Posted on 09/26/2015 11:31:49 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
In fairness we should provide the entire quote:
“The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours is to plant the seeds. God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and not produce fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.”
Failure is electing this guy to head the Catholic Church.
At the very least, the Pope is a poor chooser of words.
his moslem brothers and sisters don’t believe the LORD Jesus Christ rose again from the dead..
while they admit there was a Jesus they claim he was just a good man and a prophet..
they even read the words of Jesus along with those of David, Moses and Isaiah...all “prophets” but not up to the level of their own mohammad..
Obviously we know that the crucifixion was the watershed event in human history.
What the pope was saying is that to those who were around Jesus, viewed from their human perspective, it appeared a failure. The lesson for us, as believers in God’s greater purposes, is not to view circumstances as failures. We have a complete revelation and know that God wins.
The desire to declare Francis the false prophet is so strong on this forum.
You must not have been to Mass anytime around Easter. This is the most standard formulation of the difference between the world’s view and God’s view bI think I have heard this same statement in one form or another pretty much every Easter.
Here’s an example from an excellent sermon by Fulton Sheen. I’ll excerpt a quote but then click the link. The entire sermon is on this very same point.
“The great lesson of Easter Day is that a Victor may be judged from a double point of view: that of the world and that of God. From the world’s point of view, Christ failed on Good Friday. From God’s point of view, Christ had won. Those who put Him to death gave Him the very chance He required; those who closed the door of the sepulcher gave Him the very door that He desired to fling open; their seeming triumph led to His greatest victory.”
http://catholicexchange.com/cross-leads-victory
-—”And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and not produce fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.-—
Though I think this pope is a Marxist, the words “humanly speaking” does qualify his statement...
Easy to take out of context...
Having read through the Catechism, out of curiosity and to better understand actual doctrinal differences (they are limited in number), I’m fairly sure the Catholic Church is on the same page as Orthodox and Protestant Christians in knowing that His death was sacrificial and redemptive. How can a Christian much less a Pope believe and say such a thing as this? I’m not going to say what the answer must be.
There is nothing wrong with calling Christ’s death a “failure.” I don’t think the Pope called the Resurrection a “failure.”
When it comes to Islam, one of the Pope’s main projects—along with the conspiracy that pushed out Benedict and installed Francis—is to lull the West to SLEEP and allow the Muslim invasion to succeed.
Many of us have had to leave Protestant Church denominations because of a failure to adhere to “sound doctrine”. Some have fled to non-denominational churches, and some have fled to home churches. It may be high time for our believing Roman Catholic brothers and sisters to do the same...
“Christ’s death was a failure only to the world.”
That’s why he said it was a HUMAN failure. He never said it was a divine failure of the resurrection to follow. Jesus had to experience complete failure of the flesh (death) in order to show that the divine state continues after the resurrection.
I might be wrong on my thoughts on this. I always thought the cross was about the failure of man and the resurrection was about gods intervention in our failure. If the pope thinks the cross was about gods failure he needs to resign like father Ratzinger did.
{Francis the Foolish. That is what they shall call him.}
Bingo!
Labelling Jesus’s death on a cross as a failure is so off: Jesus intended to die, and he succeeded.
Have you ever read the ‘Satanic verses’? In one of his supposed trances, Mohammed stated that other ways to God [Christianity and Judaism] were just as valid. When the [sorry excuse for a] prophet realized what he’d done, he had to claim momentary Satanic possession.
Imagine subscribing to a religion whose ‘prophet’ could be/was open to being demon possessed.
This pope has two problems. One is that he tries to be more subtle than is necessary.
Another is that his own thinking is a bit fuzzy, more fuzzy than you would expect from someone who walks with God and has reached a mature age in that walk.
He seems like a fairly pleasant guy who you could have a nice chat with over coffee or mate’.
He seems to have been elevated above his natural station.
There is nothing wrong with what he said on this issue in context.
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. 8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. 13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Matthew 23: 1 - 13
What do you think Jesus was warning against, and giving specific orders here of what He did not want done? Ever.
In what context and to who?
In other verses, Jesus acknowledges that we have earthly fathers. In fact, Jesus is God, correct? Throughout the Bible God calls men fathers of children. Time and time again. Adam, Abraham, Noah, Joseph, etc.
So what is the difference? You asked the question to me yourself? But you intended it as a "trap" instead of seeking what Christ meant and means?
I'll give you a clue. Jesus was referring to these titles for religious and spiritual leaders. But why?
Why would Christ warn and clearly order against that?
Think about it, and tell me your answer.
Give me a break.
Of course Christ’s death was a “failure.” Not absolutely and in every respect. But certainly it represented a victory for the Jews and the Romans IN A CERTAIN RESPECT. That was the whole POINT. To allow SIN to have its victory, in a certain respect, and for a brief time.
Yes, looking at the entire quote in isolation, I can see how someone could call it innocuous. However, when you look at the quote in context with everything else he says (e.g. denigration of free markets, elevation of Islam, climate totalitarianism, homosexual support, pedophile scandal, etc.) it is clear that this man is a false prophet.
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