You may have something there, tirk. Shock value. Perhaps, I don't give this Pope enough credit for knowing how to work the media. I probably wouldn't have read the article if he had just given the usual Hosanna's. This German guy may be smarter than the average Pope. Or perhaps he just feels more guilt than Polish and Italian Popes since he was a former Hitler Youth and Wehrmacht soldier. Germans have a lot of angst about the Nazi era.
Christ denounced religion that was from man and not from God. I beleive Catholicism is from God. So does that mean I am not religious?
Scripture says to test the teachers of the Word against the Word. I believe that the HRCAC fails on all counts, if not only for misleading a billion people into thinking they are gaining favor with God by attending mass and receiving communion once a week then going on in their daily lives. I think you are among the minority of true Christians in the Church who really understand that the rules and regulations aren't getting you anywhere, and its unfortunate.
do you think its possible he was simply overwhelmed by the tragedy of it all? that's what I was thinking. Ya know, just watching band of brothers even though Ive seen it 100 times overwhelms me in certain instances. Being amongst it has to be quite moving.
"What rules do I follow? My justification is based on the cross alone" -- LSUDeek, 2006 Do you not "turn the other cheek"? Or "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? How about "accept the Lord Christ as your personal savior"? Are these not rules for any Christian? Perhaps you mean that you don't practice rituals. But surely there are rules and doctrine for Christians. martin would consider prayer itself to be a ritualistic practice. Citation please, chapter and verse. And a question. So . . . why is the Old Testament still retained and revered by Christians if it was denounced?
But the rules and regulations do get us somewhere. They are the tools we use to accept the grace that the cross brings us. I'm sure alot of folks are saved without them as we know of many thousands of Saints and only one person is known to be damned (Judas). I just rather stay inline with Orthodox Christianity.
