So The Catholic Church Elected A New Pope…
Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope and has changed his name (as is with tradition) to Benedict XVI. This of course has some major implications for what is to come… but my post won’t go into too much detail… rather… I want to quote from an article I found on Catholicism.org (a Catholic site mind you):
Referring to a believing Jew, Cardinal Ratzinger clarified that “we are in agreement that a Jew, and this is true for believers of other religions, does not need to know or acknowledge Christ as the Son of God in order to be saved, if there are insurmountable impediments, of which he is not blameworthy, to preclude it. However, the fact that the Son of God entered history, made himself part of history, and is present as a reality in history, affects everyone.”
The German Cardinal continued “I think it is important to explain that Christ did not go away to heaven, but has remained in history.” Because of this, “we can say that the hidden and real presence of Christ in history affects us all, even those who are opposed or cannot encounter Christ. This is a reality that transforms history; it is something important for others, without violating their conscience.”
I guess I’m not shocked… I had heard this quote when it was first made… But I just want to point out that this guy they elected as pope firmly believes that you don’t need to accept Christ as your Savior to go to heaven. As long as you believe in God in general… whether that be buddah, allah, vishnu… whatever… Then you’re good.
For being a pope, you’d think he’d know the Bible to SOME degree… like John 14:6 where Jesus clearly stated, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I don’t know where in that sentence there is room to say that you don’t have to accept Jesus as Savior… Maybe it’s just because I’m not sitting on a balcony with millions of people worshipping the ground I walk on…. But I think that somewhere along the line the Catholic church has forgotten a few things… Such as humility…. an uncompromised truth in the Scriptures… and the knowledge that the pope is a human being who shouldn’t be able to write-in his own way of salvation.
::sigh:: It really saddens me to know that so many people don’t know the Savior we as Christians know. God is NOT a far away being to be prayed to in hopes that our words may fall on his distant ears…. God is very real. Jesus is very real.
My personal relationship with Christ is the most treasured thing in my life (Yes even above my wife). To know that I can talk to the creator of the universe and to know that He loves me more than I can understand or comprehend… is an amazing feeling. To know that I’m going to Heaven for eternity by no work of my own… but by accepting the gift he has offerred… is the ultimate security. And to know that no matter how many times I fail… No matter how much I sin… God forgives me and Christ has died for my sins… is an unbelieveable relief. It is by no work of my own that I am worthy… For I am far far far below “worthy” of knowing God. Yet He loves us.
I couldn’t begin to explain how this has changed my life.
16 Comments
Please don’t judge all Catholics based on something ONE said. The Pope isn’t someone picked by all Catholics, he is chosen by a small number of people who do not represent or reflect the views held by all Catholics. Yes, he is our representative, but that does not mean that we all agree with the things he says and does.
Makes me wonder if we’re getting any closer to the Anti-Christ described in Revelations
Yes, it is sad that so many fall to this belief that “it doesn’t matter what you believe.” But we know the truth, and all we can do is pray that others can see that truth through us.
And LauraBelle… agreed. Just as the president doesn’t reflect the views of the entire US, the Pope doesn’t reflect the views of all who consider themselves Catholic.
I’m not intending to judge all Catholics here… Most of my family are practicing Catholics. I am merely talking about the headship of the Catholic church… The Pope, the Bishops, Cardinals… etc… The doctrine which they create… that stuff.
I firmly believe that there are Catholics that are saved and that know Jesus personally and have a relationship with him. But my question to those Catholics is this: If you know Christ as your Savior… and you believe the Bible is true… How can you still follow the Catholic leadership that is in place which has issued such statements that contradict the Bible? Personally I think that warrants someone looking to what they believe and thinking about whether or not they should be going to / supporting the Catholic church.
I know I couldn’t back a church with my time or resources if I didn’t agree with what the leadership of that church was saying. Especially if the leadership was twisting the VERY FABRIC of what our religion is based on.
Hey Brent…I think that it’s interesting as well how he said today that his goal is to unite all Christians together. That might be kind of difficult to do if he doesn’t believe in the same salvation as all the other Christians…
The problem I see is that 90% of people that call themselves Christians even are totally ignorant to core beliefs of the faith and will go, “Oh… He’s the pope, he can’t be wrong on the Bible… They just have different preferences, but the same core… we’ll follow that!”
It’s creepy… but you can almost see the beginnings of the one world religion coming in the next few hundred years…
Some conservatives must be like, “Oh, he’s against gay rights and abortion so he must be okay” because they associate that with Christian values. The same can be said for George Bush, that he appears to be the guy following the Bible because of those superficial things. But if people are being that superficial about their apprasial of a world leader, that seems like a problem to me.
Wow T…. We actually agree on something. The only difference with Bush is that when offerred a choice between two men for president. I had to go with the one who would stick up for what my beliefs were… even if his motives weren’t the same or his faith the same… It didn’t matter. It was either that or go with the other guy that blatently was against my values… There were other reasons I supported Bush over Kerry as well… such as the speed it takes each of them to make a decision… Bush has far better “leadership” skills in many areas that aid in being president. So I’m not saying Bush is great… but he’s by far the best choice I could make.
The Pope on the other hand is a different story… when he changes the doctorine of the Catholic Church to now go AGAINST the Bible’s teachings… Suddenly if I called myself Catholic and followed / supported the Catholic church, I’d feel just as bad as if I supported Kerry in the election and voted for the guy that was blatently against my values. It doesn’t make sense to me… but such is the apathetic culture of this world….. “Let it ride.”
::about the comment you left at my site::
I’ll bring you one this weekend…SUNDAY!
That is freightening i’m not a Catholic, but like LauraBelle says, we shouldn’t judge all Catholics based on the Pope.
May I point out something. According to the “Left Behind” book seiries. The Pope took a very similar stance, he along with the Anti-Christ formed the One-World Religion fortold in Revelation. Im not saying that its GOING to happen like that, or that this Pope is going to have part in the end of the world, but it is something to think about.
Reinhart…. read my reply to her comment. It saves me from repeating myself.
Oh…. somehow I missed that, sorry.
That is somewhat based in reality…. or something Eagle, I heard someone talking about how Revelation implied that the Pope (or some equivilent great religious figure) would align himself with the anti-christ, however… I don’t remember seeing that or anything like that when I read Revelation.
Yeah Brent… that’s great and all… but how do you really feel? Heh heh… man that’s messed up.
Luke
First of all, left behind and others have always though the have always thought that about the Pope. I don’t care what they say that is psyco (too much to go into right now. But any ways, It is important way the Pope says because according to Catholics, he is infallible. What does that mean?
From my notes:
§ In 1870 – Papal infallibility approved 535 to 2 At Vatican 1 council
· Ex cathedra
o When the Pope speaks in the area of doctrine and Morals – w/o error
o And only “from the chair”
§ This has never been defined
§ Taken as when he speaks officially
§ Hedin – Will never be defined
§ One exception – Assumption of Mary by Pius XII in 1950 because he specifically said he was ex cathedral
by the way, you inspired me. . . see my site