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Title: That Martin Luther? He wasn’t so bad, says Pope
Source:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
URL Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3492299.ece
Published: Mar 6, 2008
Author: Richard Owen in Rome
Post Date: 2008-03-10 22:50:49 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 180
Comments: 3
Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices. Pope Benedict will issue his findings on Luther (1483-1546) in September after discussing him at his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians — known as the Ratzinger Sch33;lerkreis — at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence. According to Vatican insiders the Pope will argue that Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic. Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the move would help to promote ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Protestants. It is also designed to counteract the impact of July's papal statement describing the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as defective and “not proper Churches”. The move to re-evaluate Luther is part of a drive to soften Pope Benedict's image as an arch conservative hardliner as he approaches the third anniversary of his election next month. This week it emerged that the Vatican is planning to erect a statue of Galileo, who also faced a heresy trial, to mark the 400th anniversary next year of his discovery of the telescope. The Pope has also reached out to the Muslim world to mend fences after his 2006 speech at Regensburg University in which he appeared to describe Islam as inherently violent and irrational. This week Muslim scholars and Vatican officials met at the pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue in Rome to begin laying the groundwork for a meeting between the Pope and leading Muslims, also expected to be held at Castelgandolfo. Cardinal Kasper said: “We have much to learn from Luther, beginning with the importance he attached to the word of God.” It was time for a “more positive” view of Luther, whose reforms had aroused papal ire at the time but could now be seen as having “anticipated aspects of reform which the Church has adopted over time”. The Castelgandolfo seminar will in part focus on the question of apostolic succession, through which the apostles passed on the authority they received from Jesus to the first bishops. After the Reformation Protestants took the view that “succession” referred only to God's Word and not to church hierarchies but some German scholars have suggested Luther himself did not intend this. Luther challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the sole source of religious authority and made it accessible to ordinary people by translating it into the vernacular. He became convinced that the Church had lost sight of the “central truths of Christianity”, and was appalled on a visit to Rome in 1510 by the power, wealth and corruption of the papacy. In 1517 he protested publicly against the sale of papal indulgences for the remission of sins in his “95 Theses”, nailing a copy to the door of a Wittenberg church. Some theologians argue that Luther did not intend to confront the papacy “in a doctrinaire way” but only to raise legitimate questions - a view Pope Benedict apparently shares. Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X, who dismissed him initially as “a drunken German who will change his mind when sober”.
That Martin Luther? He wasn’t so bad, says Pope
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#1. To: robin (#0)
Oh, and those nasty old inquisitions were such a small error ... that the Papal infallibility is yet intact. Believing the Bible is one thing ... believing Popes, priests, preachers, and punk assed pulpit prostitutes is quite another. History provides us with more evidence of murder and mayhem operated by these liars than any good done by them.
And the men who loan money to governments, so called, for the purpose of enabling the latter to rob, enslave, and murder their people, are among the greatest villains that the world has ever seen. And they as much deserve to be hunted and killed (if they cannot otherwise be got rid of) as any slave traders, robbers, or pirates that ever lived. ... Lysander Spooner
The Pope has also reached out to the Muslim world to mend fences after his 2006 speech at Regensburg University in which he appeared to describe Islam as inherently violent and irrational. This week Muslim scholars and Vatican officials met at the pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue in Rome to begin laying the groundwork for a meeting between the Pope and leading Muslims, also expected to be held at Castelgandolfo. old khazar trick.....eeny meeny miny mo....which religion has the most in common with the others, and let's just merge them into one, shall we? since the vatican pretends to worship Christ, and since they invented Islam, guess it's not hard to see where this is going: "TITLE: THE POPE IS DECLARED TO BE A "PROPER RECEPTOR TO THE NEW AGE CHRIST [ANTICHRIST]! Subtitle: The Director of the House of Theosophy, Bill Lambert, declares that the Roman Catholic Pope is going to be a "proper receptor" to the Antichrist and will be the Supreme Leader of the new global religion of the Antichrist. This part of the New World Order Plan labels the Pope as the Biblical False Prophet......." www.cuttingedge.org/articl es/RC104.htm After they strike down the False Prophet of their own making watch.pair.com/mystery- babylon.html , they will step up to the plate as the saviour of the world: http://www.noahide.com/son.htm / their king the "Second Solomon" scepterofjudah .net/SJ4pageoutline/outlinepage4.html ...which is nonsense for many reasons, not the least of which is that Solomon and his crew rejected the true stone Jesus Christ, the foundation that was already laid www.blueletterbible .org/kjv/1Cr/1Cr003.html#11 / www.blueletterbible.or g/tsk_b/1Cr/3/11.html , when they tried to build the House with hewn stone and sticks and precious jewels and whatnot: www.blueletterbible .org/kjv/1Ki/1Ki005.html#17 -18. The Castelgandolfo seminar will in part focus on the question of apostolic succession, through which the apostles passed on the authority they received from Jesus to the first bishops. After the Reformation Protestants took the view that “succession” referred only to God's Word and not to church hierarchies but some German scholars have suggested Luther himself did not intend this. Whatever Luther thought, the Reformation Protestants were correct. Exd 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. [CHRISTIANS]: http://www.preteristarchive.com/StudyArchive/j/jesus-is- israel.html http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9000/The_Church_Is_Israel_Now.htm 1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1Pe 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 1Pe 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 1Pe 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood [not by the Pope's mouth] out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. www.blueletterbible.or g/tsk_b/Rev/5/10.html they will step up to the plate as the saviour of the world: http://www.noahide.com/son.htm / their king the "Second Solomon" scepterofjudah .net/SJ4pageoutline/outlinepage4.html ...which is nonsense for many reasons, not the least of which is that Solomon and his crew rejected the true stone Jesus Christ, the foundation that was already laid www.blueletterbible .org/kjv/1Cr/1Cr003.html#11 / www.blueletterbible.or g/tsk_b/1Cr/3/11.html , when they tried to build the House with hewn stone and sticks and precious jewels and whatnot: www.blueletterbible .org/kjv/1Ki/1Ki005.html#17 -18. http://www.blueletter bible.org/tsk_b/Psa/127/1.html http://www.bluelett erbible.org/kjv/Mat/Mat007.html#24 President Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act on December 23, 1913. History proved that on that day, the Constitution ceased to be the governing covenant of the American people, and our liberties were handed over to a small group of international bankers. - Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins
Benedict is the first pope from Germany since Adrian VI, pope 1522-3 (Adrian was from what is now the Netherlands, but that was then part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.)
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
The move to re-evaluate Luther is part of a drive to soften Pope Benedict's image as an arch conservative hardliner as he approaches the third anniversary of his election next month. This week it emerged that the Vatican is planning to erect a statue of Galileo, who also faced a heresy trial, to mark the 400th anniversary next year of his discovery of the telescope.
#2. To: robin (#0)
(Edited)
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the move would help to promote ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Protestants. It is also designed to counteract the impact of July's papal statement describing the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as defective and “not proper Churches”. .....
#3. To: robin (#0)
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