From: Peter Parker
Mr. Bloom,
Unfortunately you took my claim about popes out of the
context to what I was referring to. I am sorry as it
is partially my fault. I will try and explain better.
Rome has decreed that their popes are "infallible" as
are all councils when making decisions on teachings of
faith and morals. These are supposedly successors of
Peter. My argument is why would God choose men to
represent Him which history has clearly (and you
yourself admit) have lived lives in total
contradiction to Christ. It's simple, He hasn't, man
has. Man has invented many ways to put himself over
others and align himself with God. Mr. Bloom, there
is "no man" infallible in any aspect of life. This
honor is reserved for God Himself. Yet, you also
ignore the many examples I set forth of how Peter
"never", by his own words, exalted himself over
anyone. There is no Biblical evidence that anyone
recognized Peter as a supreme pontiff.
As for Moses. Mr. Bloom, even for a "simple priest"
you must have known that these anathema's that you
refer to in Deuteronomy 27:14-26 have absolutely
nothing in common with those imposed by the Roman
church. Moses spoke under the "Inspiration of God".
In other words Mr. Bloom, these were God's words not
man's. Did you care to read Deuteronomy 27:10? I'll
do it for you..
"Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and
decrees that I give you today"
You see Mr. Bloom, one must first understand the whole
context of these passages before using them. These
were clearly set forth by God. The council of Trent
set forth over 200 anathema's "by men" condemning men.
And they were simply put forth to stop sincere
catholics from demanding change (reformation) within a
corrupt church.
As for your following claim: "I am a simple priest,
Peter. I have no learning or accomplishments to rely
on - only the Divine Mercy."
Mr. Bloom, you surprise me. You have all the time you
need to become a learned man. Actually, this is the
responsibilty that you have taken on. How else can
you teach? Why is it that I, a "simple" lay person,
with a family and a job that requires me to be away
from Scripture for at least 10 hrs a day, can be
learned? You have no excuse. Divine Mercy is a
beautiful gift to those whom God grants this grace. I
ask you, does it stop there? Are we not to live out
our faith? This includes reading His word daily and
evangelizing the truth to others. The following verse
should be posted on the wall of your office..
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks you to give the reason for the hope that you
have" 1 Peter 3:15.
Mr. Bloom, these answers can only come from those who
do not look upon themselves as merely "a simple priest
with no learning or accomplishments to rely on."
I do agree with you that it is indeed "Christ Alone -
In His Fullness" and let me add that no human being
can add to this sufficient sacrifice of the debt that
only Christ could pay. We owed a debt we could not
pay. Christ paid that debt He did not owe. Anyone
who thinks he can add anything to this toward one's
own salvation or the salvation of another, is taking
away from the Divine commission set forth by this once
and only complete sacrifice. For if we could add
anything to this, Christ died for nothing. Read
Hebrews 9:12-28, 10:1-14. I commend you if you truly
belive in Christ alone, unfortunately the institution
in which you serve has added much to this sacrifice,
all of which is merely man-made tradition.
As you are busy looking for a defensive answer to the
questions and statements that I have given to you, I
ask you to give me your understanding of 1 Timothy
2:5-6.
Mr. Bloom, I urge you to look to the Scriptures daily.
Not as a defense against other religions, as is the
case with many catholics as well as protestants. We
should always pray to God before we look to His Word
that He may reveal His truth to us as a means to learn
so that we can proclaim this truth to others. God
answered my prayers while I was a practicing catholic.
I have read the Catechism of the catholic church,
Vatican II, Baltimore catechism etc. and then by God's
grace I read the Bible. Mr. Bloom, the Bible won and
the "truth set me free."
I pray the same for you and your readers.
Peace and grace,
Peter
PS..We can look to man's writings to learn of man's
history. His teachings however must be compared to
Scripture. If they are not to be found there we must
ask why and again, in most cases we will be horrified
at the answer. I need not look to any web-site
created by the thoughts and biased opinions of man. I
happen to have been blessed with the ability to find
"all" answers in God's Holy Book. Scripture reveals
no primacy of man other than Christ himself and
neither do the historical records of the early church.
