From: Ben Grimm
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:35 AM
To: Father Phil Bloom
Subject: Please Tell Me You Don't Agree With This
_Todays Boston Globe:
Citing teachings dating back to the Second Vatican
Council, and statements by Pope John Paul II
throughout his papacy, the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops declared unequivocally that the
biblical covenant between Jews and God is valid and
therefore Jews do not need to be saved through faith
in Jesus.
This is a blatant contradiction of the entire Gospel
of Jesus Christ. WHO was God at work in as an apostle
to the JEWS in Galatians 2:8?
For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as
an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my
ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
They have now rejected the entire New Testament.
Rome has now declared that GOD was WRONG!!
Who did the apostles James, Peter & John agree to
evangelize to in Galatians 2:9?
James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars,
gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when
they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed
that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the
Jews.
In Christ is the message. Christs one time all
sufficient death (Hebrews 10) as a propitiation for
those who believe is the message. The birth of the
Messiah is the message.
BELIEVE is the message!
Some questions to Rome:
Who does John tell us in John 20:31 to BELIEVE is the
Son of God and WHY?
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing
you may have life in his name.
LIFE in Whos name? How?
And who does John tell us will not perish in John
3:16?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
But who does John say will be condemned in John
3:18?
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever
does not believe stands condemned already because he
has not believed in the name of Gods one and only
Son.
In Matthew 28:18-20 who does Christ commission the
apostles to make His disciples and teach to obey
everything He commanded in the name of the Father and
of the Son and the Holy Spirit? ALL NATIONS!
What does Paul say in Romans 1:16? I am not ashamed
of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone that believes: first the JEW,
then the Gentile.
In the book of Romans (9:6)does not Paul makes it
emphatically clear that not all who are descended
from Israel are Israel.
Does he not go on to say in 10:12-13 For there is no
difference between Jew and Gentilethe same Lord is
Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
for Everyone that calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved.
What is Pauls desire in Romans 10:1-4?!! Read it!
Brothers, my hearts desire and prayer to God for the
Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can
testify about them that they are zealous for God, but
their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did
not know the righteousness that comes from God and
sought to establish their own, they did not submit to
Gods righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so
that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes.
Everyone that what? BELIEVES!
Who did Paul pray to God for? THE ISRAELITES!
What charge does Paul give Timothy in 2 Timothy
4:2?!
PREACH THE WORD!
And what does he warn him about in verse 3-4?!
For the time will come when men will not put up with
sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn
aside to myths.
ROME has turned away from the truth!
And what encouragement in verse 5 does Paul then give
Timothy?
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure
hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all
the duties of your ministry.
Who does Paul say is the Head of the Body, the
church in Colossians 1:18? CHRIST!
Who is the gospel proclaimed to in Colossians 1:23?
EVERY CREATURE UNDER HEAVEN
What does Paul warn us against in Colossians 2:8?
See to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on
human tradition and the basic principles of this world
rather than on Christ.
Who does Peter address in Acts 2:14,21 and who does he
say will be saved?
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice
and addressed the crowd: Fellow Jews and all of you
who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you;
listen carefully to what I say.......And everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Who was Peter evangelizing to in Acts? What does he
tell the Jewish leaders? Salvation is found in no
one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Who does Peter tell us in 2 Peter 3:18 to grow in the
grace and knowledge of? Our Lord and SAVIOR Jesus
Christ.
And what does Peter also warn us against in 2 Peter
2:1-3?
But there were also false prophets among the people,
just as there will be false teachers among you. They
will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the sovereign Lord who bought thembringing
swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow
their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth
into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will
exploit you with stories they have made up. Their
condemnation has long been hanging over them, and
their destruction has not been sleeping.
Who does Peter say they are denying??? The
Sovereign Lord.
Who is the Soveriegn Lord??? JESUS CHRIST
And finally...
Who told the entire world today that the Jews did not
have to have faith in Jesus Christ, the SOVEREIGN
LORD?!!
ROME!
Read on:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/225/metro/Catholics_reject_evangelization_of_JewsP.shtml
Catholics reject evangelization of Jews
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 8/13/2002
The Catholic Church, which spent hundreds of years
trying forcibly to convert Jews to Christianity, has
come to the conclusion that it is theologically
unacceptable to target Jews for evangelization,
according to a statement issued yesterday by
organizations representing US Catholic bishops and
rabbis from the countrys two largest Jewish
denominations.
Citing teachings dating back to the Second Vatican
Council, and statements by Pope John Paul II
throughout his papacy, the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops declared unequivocally that the
biblical covenant between Jews and God is valid and
therefore Jews do not need to be saved through faith
in Jesus.
A deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal
covenant between God and the Jewish people, together
with a recognition of a divinely-given mission to Jews
to witness to Gods faithful love, lead to the
conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for
conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically
acceptable in the Catholic Church, declares the
document, Reflections on Covenant and Mission.
