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Bishops must challenge errant teaching (Update II)

I think the following really speaks for itself.
Vatican, Oct. 3, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pastors and especially bishops have a solemn duty to "protect the faith of the People of God," Pope Benedict XVI said in his weekly public audience on October 3.

In a talk dedicated primarily to the work of St. Cyril of Alexandria, the Pope underlined the importance of preserving the true faith and combating errors in teaching. He reminded his audience that "anyone who disturbs the least of those who believe in Christ will suffer unbearable punishment."
St. Cyril, who was bishop of Alexander for 30 years in the early 5th century, was energetic in fighting the Nestorian heresy because he recognized the vital importance of maintaining the apostolic tradition intact, Pope Benedict said. That tradition, the Pontiff added, is "a guarantee of continuity with the apostles and with Christ Himself."

For his efforts, St. Cyril was recognized as the "custodian of accuracy-- in other words, the custodian of the true faith," the Pope observed. He stressed that the duty to preserve that faith, free from error, "remains valid today."

St. Cyril found it necessary to challenge the influence of his colleague Nestorius, the Bishop of Constantinople, because Nestorius taught that Mary was the "mother of Christ" but not the "mother of God." The error of that teaching, Pope Benedict explained, lies in the fact that "safeguarding the importance of Christ's humanity led to the assertion that it was divided from his divinity, thus denying the true union between God and man in Christ."

St. Cyril demanded and won the recognition of the Christian world that Christ's humanity cannot be separated from his divinity, and that Mary is the Mother of God. "This is important," the Pope noted. "The eternal God was born of a woman, and remains with us always."

The Holy Father's appearance in St. Peter's Square was greeted by a large crowd, estimated by Vatican officials at 40,000, as he returned to Rome following his summer stay in Castel Gandolfo.
Especially as two other blogs have posts up on related matters. Frank Ritchie of A Servant's Thoughts fires a shot across the bow of preachers who are just in it for the money, and Andrei of The Briefing Room points out how far the Anglicans have gone from Holy Scripture in with regards to homosexuality.

UPDATE: Frank Ritchie has gone into detail on the Word of Faith preachers, who sound to me like a cross between Gnostics and New Agers, with some of the Nestorian heresy as mentioned above thrown in. Very interesting. For more, read Word of Faith. My Line in the Sand.

UPDATE II: AJ Chesswas has more on the problem within Anglicanism in NZ.

Related Links: Catholic World News

Comments

  1. Frank Ritchie has put a follow up post on his blog. I think it is fair to say he is not just shooting across the bow of those preachers now. I think he is pulling out the anti aircraft guns and is trying to bring down those private jets with some hefty fire.

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  2. I just hope the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand take heed of Benedict's words. They are a timely reminder that some of their ideas are not new, and seriously damaging.

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  3. Thanks, Jackson. I'll update my post.

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  4. Indeed Lucyna;

    People of Faith need to work together to protect the Faith.

    Something which is the real substance of this article but buried within it so it might be easily missed by the secular who might fear the implications.

    But in a 50-minute appearance Alexy focused mainly on the need for Europe to rediscover its Christian values and abandon moral relativism, arguing that there was a "break between human rights and morality, and this break threatens the European civilization."

    "We can see it in a new generation of rights that contradict morality, and in how human rights are used to justify immoral behavior," Alexy said. He has called for an alliance with the Roman Catholic Church on moral issues.

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  5. I will be pretty dissapointed if the Catholic and Orthodox Chruches don't rejoin in my lifetime.
    Ya just can't have a good conversation about the real presence with an Anglican or Evangelical as you can with an Orthodox. That alone should be a clue to others...

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  6. the update regarding my post links to Frank's blog...

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  7. So, here we have it, in the clearest possible terms that the catholic Church is anti-democratic, anti-freedom.

    Why should I suffer unbearable punishment for exercising my freedom to criticise the catholic faith, or indeed any other faith?

    Am I to be a slave to the dictates of the pONTIF OF fAIRYLAND?

    Is there free will if i am not free to exercise it?

    This is a classical example of why atheism is on the march to halt the spread of hateful doctrines.

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  8. Fugley, you have free will. What it allows you to do is choose how you want to act. What free will doesn't allow you to do is dictate the consequences of your actions.

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  9. Why should I suffer unbearable punishment for exercising my freedom to criticise the catholic faith, or indeed any other faith?

    That is precisely the attitude that got a certain angel kicked out of Heaven. It wants the freedom but not the consequence. Boo bloody hoo..

    And before you get all flustered, I'm talking the attitude, not the person.

    And atheism is not on the march to halt hateful doctrines; it is on the march to prevent its own demise whilst spreading its own hateful curse which results in the insanity of its holders.

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  10. Lucyna, then what you are offering me is not free will. It is a choice between reward and punishment.

    Most people, when offerred a choice between reward and punishment will always chioose the former over the latter. So, how does that equate to free will?

    Why should there be a punishment for exercising my free will to ignore god? Sort of makes god look like a very paranoid control freak.

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  11. MrT, atheism doesn't actually ahve doctrines. All atheists are free to live their own lives as they see fit; in other words, atheism leads to true free will.

    And I sure see no evidence of a curse or insanity in my life, or the lives of my friends and family. Now d4j on the other hand ...

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  12. Fugley, all that is good comes from God. So you reject God, you reject all that is good. You can't have the good without God. That was what the best and the brightest of all the angels in Heaven wanted, and look at what he is now. So you either move towards God or away from God. There are no other choices.

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  13. Not at all Lucyna. There are many people who live good lives, do good works, without the need for god. You know, there are even people who believe in gods other than your own who do good.

    But, back to the point at hand:

    I really would like to understand how you can reconcile free will with abhorrent punishments for anyone who exercises that free will. If there was no punishmnet, then there would be free will.

    Fortunatly for me, I have no need of fairies in the sky, so I do get to exercise my free will, safe in the knowledge that there is no penalty for being free.

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  14. Hell is a neverending debate on the existence of God.

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