Posted on 01/18/2012 3:19:15 PM PST by NYer
.- Pope Benedict XVI said today that achieving Christian unity requires more than “cordiality and cooperation” and that it must be accompanied by interior conversion.
“Faith in Christ and interior conversion, both individual and communal, must constantly accompany our prayer for Christian unity,” said the Pope to over 8,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Jan. 18.
The Pope’s comments mark the start of the 2012 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that runs until Jan. 25. It will be observed by over 300 Christian churches and ecclesial communities around the globe.
The Pope asked for “the Lord in a particular way to strengthen the faith of all Christians, to change our hearts and to enable us to bear united witness to the Gospel.”
In this way, he said, they “will contribute to the new evangelization and respond ever more fully to the spiritual hunger of the men and women of our time.”
The Pope explained that the concept of a week of prayer for Christian unity was initiated in 1908 by Paul Wattson, an Episcopalian minister from Maryland. One year later, he became a Catholic and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood.
Pope Benedict recalled how the initiative was supported by his predecessors Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV. It was then “developed and perfected” in the 1930s by the Frenchman Abbé Paul Couturier, who promoted prayer “for the unity of the Church as Christ wishes and according to the means he wills.”
The mandate for the week of prayer, the Pope underscored, comes from the wish of Christ himself at the Last Supper “that they may all be one.” He observed that this mission was given a particular impetus by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) but added that “the unity we strive for cannot result merely from our own efforts.” Rather, “it is a gift we receive and must constantly invoke from on high.”
The theme for 2012 Week of Prayer – “All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord” – was crafted by the Polish Ecumenical Council. Pope Benedict said it reflects “their own experience as a nation,” which stayed faithful to Christ “in the midst of trials and upheavals,” including years of occupation by the Nazis and later the Communists.
The Pope tied the victory the Polish people experienced over their oppressors to overcoming the disunity that marks Christians.
He said that the “unity for which we pray requires inner conversion, both shared and individual,” and it cannot be “limited to cordiality and cooperation.” Instead, Christians must accept “all the elements of unity which God has conserved for us.”
Ecumenism, the Pope stated, is not an optional extra for Catholics but is “the responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized.” Christians, he said, must make praying for unity an “integral part” of their prayer life, “especially when people from different traditions come together to work for victory in Christ over sin, evil, injustice and the violation of human dignity.”
Pope Benedict then touched on the lack of unity in the Christian community, which he said “hinders the effective announcement of the Gospel and endangers our credibility.” Evangelizing formerly Christian countries and spreading the Gospel to new places will be “more fruitful if all Christians together announce the truth of the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and give a joint response to the spiritual thirst of our times,” he explained.
The Pope concluded his comments with the hope that this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will lead to “increased shared witness, solidarity and collaboration among Christians, in expectation of that glorious day when together we will all be able to celebrate the Sacraments and profess the faith transmitted by the Apostles.”
The general audience finished with Pope Benedict addressing pilgrims in various languages, including greeting a group of men and women from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, before leading the crowd in the Our Father and imparting his apostolic blessing.
Christian Unity on Free Republic [Vanity]
Archbishop Hilarion on Christian Unity
Marking Week of Prayer, Benedict XVI Cites Four 'Pillars' for Christian Unity
On Praying for Christian Unity
On the Unity of the Church. [Church Fathers (cont'd)]
On the Unity of The Church [Church Fathers, (cont'd)]
On The Unity of The Church (cont'd)
On the Unity of the Church (Cont'd) [Church Fathers]
On the Unity of the Church. [Church Fathers]
Pontiff Looks for More Fruits in Unity Dialogue [Catholic/Lutheran]
A verse or two misinterpreted out of James does not cut it especially when it contradicts the clear teaching of other Scripture.
I’ll trust in Christ and be clothed in HIS righteousness which is far better than the sin tainted offerings which is all anyone have to present to Him from their own efforts.
But go ahead and depend on your own good deeds and let us know how that works out for you.
A verse or two misinterpreted out of James does not cut it especially when it contradicts the clear teaching of the rest of Scripture.
I’ll trust in Christ and be clothed in HIS righteousness which is far better than the sin tainted offerings which is all anyone have to present to Him from their own efforts.
But go ahead and depend on your own good deeds and let us know how that works out for you.
I'm not sure why some get to say what is misinterpretation but others don't. Perhaps in a while you'll be following salvation by election and proof text that system instead of the this one which you can then say is misinterpretation. Who knows?
depend on your own good deeds
Strawman again.
After all this time posting the same verses, ignoring others, throwing strawmen out to battle...
There's not much left to say except that whatever makes you feel good is fine with me.
Enjoy.
If works are not necessary, there's nothing the church can hang over the members heads to keep them in line. If it's by works, it's really a control issue. The organization then has something with which to control its adherents. You have to do THEIR good works, partake in THEIR sacraments, give to THEIR church, do what THEIR leaders say.
If it's by grace, the person is free. Free to do as the good works that God prepared for them to do for the honor and glory of God, free to think for themselves, free to worship somewhere else is they so choose, and free to do what God calls them to do.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
Romans 14:12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
You never ask for family or friends for Prayers?
