Hey check out this awesome article about a rad Archbishop from Argentina! We need more guys like this to stand up and tell it how it is. Go Church!
Now this was a really interesting article. I wonder how this is going to play out for World Youth Day. Well the theme is based on Acts 1:8 so we'll see how everything works out in Australia!!
3 comments:
This seems a tad naive, really. The church does change over time, as it must, and while some (like this archbishop) will rail against that change and its proponents, it is not only inevitable but necessary for the church's survival.
The "2000 years of unchanged truth that this Church holds" also reveals a few notable reversals, such as the condemnation of Galileo and his heliocentricity conjecture. There are also more subtle shifts; I don't believe the Catholic church currently advocates the death penalty for homosexual behavior, as Romans 1:34 states is the proper punishment. Finally there are the more quotidian changes such as the revised English translation of mass from Latin (a translation which, before Vatican II, would not have been necessary -- that was perhaps a more jarring shift in thinking also).
So you and the Archbishop and other varied organizations may continue to fight against change in the church and its teachings, but if the church remains rigid and inflexible, it risks alienating its constituents. The scriptures may not change, but their interpretations can.
Werewolf, you misunderstand the issue, but don't worry, this is a common misunderstanding. When people say that Church teaching has not changed in 2000 years, they are referring to the infallible teaching of the Church on issues of faith and morals (ie, doctrine and dogma). This is the Truth that was presented to the Church 2000 years ago and has not changed since then.
That being said, the examples you presented have nothing to do with changes in Church teaching. There is a difference between opinions of members of the Church and actual Church teaching. That the earth was the center of the universe was never a doctrine or dogma of the Church. It was simply the opinion of members of the Church (as well as pretty much everyone else up until the time of Galileo) at that time. Opinions can change. That says nothing about authentic Church teaching.
The revised English translation follows along the same lines. It has never been doctrine or dogma that the Mass had to be in Latin. I know you don't believe this, as that would be very silly to say the least. Therefore this point also doesn't apply to the fact that Church teaching (faith and morals, doctrine and dogma) has not changed in the Church's 2000 year history.
And by Romans 1:34, I'm assuming you meant Romans 1:32 (as there is no verse 34 as far as I can tell), which is the following: "Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." First, this passage doesn't state, as I'm sure you know, that such people should be put to death (ie, the death penalty), but rather that they deserve death. All who sin deserve death; that is the nature of sin. But Christ died for the forgiveness of sins, which is why sinners can be cleansed and enter Heaven instead of dying (for eternity). Also, it was never an official Church teaching (again, doctrine and dogma) that practicing homosexuals should be put to death. And this is the Church that wrote the Bible. The Church, in her understanding of what she wrote, knew the meaning of this passage. I'd trust her understanding rather than what you want to believe about the passage and the Church.
There is something else that a believer in God has to admit. If God is perfect, then God doesn't need to change, as there is no need for it. God said "I will guide you into all truth" and presented the Truth to His one Church in its fullness. Therefore there would never be a need for this truth (which is called doctrine and dogma) to change. Believing that it can change is a statement that either you don't believe God is perfect, or you lack faith in His Church. But to be fair, I'll attribute this to simple ignorance.
Also, in Romans 1:27 it states: "Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity." The important part is the end - they received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. This is a spiritual death, the result in their own persons of their wickedness. It's not speaking of physical death; otherwise they would have died on the spot (putting together the two passages, "[they] received in their own persons the due penalty..." and "all who practice such things deserve death"). Of course, it also speaks about "the mutual degradation of their bodies," which is simply another aspect of the penalty they received in their own persons.
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