Oh, how I wish everyone used that method…1neophyte,
Many times when the Pope says things that are difficult to understand, what I do is take it up another level and ask, “what is the Holy Spirit trying to say through the Pope?” Using that method, I have found many difficult statements by the Pope are far easier to understand when considered from that light. Just my two cents worth.
I agree, me too. Yet, those who can understand must use that method so they will clean their own spiritual house, and then once their houses has been swept free of most of its issues, they can then admonish others. This always starts slow, yet over time it can become a massive movement.
So all things are acceptable. We can’t discern between good and evil anymore because to discern the good from evil is to be judgemental. The only sin that remains is to believe in good and evil, because all things are good.
So everyone is doomed to spending eternity in Hell. There is no hope for anyone, because we all have no hope of living our entire lives without doing something unacceptable.
Yes, I’ve met many as a matter of fact. And why wouldn’t there be. Otherwise, all those passages in scripture admonishing Christians to judge and discern rightly are irrelevant and a waste of ink and parchment. Was St. Paul sufficiently cleaned-up? What about John the Baptist? How about Jude or Peter?
Agree with the gist of your post, however in regards to John the Baptist he was sanctified in the womb at the visitation. So I think he was a little different.
A tactic sometimes used to stop people proclaiming he truth.
Just because we are not to treat others like sin doesn’t mean we are to give to people who are clearly in the wrong what is holy. So obviously Paul was doing this when he rebuked Peter, right? And Jesus would fit into being judgemental as well with your logic. Did He not say, “If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-collector.”
Yes He did. Those who refuse to listen to the Church, i.e. the visible head of the Church on earth, should be treated as pagans or tax collectors were under Jewish understanding. Essentially, Jesus turned the world upside down. He removed all judgment and scorn from the rabble caught up in sin, which captivated them to the point where they were moved to repentance, and heaped judgment and scorn on those who meticulously kept the law while at the same time failing to produce the fruit of mercy that God truly desires, which fueled the hatred in them to the point where they nailed Him to a cross.
I find your evaluation of St. Paul disturbing and erroneous. So did many Doctors of the Church. Using the “pharisaical” stick to bash those who are adhering to the FULLNESS of the Gospels, Epistles and Sacred Traditions of the church is a disingenuous and progressivist tactic to silence those who uphold the Totality of the Faith in the face of a world given over to sin.Yes He did. Those who refuse to listen to the Church, i.e. the visible head of the Church on earth, should be treated as pagans or tax collectors were under Jewish understanding. Essentially, Jesus turned the world upside down. He removed all judgment and scorn from the rabble caught up in sin, which captivated them to the point where they were moved to repentance, and heaped judgment and scorn on those who meticulously kept the law while at the same time failing to produce the fruit of mercy that God truly desires, which fueled the hatred in them to the point where they nailed Him to a cross.
Personally, I have never been moved to repentance by someone coldly “informing” me of my sin in the name of fulfilling the duty to perform “works of mercy”. Nor have I been moved to conversion by anyone more interested in flexing their knowledge of scripture and tradition than in showing the captivating compassion given by Jesus as the standard of behavior required for His followers. Even further, I’ve never been convinced that the Catholic Church is the one true Church by anyone who pays lip service to the fundamental belief that the Holy Spirit works through the Pope, while at the same time relentlessly tearing him down when he says anything that threatens their own self-constructed worldview. Especially when the Pope is saying something that directly aligns with everything Jesus said and did in the gospels, and especially when they point to something Paul wrote to trump something Jesus said. I am absolutely convinced that the thorn in Paul’s side was his pharisaical streak that never completely went away. But that’s an entirely different discussion.
There isn’t anything or anyone holier that Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. On every page of the gospels, He gave Himself to those who were clearly in the wrong. That is precisely what we are called to do. Some accepted Him and some rejected Him. We would do well to carefully examine who was on each side, and what it actually means to reject Him.
The story in your link is indeed a travesty, but not really relevant to this discussion. If Pope Francis has reprimanded this Cardinal for being judgmental in his homily, then I apologize; that would convince me that I’ve been wrong this whole time.
Sometimes we need a pretty severe picture of the state we are in.
You just bashed St. Paul!
Thank you for demonstrating what I mean by “tone deaf”.
So was Paul wrong to publicly rebuke and judge the man in the church in Corinth for sleeping with his step-mother, or was this remnants of his “pharisaical streak” thorn in the flesh coming out?
While, yes, ultimately the visible head of the church, but the immediate context of this passage is in regards to the local church.