This from the Adventist church publication out of Ireland. I would like to hear from Adventists out there about this article written by a SDA pastor.
You can also read a transcript of the pope's speech here:
http://www.ewtn.com/papalvisituk/words.htm
Time to dialogue. Would love to get comments.
3 comments:
Its the church bi-weekly magazine for the British Union Conference (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland).
This article is written by the Union President and is similar to a worship he shared in the Union office shortly before the first papal state visit to Britain.
I've met the Pastor who wrote the article several times and he seems to be a decent chap, though I don't know him personally.
The problem I have with the article is the way it has a good old stab at Catholics, and the 'Biblical' reasons for doing so, before declaring that we shouldn't be having a good old stab at Catholics and the 'Biblical' reasons... you get the picture.
Is it really necessary to cite traditional Adventist (and much-disputed) interpretations of scripture in order to assert what Adventists believe, and once again stamp the Pope with the mark of the beast? Certainly not when it rudely demeans a professed believer, or group of such. Isn't it God's job to pull His servants in line? I am not denying our responsibility towards the spiritual growth and nourishment of those in our midst, and we must try to have unity on essentials of Bible teaching, but there's an element of dogmatism and 'holier than thou' that is hard to deal with sometimes.
Frankly, I'm tired of the superior attitude some Christians have about other believers. I refuse to see Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, non-denoms and all others as being outside the body of Christ.
I may be back to comment further at a later date :)
The article does take some stabs but less than usual! For that I am thankful. Time for Adventist scholars to rethink their last day model.
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