesis clearly describes Noah's flood as a global event, Revelation lets us know that the prophecies and judgments are worldwide. The language is plain. Otherwise we are stuck with a bizarre hypothesis that God will only judge the Middle East, that Jesus will return only for the the people of that region. What happens to the rest of us---do we go off for an endless breakfast at the Waffle House? It just doesn't make sense.
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus...from Him to man, to prepare us for what's coming, to let us know, as He said, what we should be watching for. He didn't set out to trick us or mislead us...He wants us to be ready.
Again, your claim that it's arrogant to think these are the end times just makes no sense. I don't even know what you mean by that. Say, for the sake of argument, that these aren't the last days, that they're five thousand years in the future. Would the people who live in those days, and who read the Bible and who watch for the signs as Jesus told them to, be arrogant for doing so? I don't get that.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to say the world will end tomorrow. It could for all I know. But God's timetable is not ours. Almost all of the signs and prophecies have been fulfilled; I recently read an article about Billy Graham, how he is struggling to show people that fact, to let them know there's not much time left.
Still, the end could be five, ten, twenty, or fifty years ahead. Personally I think fifty years is too long, but that's just me.
You say no one else experienced John's vision. Well, no one else shared any Biblical prophets' experiences. Are they all meaningless? Should we disregard them all? Would you have to witness them all in order to believe?
You say no one can say we're close...yet many are, including Billy Graham, as I mentioned. And that is because they have studied the signs so that they can know what to look for. Jesus instructed us to do this. So how can it be arrogance if He told us to do it? Doesn't matter who was thought to be the AntiChrist in times past. What matters is, have the prophecies been fulfilled? Hitler died in 1945, before Israel became the Jewish homeland again. That was one of the major end time prophecies. Do you realize that the Jews are the only ancient people to have come back together in one country after thousands of years of being scattered to the winds?
Honestly, I don't know if there's any point in going on with you. You say that seven years could mean something else...the Bible was compiled by fallible men, etc. It seems, from what you say, that you don't believe in the inerrancy of Holy Scripture as inspired by God and written by man...seems you think it has little more value than any other book. If you can't even take 7 years to mean what it says, there's no point here.
You don't have to be afraid of the end times, you know...not if you have Jesus.
It is arrogant to say “we’re living in the end times”, how is that not arrogant? You can’t possibly know what John saw. You say that prophecy has been definitively fulfilled, but you cannot possibly know that. May be close, even look identical to someone from your point of view but are those events without a doubt what Revelation spoke of? Possibly, but John could have been referring to a completely different event.
So, Revelation is world events? Then if we are living in the end times, then billions should have died recently, I wouldn’t be able to buy food without some proof I am part of the “in crowd”, and there would be one man controlling the entire world. But I still hear we are living in the end times. That is inherently arrogant. The end times to me means “seven-year Tribulation”. Otherwise, you are just saying it’s coming. Well the end has been coming for thousands of years. Religious leaders in all of those years have warned that prophecies have been met, that the end is near. But here we are, tick tick ticking along.
You keep parroting the same thing over and over...”it’s arrogant, of course it’s arrogant.” Sorry, that’s nonsensical.
Your posts seem determined to try and discredit Biblical prophecy by painting it as meaningless & subjective. Again, Christians don’t need to be afraid of the end times.
When someone says it’s raining outside, do you tell them it’s arrogant to believe such a thing? Why, it could be snowing...or maybe the sun is shining, right? There’s no way on earth a person can KNOW it’s raining because that’s only one POV!
If you can’t be sure of anything the Bible says, if you read it and dismiss it out of hand, what’s the use of having it? Might as well toss it.
You refuse to address the fact that Jesus, in Scripture, instructed us to know the signs of the end times so that we could be prepared. How could He expect us to do that if the texts are meaningless, if there’s no way to know what they are saying? THINK.
Not going to repeat myself further; there’s no point in going around this circle with you.
I never said it was meaningless. But you’re just one of the “end is near” people. I get that, but there has been many of people like you every generation throughout human history.
Of course you did. You said just that, and more than once.
One generation will have to be the one, won’t it?
Israel was restored as a nation in 1948. Time to wake up, FreedomStar.
Good night to you, now.
Yes, I said the Bible was meaningless. Yep sure did. /s All you do is twist my words to fit your meaning. My point was that you cannot possibly know, just like millions in the past didn’t know, and WERE wrong, like you likely are (thus, ARROGANCE). “No man knows the day nor hour of my return”.
Well, let's see.
Going back over your posts, you:
Dismiss the Bible as written by fallible men, which is in direct contradiction to 1 Timothy 3:16-17, which says all Scripture is inspired by God, useful to teach us what is true, and God's way of preparing us. Yet you maintain that not even "seven years" means what it says.
Continue to scoff at the divinity of Scripture by claiming "the world" as spoken of in Revelation doesn't mean what it says; that John didn't know what he saw, and had no words to describe his visions. So much for holy inspiration! /s
Shrug off Revelation as being written long ago, so it could mean anything. So was the rest of the Bible. If it can mean anything, it means nothing. It's useless. But God-inspired Scripture says you are wrong.
Claim there's no way to interpret prophecy, which would be news indeed to Biblical scholars.
Say there's no way to know prophecy has been fulfilled. See above. Yet Revelation 19 says the essence of prophecy is a witness for Jesus. Who should I believe here...you, or the word of God?
Aagree that sinfulness is increasing, but deny it has anything to do with the end times---again, a complete contradiction of Scripture.
Claim Israel will be destroyed.
Dismiss me as "one of those" who think the end is near---which means you do the same to folks like Billy Graham. Ignoring my post #91, you maintain I'm claiming Jesus is coming back tomorrow.
Refuse to respond to the fact of Israel's rebirth, which is fulfillment of a key end-times prophecy. Oh, I forgot...we can't know that happened, right? /s
FreedomStar, your posts are very unusual. The kind of statements I've seen here from you are the same type of thing I used to hear from leftwing atheists in chat rooms, back when I use to frequent them. I'm not saying you're a leftwing atheist, but it's very strange to hear a Christian say such things.
The subject seems to upset you quite a bit.
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