Bishop Schneider: Christians Are Spiritual Soldiers Who Belong to an Army of Victors

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You may not agree, Jim, but we ARE the Church Militant. We are soldiers. The bishop made it clear that we are spiritually at war with the forces of evil. Do you disagree?

You are rather disrespectful of a bishop of the Church. What of your duty to respectfully consider that he may be wiser than you and that his insight and his duty as a bishop of the Church might be greater than yours?

I find it very sad that for many in the Church today, they will scream 'dissenter! Hater! Shut up and do not dare to question the words of Bishop A". . . but at the same time they’ll be all, “Oh but bishop B, he’s evil, divisive, totally unchristian, do not DARE to listen to HIM!”

Real cognitive dissonance there.
 
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What about all the verses that tell us to put on the armor of light?
Like this for instance:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our[a] struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
 
And by being disciples, does that contradict our tasks on earth? Can a disciple not be a disciple through being a soldier for Christ?

St. Paul tells us that we all are part of the body. Is there no place in the body for a soldier? Do soldiers not protect people from unjust attack?
 
And what of the Lorica (the breastplate) of St. Patrick? St. Patrick, who won souls for Christ?
 
I always wind up shaking my head at the people who claim that "Oh, we don’t need SOLDIERS in the Christian faith, it’s all about peace N Luv’. . . and how they apparently don’t realize that the reason they are able to freely give their views on things like message boards is that for centuries soldiers took on the task of helping to keep other people safe and free. . .
 
All war images taken from earthly combatants.

Did Jesus use these images to spread the good news of salvation ?

Isn’t Jesus message of his Divine Mercy the antithesis of warrior images ?

No disrespect for Bishop Schneider, but he has taken shots at Pope Francis in the past.

Jim
 
I think that it is very disrespectful to speak of the bishop the way you do. What on earth does your comment, "no offense to the bishop but he’s taken shots at Pope Francis’ (a statement I disagree with) have to do with what Bishop Schneider is saying?

All your statement does is show your own personal bias against the bishop, on the basis that you THINK he ‘took shots at Pope Francis’ at some point.

You’ve admitted that what he said does not contradict anything the ‘new’ Catechism actually says. But from your own words, it appear you personally interpret Jesus’ message as saying, “people can’t be soldiers because that means they support war and war is bad” and you extrapolate from that," so this bishop’s message is bad and wrong". The fact that countless Popes, theologians, Church tradition, and Scripture itself do not support your personal opinion belies your claim.

Pardon me, but I’ll stick with the Church’s teaching on the subject of Christians and spiritual warfare, and not with somebody’s private interpretation.
 
Nonsense !

Disagreeing with the words the Bishop is usinging, is not being disrespectful.

You’re just getting upset because there are people who don’t agree with him and are willing to point out why in the words he’s using cause more harm than good in today’s world.

Jim
 
Really, Jim? I’m so glad you think that way! Now when people disagree with the words of a prelate whom YOU ‘support’, you won’t complain, because, "disagreeing with the words used is not being disrespectful.’ Wow, that will certainly be helpful and stop a lot of arguments from people who are constantly complaining that certain groups (‘trads, cough’) are being disrespectful when they disagree with the words a bishop or other prelate uses. Sauce for the goose, you know.

Thanks for the attempt to read my mind and dismiss my words by accusations that I’m ‘upset because there are people who don’t agree’ etc. You’re totally wrong but I was expecting to hear exactly that kind of ‘accusation’, so you didn’t disappoint me.
 
And I agree. His statement seems crafted to inflame hatred and paranoia, and not in a healthy way. The dog whistles are not hard to hear here.
 
Hey, everybody! Let’s have a rousing chorus of that confirmation hymn of mine (and incredibly, that confirmation occurred right after Vatican 2!)

“I’m a soldier in Christ’s Army,
Confirmation made me so,
I’m a soldier in Christ’s Army,
I’ll defend the Faith where e’er I go,
No the devil shall not harm me,
I’m the captain of my soul,
I’m a soldier in Christ’s Army,
Confirmation made me so!”
 
What part of Every Christian has a duty to fight against sin, error and temptation, including errors within the Church such as heresy and ambiguity in doctrine inflames hatred and paranoia?
 
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
 
Andrew, while you may not agree with the sentiment (and let it be said that while I am firmly in favor of fighting spiritual warfare for Christ I am not a ‘warmonger’ nor do I wish to foment division or create hatred), the fact is that nothing the Bishop has said is contrary to Catholic doctrine. It should also be remembered that Bishop Schneider is not speaking from the comfy US. Not every diocese in the world is ‘safe’, not every Christian is free, and injustice I hope is something we can all agree to ‘fight’, is that not so?
 
Do you see a parallel in the words Muslims use when they preach about being a Warrior for Allah ?

Onward Christian Soldiers, sends the same kind of chill up the spine of nonbelievers as warriors for Allah does.

Jim
 
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stpurl said:
s that not so?
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No. It’s not. It sounds like a justification for a religious crusade against Muslims on a real battlefield, rather than a call to spiritual warfare against sin and injustice. The only thing that’s missing are the words “Deus vult”, but his target audience heard precisely that loud and clear.
 
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Roguish said:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
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Hm, good point, Roguish. That just goes to show that like bishop Schneider, Jesus too could do with some coaching where it comes to his choice of words. I mean really, a sword? A sword is a lethal weapon. By talking like that you would think there is some “enemy” to be fought or something. There’s no need for that. Let’s all just get along, right?
 
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It sounds fine to me. it’s what I feel like I do every day anyway.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency nowadays for people to shy away from language that suggests we are fighting or being similar to soldiers. I see it as an unfortunate holdover from the 60s and hope that this sort of mindset goes the way of those 3-inch fantasy GI Joes that replaced the 12-inch realistic ones for a few years.

Fight on, brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Come on, man, prayer warriors and bigotry don’t go hand in hand.

Some of us are very comfortable with both integrated society and military imagery. It’s not like the US military is exactly un-diverse.

I got my Spiritual Ammo Can ready…

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Tis_Bearself said:
It sounds fine to me. it’s what I feel like I do every day anyway.
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Exactly, I don’t understand all this reaction.

To be a soldier of Christ and being His disciple are mutual exclusives? What?

Did I get sucked into a different universe or something?
 
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