A
andyandely1997
Guest
From the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when Pope Benedict XVI was the prefect.
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of freedom and a force for liberation. In recent years, this essential truth has become the object of reflection for theologians, with a new kind of attention which is itself full of promise.
Liberation is first and foremost liberation from the radical slavery of sin. Its end and its goal is the freedom of the children of God, which is the gift of grace. As a logical consequence, it calls for freedom from many different kinds of slavery in the cultural, economic, social, and political spheres, all of which derive ultimately from sin, and so often prevent people from living in a manner befitting their dignity. To discern clearly what is fundamental to this issue and what is a by-product of it, is an indispensable condition for any theological reflection on liberation.
Faced with the urgency of certain problems, some are tempted to emphasize, unilaterally, the liberation from servitude of an earthly and temporal kind. They do so in such a way that they seem to put liberation from sin in second place, and so fail to give it the primary importance it is due. Thus, their very presentation of the problems is confused and ambiguous. Others, in an effort to learn more precisely what are the causes of the slavery which they want to end, make use of different concepts without sufficient critical caution. It is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to purify these borrowed concepts of an ideological inspiration which is compatible with Christian faith and the ethical requirements which flow from it".
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html
This is what has been happening in our country for long time. We separate sin from justice altogether or move sin to second place, as if sin does not exist or requires our attention. The goal of relieving suffering without any relation to sin is drawing us away from God. This is why we have abortion, we do not want the mother to suffer. This is why we have assisted suicide, we do not want the person to suffer. This is why we separate the gospel from social justice, we do not want to impose our views on anyone. We do not want anyone to suffer from the conviction of sin one might feel. We cannot separate the mercy of Christ from His justice. As long as we continue to shy away from confronting sin in our country, all of this government social justice will be futile.
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of freedom and a force for liberation. In recent years, this essential truth has become the object of reflection for theologians, with a new kind of attention which is itself full of promise.
Liberation is first and foremost liberation from the radical slavery of sin. Its end and its goal is the freedom of the children of God, which is the gift of grace. As a logical consequence, it calls for freedom from many different kinds of slavery in the cultural, economic, social, and political spheres, all of which derive ultimately from sin, and so often prevent people from living in a manner befitting their dignity. To discern clearly what is fundamental to this issue and what is a by-product of it, is an indispensable condition for any theological reflection on liberation.
Faced with the urgency of certain problems, some are tempted to emphasize, unilaterally, the liberation from servitude of an earthly and temporal kind. They do so in such a way that they seem to put liberation from sin in second place, and so fail to give it the primary importance it is due. Thus, their very presentation of the problems is confused and ambiguous. Others, in an effort to learn more precisely what are the causes of the slavery which they want to end, make use of different concepts without sufficient critical caution. It is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to purify these borrowed concepts of an ideological inspiration which is compatible with Christian faith and the ethical requirements which flow from it".
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html
This is what has been happening in our country for long time. We separate sin from justice altogether or move sin to second place, as if sin does not exist or requires our attention. The goal of relieving suffering without any relation to sin is drawing us away from God. This is why we have abortion, we do not want the mother to suffer. This is why we have assisted suicide, we do not want the person to suffer. This is why we separate the gospel from social justice, we do not want to impose our views on anyone. We do not want anyone to suffer from the conviction of sin one might feel. We cannot separate the mercy of Christ from His justice. As long as we continue to shy away from confronting sin in our country, all of this government social justice will be futile.