tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post3681062457190344372..comments2023-04-04T11:00:28.668-05:00Comments on Gottesblog: Initial Thoughts on the Pope's Visit and HomilyFr BFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14554699361739289492noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-58704145844277118822008-04-24T08:06:00.000-05:002008-04-24T08:06:00.000-05:00I'll continue this thread at my next post, above.I'll continue this thread at my next post, above.Fr BFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554699361739289492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-48875424311683203042008-04-23T21:58:00.000-05:002008-04-23T21:58:00.000-05:00Jeff's comments don't sound "knee-jerk" to me. So ...Jeff's comments don't sound "knee-jerk" to me. <BR/><BR/>So long as the pope claims supreme spiritual and secular authority over you and me, so long as the pope aspires to secular power and holds onto its trappings, so long as he preaches heretical doctrine, it seems to me entirely fair and indeed appropriate to accord him but scant attention.<BR/><BR/>I'm still astonished at the fascination Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-28126432578389876312008-04-23T21:44:00.000-05:002008-04-23T21:44:00.000-05:00I just don't happen to think knee-jerk reactions t...I just don't happen to think knee-jerk reactions to the word "Pope" are helpful.<BR/><BR/>Put it this way. As soon as the Pope came to America, Christian News trotted out all their stuff about how the Confessions call him the antichrist, blah blah blah. Predictable.<BR/><BR/>I don't know, what if the man knows that the history of the Roman papacy is flawed, but he must be careful what he says?Fr BFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554699361739289492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-48425708523007987052008-04-23T13:18:00.000-05:002008-04-23T13:18:00.000-05:00I don't know... we're talking about a guy who lea...I don't know... we're talking about a guy who leads the church which claims that only people in that church can be saved.<BR/><BR/>Later on they were nice, and allowed exceptions to other religions (recognizing that they're actually Catholics- they just don't realize it).<BR/><BR/>More recently, they've applied that same standard to people of any religion.<BR/><BR/>Even if he's not particularly Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00407213793006683008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-22936314564447527272008-04-22T19:50:00.000-05:002008-04-22T19:50:00.000-05:00I, um, don't really remember too much about that c...I, um, don't really remember too much about that conversation, and exactly what it was about. Old man syndrome, I guess.<BR/><BR/>Anyhow, I just think there's some reason to find points of agreement where we can, without compromising our own position.<BR/><BR/>Everybody gets up in arms about the Pope, it seems, but he's less offensive than lots of others I could mention. The Lutheran Fr BFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554699361739289492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-23132775343881402202008-04-21T18:28:00.000-05:002008-04-21T18:28:00.000-05:00"This particular Pope happens to have a very acute..."This particular Pope happens to have a very acute understanding of that, I believe, which makes him worthy of considerable respect, even among Lutherans."<BR/><BR/>Umm... I'm a bit too bound to our Confession (specifically "Treatise on the power and primacy of the pope") to do that. It's wonderful that he's bound by tradition and all but if that tradition (and he himself) "defends ungodly Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00407213793006683008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-88008229414051610652008-04-20T21:49:00.000-05:002008-04-20T21:49:00.000-05:00True, his being the top-ranked authority does NOT ...True, his being the top-ranked authority does NOT mean he could, for example, change Catholicism's teaching on contraception, or could abolish one or two of the Ten Commandments. Plenty of Catholics seem to think he could and should, but he does realize he is not God. Just His Vicar on earth. He considers himself the "*Visible* Head of the Church," but this is a two-headed creature, and the *Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-25012414328001200282008-04-20T21:04:00.000-05:002008-04-20T21:04:00.000-05:00To tell the truth, I'm reticent to be critical of ...To tell the truth, I'm reticent to be critical of him when there are so many Lutheran preachers who are nowhere near as good.<BR/><BR/>And frankly, I think it might be a cheap shot. When I did my graduate work at Marquette University, I learned a bit about papal supremacy, and what it is not. The pope does not really view himself as having the freedom to say anything that pops into his head. Fr BFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554699361739289492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24933982.post-54898912988700202072008-04-18T23:26:00.000-05:002008-04-18T23:26:00.000-05:00Well, you just expressed in different words the ma...Well, you just expressed in different words the main difference between Lutheranism and Catholicism. For you, the top-ranking authority is Scripture, hence a preacher ought always to preach from it, show that his preaching is subordinate to it. For them, the top-ranking authority is -- well, the Pope!Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.com