The declaration, which was negotiated by the bishops
and an organization representing Conservative and
Reform rabbis, demonstrates the dramatic changes in
Catholic thinking about Jews and Judaism in the wake
of the Holocaust. In the decades since Hitlers
attempt to exterminate Jews during World War II, the
church has rejected its longtime position that
Christianity superseded Judaism and instead has
embraced Judaism as a legitimate faith both before and
after the life of Jesus.
The significance is far more than theological,
because for centuries it was the refusal of Jews to
embrace Christian teachings that legitimized the
persecution, and often murder, of Jews in communities
throughout Christendom, said Robert Leikind, New
England regional director of the Anti-Defamation
League. What the bishops have done here is decisively
separated themselves from that history and indicated
once and for all that Jews have an authentic
relationship with God and an authentic mission in the
world, and therefore there is no reason for, or logic
in, trying to evangelize Jews.
Jesus and his early followers were Jewish, but those
who embraced Christianity began to turn on those who
did not more than a millennium ago. Violence by
Christians against Jews began with the Crusades and
anti-Semitism intensified during the Middle Ages and
informed the Nazi effort during the Holocaust.
Catholic teaching began to shift dramatically in the
early 1960s, when the Second Vatican Council declared
that the Jews must not be presented as rejected by
God. Since then, Catholics have abandoned efforts to
convert Jews and have emphasized in religious
teachings that Jesus was Jewish.
Catholic and Jewish officials said the statement was
the sharpest definition to date of the evolving
relationship between Catholics and Jews. Cardinal
William Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore and the
bishops liaison for Christian-Jewish relations,
called yesterdays declaration a significant step
forward in the dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the Jewish community in this country.
However, the declaration puts the Catholic Church at
odds with evangelical Protestants, particularly the
Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant
denomination in the country. In a 1996 resolution, the
Southern Baptists declared, whereas Jesus commanded
that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem ... we direct our energies and resources
toward the proclamation of the gospel to the Jewish
people. At the time, the Southern Baptists decried
an organized effort on the part of some either to
deny that Jewish people need to come to their Messiah,
Jesus, to be saved; or to claim, for whatever reason,
that Christians have neither right nor obligation to
proclaim the gospel to the Jewish people ... we are
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
The Southern Baptists stance has not changed since,
according to spokesman John Revell. The drive behind
not just the Southern Baptists but all evangelical
Christians is the conviction that Jesus Christ is the
only way to have eternal life with God the Father, and
anybody who seeks eternal life through any other means
will fail, Revell said. There is a misconception
that Southern Baptists have targeted Jews. We havent
targeted Jews. Our focus is to get the good news of
Jesus Christ to all people, including Jews. Eugene
J. Fisher, the director of Catholic-Jewish Relations
for the bishops conference, said the document issued
yesterday acknowledges the divide between Catholics
and evangelical Protestants on the issue.
This is a free country and that principle of freedom
of faith means I cant complain about their freedom,
but here there might be a theological difference as
well as a pastoral difference in understanding the
relation of Christs church to the Jewish people, he
said.
Fisher said Catholic efforts to convert Jews dried
up after the Second Vatican Council. He cited as an
example the Sisters of Zion, a religious order that
once focused on trying to convert Jews, but after
World War II decided on interfaith dialogue instead.
Yesterdays declaration caps a development in a
certain theological direction, by pulling it all
together, he said. In the US, the motivation of the
American bishops to watch that development closely is
very strong, because of the dialogue with the
worlds largest Jewish community, which is in the US.
The rabbis and bishops have been meeting twice a year
for two decades and have issued statements on such
topics as the environment and hate crimes. They said
they hope yesterdays declaration will influence
Catholic-Jewish dialogues and help end the continuing
ignorance and caricatures of one another that still
prevail in many segments of the Catholic
and Jewish communities.
Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
PS.
Just who are these men that can dare change God's Word
and claim authority over millions of faithful Roman
catholics as they command full submission of
intellect and will. This authority can never be
questioned without the threat of being anathema
(condemned to hell) as we read in Rome's Canon Law
599:
While the assent of faith is not required, a
religious submission of intellect and will is to be
given to any doctrine which either the Supreme Pontiff
or the College of Bishops, exercising their authentic
Magisterium, declare upon a matter of faith and
morals, even though they do not intend to proclaim
that doctrine by definitive act. Christs faithful are
therefore to ensure that they avoid whatever does not
accord with that doctrine.
How sad...
Ben
**********
Father Phil Bloom
wrote:
Dear Ben,
One must be very naive to expect the Boston Globe to
accurately represent
the teaching of any Christian body.
Reply
Boston Globe's Misleading Article on Catholic Church
The Bogus Knights of Columbus Oath