Ping
Typo error on source. It should be “National Catholic Reporter”.
Sorry, folks. Any man that believes the doctrines of Rome, is not a “peoples pope” but a man believing errant theology. There are no 7 sacraments, no genuflecting, no paternosters, no “Roman Catholic Church” in the Scriptures. There is just the body of believers gathered by Jesus, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and rescued from themselves because they were elect before the foundation of the world.
Excerpt from Preface:
I hope no reader will suppose that “mere” Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions — as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else.
It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall, I have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into the room you will find that the long wait has done some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.
In plain language, the question should never be: “Do I like that kind of service?” but “Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?”
When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. This is one of the rules common to the whole house.
Maybe ecumenical protestant hearts, but no born again Christian has any excitement for or about the Pope.
Is this author suggesting it was a “friendly divorce”
there were CENTURIES of religious wars..
not just the one in 1618-1648 ending in the Peace of Westphalia..
And Pope Francis hopes to drag the Church closer to the Protestant model. No wonder so many seem to be dazzled by him.
The Fishwrap? Usually not worth reading?
More self-love from the Catholic scribes about how they are the center of the world and we should all agree with them.
I doubt there is this much self-affirmation in a homosexual focus group or a psychologists couch