How much more for prayers given by members of God's family who are in Heaven and connected to us by The Holy Spirit within us.
I pray all the time To Christ and ask for Prayers from others. I have a peace of mind because of prayers.
Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which Transcends all Understanding, will GUARD your Hearts and your MINDS in Christ Jesus."
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"And the PEACE of God, which Transcends all Understanding, will GUARD your Hearts and your MINDS in Christ Jesus."
I Have all that PEACE because of My PRAYERS. NOT to say you can't either but I KNOW I have IT Without a DOUBT!
It's an error to ignore what he wrote and try to make Sola Fide something he did write when he just did not say it. Again:
"A thorough study of his epistles reveals that Paul used the word faith and its cognates over two hundred times in the New Testament, but not once did he couple them with the adjectival qualifiers alone or only. Are we to believe that though he intended to teach justification by faith alone, he was never convinced that he should employ the attributes of the word alone to express explicitly what he invariably meant? What would have curtailed him from such an important qualification if indeed the solitude of faith in regard to justification was on the forefront of his mind?"A second reason that leads us to pose this critical question is that Paul used the word alone more frequently than did any other New Testament writer. Many of these instances appear right alongside the very contexts that contain teachings on faith and justification. Thus it is obvious that even while Paul was teaching about the nature of justification he was keenly aware of the word alone and its qualifying properties. This would lead us to expect that if Paul, who is usually very direct and candid in his epistles, wanted to teach unambiguously and unequivocally that man was justified by faith alone, he would be compelled to use the phrase if he thought it would make his point indisputable.
"Moreover, since Paul's writings were inspired, we must also acknowledge that the Holy Spirit likewise knew of the inherent qualifying properties of the word alone but had specific reasons for prohibiting Paul from using it in connection with faith."
--Robert A. Sungenis
I’ll trust in Christ and be clothed in HIS righteousness which is far better than the sin tainted offerings which is all anyone have to present to Him from their own efforts
>>It seems like your actual view is being clothed in personal self-righteousness.
Salvation has ALWAYS been by faith. It was never by works.
>>You like strawman arguments don’t you. Works of the Jewish law can’t save you.
That’s St. Paul’s message. He’s not referring to works that we do as a result of grace through faith.
Keep the canards to yourself.
Compared with Protestantism, and Evangelicalism in particular, the Eastern Churches share 98 percent of the same faith, differing in political and semantic ways.
Evangelicalism is another religion
Paul NEVER says that he received a different Gospel that those who walked with Jesus. It is a claim that has no basis in Scripture.
I could see where there is a misinterpretation by many regarding the two, Peter and Paul, but that is just not the case, as we know that Jesus is one and His salvation is for all. He died once, for all.
I realize that Peter and the others did not fully grasp the entirety of Jesus’ message. That is obvious, as Jesus said that He had much more to tell them, but that He must go so that the Spirit could come. And, furthermore, the Spirit would remind them of all He had taught them as well as lead them into all truth.
Peter’s sermon on Pentecost is the first, not the only and not the last word regarding Jesus and it was not meant as a full discourse on the salvific work of Jesus. That is the mistake those who would divide the message of Pentecost from that of Paul.
Peter and the others, especially John, would have heard St. John the Baptist when he calls Jesus, the Lamb of God and as Jews, they would have known the implication. The lamb was a sacrificial animal for the atonement of sin.
When Paul went to the Apostles, he says that he told them of the gospel that he received and they accepted him. Had they not been prepared by Jesus, had Paul preached a gospel they did not recognize, they would never have accepted it or him.
The Gospel of Grace is not different or separate from the Gospel of the Kingdom. There is only one Gospel of Jesus, which is the same for all.
>> “How much more for prayers given by members of God’s family who are in Heaven and connected to us by The Holy Spirit within us.” <<
.
Totally unbiblical.
You’re working on imagination and necromancy. You have zero idea who is in “God’s family.” Praying to the dead is eorbidden for a good reason; it leads to improper spiritual vulnerability, and lying apparitions that the catholic church is famous for glorifying.
You’re treading where angels fear to go.
If the works of the Law sent down from Mt. Sinai by Christ Himself can't save you, nothing you decide on yourself can save you either.
If the works God has decreed can't save you, the works the church decrees can't save you.
Nothing that you replace God's Law with can save you if even HIS Law can't.
>> “”Faith Alone” is not here, nor anywhere else.” <<
.
You’re blind!
The scripture deliberately eliminates works. Works are, of themselves dead unless they come from salvation that comes from faith.
Faith is 100% of your power in the spiritual relm. The Lord said that if you have a tiny bit of faith you can remove a mountain into the sea.
Give up yopur filthy rag works, and pray for faith. Faith overcomes; works lead to damnation, unless they are spontaneous. If you believe you can earn salvation, you are already damned.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Romans 4:1-8 1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Paul here says *works* not *law*.
Okey Dokey!!
Yes, I did miss one: "faith alone" does occur only once in scripture.
Preceded by the words "not by."
thanks.
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