The apostle Paul has revealed this truth in 2 Timothy
3:16...
"All Scripture is God - breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be
"thoroughly" equipped for every good work."
Why has man decided to stake a different claim? There
are many answers but each one leads to the broad road.
**********
Oh, Peter, you make false assumptions. I do read the Bible daily. It is what I use for my hour of prayer in the morning - and at other times during the day. I am sure you remember that at Sunday and daily Mass we have a cycle of Scripture readings which is probably more extensive than any other Christian denomination. I have read the Bible (all 72 books, not the abridged version) from cover to cover a number of times. My conclusion is that while the Catholic Church embraces the whole of the Scriptures, those who separate themselves from her tend to focus on a more limited number of texts.
An example: The early Catholic writers (Clement, Irenaeus, Gregory, Augustine, Athanasius, etc.) knew about Matthew 23:9 ("Call no man father...teacher...master...") but they also read Job 29:16, Is. 22:20–21, Acts 7:2, Romans 9:10, 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph. 4:11, 1 Tim 1:18, and 1 Cor. 4:14–15. These texts and others refer to spiritual sons and fathers in the way Catholics use the title for priests. St. Paul rather pointedly tells the Corinthians he is their father. I don't mind you not giving me the customary title of respect, but to be consistent you should not call me "mister" (it'a a form of the word "master"). Also since "doctor" is the Latin word for teacher, do you avoid that title for your physician (or for Billy Graham)? If not, you need to ask yourself whether Jesus' point in Mt. 23:9 was to abolish certain titles of respect - or something more profound.
On the question of infallibility, you seem to be saying the popes could not have taught infallibly because they were sinners. But St. Paul was a sinner - in fact, he considered himself "the worst of sinners." Peter was also a sinner (Lk 5:8). It is hard to imagine a greater sin than the one Peter committed (Mk 14:70, par), yet God used him to guide the early church. (See Lk 22:32, Mt 16:18, Lk 24:34, Jn 21:15, Act 1:13, 2:37, 4:13, 5:3, 5:15, 8:17, 15:7, etc.) Paul tells the Galatians he laid his teaching before Peter (to guarantee its orthodoxy). In Corinthians he mentions Peter in his short of profession of faith. Altho Peter identified himself as a "fellow Elder" (like the pope might call himself a "brother priest") still his name is first on every New Testament list of Apostles. And Peter himself wrote two New Testament books, one of which warns against misinterpretations of St. Paul.
It is true Peter did not exalt himself. He recognized it was God working through him, a weak, sinful human being to carry out a necessary office, that is, to ensure correct teaching - and protect the Church from heresies. The later popes did the same. You are right that infallibility belongs to God, not man. However, since you have read the Catechism, you must know that is exactly what it teaches:
"In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a 'supernatural sense of faith' the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, 'unfailingly adheres to this faith.' #889
I appreciate your comment: "Divine Mercy is a
beautiful gift to those whom God grants this grace. I
ask you, does it stop there? Are we not to live out
our faith?" That is a good statement of the Catholic doctrine of grace and works - altho you might be giving a bit too much emphasis to the latter.
I also appreciated your exhortation to read the Bible non-defensively. Peter, is it safe to say that you see merit in a prayerful study of Scripture?
Am glad we both accept the phrase: Christ Alone - in His Fullness. St. Paul make it clear the fullness of Christ includes His Church (Col 1:18) in heaven and on earth - and that in some way we fill up what is lacking in his suffering (1:24).
Fr. Bloom
P.S. Peter, where did you get this idea: "And if you think I'm just making this up, visit the Vatican and go to this list of Popes they have etched in the walls where the history of the popes are located. Your going to find a couple of hundred years with no names."? When I saw it, it looked pretty complete.
P.P.S. Are you still interested in knowing the distortions contained in Richard Bennett's testimony?
Are Alberto Rivera & Richard Bennett Fake Priests?
Boston Globe's Misleading Article on Catholic Church
The Bogus Knights of Columbus Oath