In his first video, Pope Francis asserts: "In this crowd, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty we have for all: we are all children of God."
But Jesus' rebuttal of this view is set forth in John's gospel:
John 8:39-47
They answered and said unto him, "Abraham is our father."
Jesus saith unto them, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father."
Then said they to him, "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."
Jesus said unto them, "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."
Neither the pope nor the followers of the other religions he cites in the video (Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.) are children of God. If God were their Father, they would love Jesus and hold to Jesus' words. But the others explicitly reject Jesus as God, and while the pope claims to follow Jesus, he contradicts Jesus' clear teachings.
Contrast that with our situation as the sons of God, distinct from the world, a privilege bestowed by the Father through the power of the Spirit and faith in Christ our Savior:
Romans 8:14-17
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Romans 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
-TurretinFan
Friday, January 08, 2016
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Do you have any links to Catholic apologists attempts at damage control to this specific speech by the Pope? I'd be interested reading those attempts unless this is a general Catholic consensus
Turretinfan, several days ago I sent you an email asking a question about a claim made against one of your 60 second videos. Did you receive it? I would love to get your take on it. It was from bulldog4veritas.
This is such a plain and powerful teaching, TF!
You focused somewhat on New Testament Scriptures.
I just want to throw into the mix two Old Testament Scriptural descriptions from Psalms to enhance the contrasts God makes by them to distinguish between those God saves, Sons of God and those God destroys, sons of the devil:::>
Those that God destroys and notice the "generations" or descendants described in the following:::>
Psa 21:8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
Psa 21:9 You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
Psa 21:10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.
Psa 21:11 Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
Psa 21:12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
When I read those verses and consider the high profile souls who have left this world lately I tremble because there is nothing good that awaits them that are of these described in those verses from Psalm 21.
Now, contrast those verses with these and notice just how many God sees into the womb of the womb of the womb:::>
Psa 78:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
Psa 78:3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
Psa 78:5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
Psa 78:6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
Psa 78:7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
Psa 78:8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
I'm certain God sees and knows all who are born from Eve:::>
Gen 3:20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
I agree with you, but the way I usually hear this idea expressed is that we are all created in the image of God and therefore all are children of God.
Do you think the pope has this sort of idea in mind?
Related to this is the argument that without the pope and Roman magisterium we must can have no certainly of belief or at least comparable unity with Catholics. Of course, at the same time evangelicalism (before its increasing dilution) have been attacked by Caths for their overall historical a unified opposition to Catholic traditions of men, and by cults for their contentions for basic Truths. And on ground level they are more unified than Caths.
Meanwhile despite attacks on holding Scripture as supreme, and of its perspicuity, due to the problem of variant interpretations, RCs themselves engage in interpretation of their own supreme authority, much due to her lack of perspicuity.
A RC article testifies to this, saying,
Ex cathedra pontifical pronouncements and solemn decrees of ecumenical councils—the two great expressions of the extraordinary Magisterium—get the headlines, but such statements are, well, extraordinary and hence relatively rare. In contrast, the day-in day-out, oft-repeated, variously-phrased and then re-phrased teachings put out (principally) by popes and bishops engaged in the public exercise of their offices constitute the ordinary Magisterium of the Church.
The occasions of and vehicles used to express these ordinary teachings are far too many to list and, in contrast to the rather few expressions of the extraordinary Magisterium (which typically come out in short, precise quotables), the multitudinous expressions of the ordinary Magisterium tend to be diffuse, prolix, and mixed in with all sorts of other assertions that do not carry magisterial import.
Identifying and appreciating the teachings offered by the ordinary Magisterium of the Church is tedious work requiring more-than-average theological research skills while spotting assertions of the extraordinary Magisterium, in contrast, is much easier, though not simple.(The Catholic World Report ^ | April 12, 2016 | Edward N. Peters - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3420583/posts)
The article itself is actually dealing with "some in positions of ecclesiastical authority trying to ‘turn magisterium on and off’" based on content. with the Amoris laetitia of Francis (called "Frankenpope" by a traditionalist) being the example.
Putting Pope Francis into Perspective; A Chronological List of Quotes and Headlines: http://thewildvoice.org/pope-francis-chronology-perspective/
Post a Comment