Sunday, July 7, 2013

the big news amd anti Cathollicism

I read the blaze from time to time or at least get draw into the comment section. 
http://www.theblaze.com/
Yes,Glenn Beck's page called the Blaze. Have to admit it's pretty good for headlines.

I used to watch Beck faithfully when he was at Fox UNTIL i realize some sublime anti Catholicism.And not so sublime when he'd have representatives from various Christians denominations but avoided Catholics like the plague. I then turned him off-as good as he was. Of course,Glenn was a Catholic at one time. It seems like ex Catholics are THE most rabid anti Catholics you can find-next to atheists and militant 'gay' groups. Then you have your traditionalists and liberals to contend with.If it seems like the Catholic Church is under attack from many sides-it's because the Catholic Church IS under attack.
Here was the headline that drew my attention:

Pope John Paul II to Be Made a Saint

 

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday cleared Pope John Paul II for sainthood, approving a miracle attributed to his intercession and setting up a remarkable dual canonization along with another beloved pope, John XXIII.
Pope John Paul II Cleared for Sainthood
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, celebrates a Mass in honor of Pope John Paul II in Buenos Aires, April 4, 2005.

In a major demonstration of his papal authority, Francis decided to make John XXIII a saint even though the Vatican hasn’t confirmed a second miracle attributed to his intercession. The Vatican said Francis had the power to “dispense” with the normal saint-making procedures to canonize him on his own merit, without a miracle.

The ceremonies are expected before the end of the year. The date of Dec. 8 has been floated as one possibility, given it’s the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a major feast day for the church. Polish media continued to report that October was likely, to mark the anniversary of John Paul’s election, but Vatican officials have said that’s too soon to organize such a massive event.

Good article.Not so good headline and an anti Catholic in the comment section went on a roll. John Paul II isn't going to be 'made a saint.' He either is or isn't. He's going to be canonized a saint and raised to the altar.God makes saints,not Popes.

He jumped on our worship of images next saying God prohibits graven images. I have never believed an image of Jesus,Mary,Joseph or the apostles was graven.
He then defended sola scriptura but has been going after(besides me)a Mormon. The LDS pointed out  he believed in scripture and  how he's interpreting it. Sola Scriptura in practice.If you believe in sola scriptura how does that work when you disagree w/ someone else's interpretation? Isn't theirs as valid as yours?
Next it was Mary-i told him she was our mother.He scoffed and asked for a verse. I gave it to him;to which he claims i took it out context. No. I would have quoted the whole passage but it wasn't necessary. 
Yeah,i know.We Catholics worship Mary. Nope. We recognize that God exalted her above all others. Not above Jesus because he's true God and true man. [Jesus IS God].ALL humans. Of course she's our  Mother.She's the mother of the Church. Must be. She conceived Jesus and brought Him into the world. That definitely makes her the Mother of the Church.
Next in line (no pun intended)was apostolic succession.  He says no again.Of course there was.Jesus gave the command(directive)to baptize ALL nations in the name of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit. He had to know the 12 apostles were mortal and one would betray him. Jesus would not give a directive that could not be fulfilled. I pointed out the Early Church Fathers and the Great Heresies. He dismissed the anti Nicene fathers and didn't say boo about the Gret Heresies.

 Paul told Timothy, "[W]hat you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). In this passage he refers to the first three generations of apostolic succession—his own generation, Timothy’s generation, and the generation Timothy will teach.
 His response about the Fathers:
 There are three classes of church fathers. Apostolic, ante-Nicene and post-nicene. Catholics should note that Clement of Rome and Linus, who were contemporaries of the apostles and were probably taught by the very apostles themselves, were mostly concerned with preserving the Gospel which they had already received first hand from the Apostles.

Iraenus, Ignatius, and Justin Martyr are ante-Nicene fathers who came after the apostolic fathers and before the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, and were faced with many spurious doctrines. So without the Apostles to ask for clarification on the issues, they developed theologies and doctrines (some in error) to defend the attack on the Gospel.

The post-Nicene fathers are Augustine, the Bishop of hippo, Chrysostom, Eusebius, Jerome and Ambrose, all who came after the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. This was the age of the theologian and endless discussion on arcane topics, and when many Roman Catholic doctrines arose.

Regardless, they were all fallen and sinful men, just like you and me. I see no advantage in posting their thoughts on the Gospel. If the Holy Spirit is responsible for understanding, then I can read it for myself and have just as good of a chance of understanding it as Iraenus or Augustine or Jerome.

My friend accept the first group of Early Church Fathers and then concludes it got all screwed up. There were many spurious doctrines-that's true. However, if he'd have checked out the list of the Great Heresies he would see that the Church battled and put them to rest. He instead concludes the Church came up with their own doctrines at this time. The Councils weren't called unless a doctrine were attacked or called into question. That was their purpose. Until then the Christian Church held fast to what they were given. If we go by what he's saying here then we would have to conclude 3 things happened:
The apostles so goofed up the teaching that there were errors left uncorrected everywhere. 2. Jesus didn't keep His promise that evil would not triumph 3 none of this was straightened up until the 16th century. Evidently the Holy Spirit vanished and returned. Oddly the revolt came about from ex Catholics-they had accepted the doctrines till then. 
News item no 2,from The Blaze. 

Pope Francis Affirms: Marriage Is Between One Man and One Woman


We were praising Pope Francis for standing up for the Church's teaching on homosexuality.  My friend considered that worship. 

News Item no 3, Pope Francis first encyclical released. For this we leave my anti Catholic friend and turn to Fr "Z"

Reading Benedict Through Francis: Exploring ‘Lumen fidei 13′

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/07/reading-benedict-through-francis-exploring-lumen-fidei-13/


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