Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Pope Named 'Person of the Year'


Here's the EPJ take on the Pope:


2013

TIME, of course, cheers on his anti-free market views and bizarrely ties it in with Americas shopping: 
Tone and temperament matter in a church built on the substance of symbols—bread and wine, body and blood—so it is a mistake to dismiss any Pope’s symbolic choices­ as gestures empty of the force of law. He released his first exhortation, an attack on “the idolatry of money,” just as Americans were contemplating the day set aside for gratitude and whether to spend it at the mall. This is a man with a sense of timing.

13 comments:

  1. Not an honor I would want considering the nefarious villains who have received the same recognition.

    Face Palm.

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  2. Just you wait...he's the media's darling now, but eventually they will find out the Pope is Catholic...and they will turn on him like a pack of wolves. Bet on it.

    N.B. The whole "substance of symbols—bread and wine, body and blood" part, epic fail; not symbols in Catholic theology

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  3. Procopius is absolutely correct. That was a pretty glaring mistake made by TIME regarding the Eucharist. In Catholic theology (Roman and Orthodox), the bread and wine really are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ - they are not symbols, as the Protestants believe. The idea that the bread and wine could be mere symbols didn't gain any traction until after the Reformation. And the Church, by the way, wasn't built on the power of symbols. It was founded and sustained by God (from eternity) through the power of the Holy Spirit and by the saints and martyrs of the Church into the present day. But TIME, apparently, can't be bothered to do a little research on such trivial matters as thought and speech about God.

    Also, Bob (and everyone), if you haven't already checked it out, Tom Woods dedicated an episode of his show to breaking down the Pope's anti-market comments. It's well worth listening to, even if you aren't Catholic.

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    1. I know this isn't a website for theological discussions, but I would ask you to read Hebrews 10. The Apostle Paul discusses how Christ's sacrifice was done one time for the atonement of sin. Wouldn't the bread and wine actually being His body and blood be sacrificing Him again and again?

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    2. Not if you understand, as all Christians did for 1500 years, the basic theological concept of God as pure act. But then, some people believe that the fathers both East and West (who compiled and Canonized the Bible, Including Hebrews) for 1500 years were illiterates, and it took until early modern Western Europe until anyone ever read Hebrews 10.
      For what apostolic Christians, East and West, from Portugal to India, have believed for 2000 years.
      http://www.catholic.com/tracts/christ-in-the-eucharist
      http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-sacrifice-of-the-mass
      http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-institution-of-the-mass
      http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-real-presence

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    3. Correct, Dave, however food sacrificed to pagan "gods" was supposed to be the substance of the "gods" themselves. It was eaten so that aspects of the "god" could be "incorporated" into the character of the receiver. This is why many early believers had a problem with it and Paul wrote about this too.

      This is not the only "tradition" directly from paganism you will find if you care to look.

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    4. Procopius,
      What do you mean by the "basic theological concept of God as pure act"? I am not sure I understand, so I want to make sure before responding.

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    5. Procopius again makes an important point: the ancient Catholic Church (now the Roman and Orthodox Catholic Churches) created scripture - not the other way around. When I was a Protestant, I of course subscribed to the doctrine of sola scriptura and I missed out on the fact that the Church canonized each book of the New Testament (by Holy Tradition) and therefore she is the ultimate way to learn the meaning behind passages of scripture.

      One need not get too deep into divine agency and divine action in order to help clarify Hebrews 10. It is important to note, though, that most Protestants tend to limit the Cross of Christ to one point in history, when that is not how ancient Christians understood it. They saw the Eucharist as an active participation in the sacrifice of Christ - it is truly a means of communion with Christ. The Incarnation, Last Supper, Crucifixion, and Resurrection and Ascension are made present by the power of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, when Christ said "This do in remembrance of me..." the Greek actually has an active connotation. Speaking of the Incarnation, it is also important to point out that the only ancient sect of Christians who did not believe in the real Presence of Christ in the Divine Gifts (Body and Blood) were the Docetists - who believed that God had taken flesh in appearance only and not in reality. In other words, they denied the Incarnation and therefore a vital part of our salvation. The Fathers of the Church are very clear about the fact that the real Presence in the Eucharist and the Incarnation are very closely intertwined.

      As for scripture supporting the ancient Catholic view, look at what the Lord Himself had to say in Luke 22 and John 6. In the chapter preceding the one you mentioned in Hebrews (ch. 9 now), we know that Christ is our High Priest who enters the Heavenly Sanctuary with his own Blood. As Christians, we join in that worship with the universal Church on earth and in Paradise. Finally, in St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, he speaks of people who get sick and even die for receiving Communion hypocritically. Now, one has to unpack that in order to avoid charges against the goodness and mercy of God, but the point still remains - people don't die from consuming mere "symbols".

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    6. Was not Christ's sacrifice on the cross sufficient the first time?

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  4. This figures.

    In the last few years we have the warmonger Odumbo getting a Nobel peace prize, Paul Krugman getting the Nobel in economics, Bernakne praised as some kind of hero for "saving the economy", the Communist terrorist Nelson Mandela getting hailed as some great hero, and now this libtard pope getting man of the year.

    Shit, can these liars be anymore brazen?

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  5. Eddie Snowdon won it hands down.

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  6. I just realized who he's the spitting image of: Uncle Albert.

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  7. Damn! I thought Miley had a lock on it. I'm not sure, but I think she meets the requirement of being a person.

    Soooo, how's the Pope at twerking...

    [Yeah, thought so.]

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