Saturday 12 December 2009

But of Bennie's 'Kind Offer' Rowan says . . .

One of the fun things to come out from Rowan's little chat with the telegraph was the fact that Benedict's 'kind offer' to take all those pre Vatican II practising Anglicans across the Tiber has been 'played down' by him.

As Rowan correctly says, "A great many Anglo-Catholics have a good reason for not being Roman Catholics. Because they do not see the Pope as infallible and this is why they continue to press for a solution in Anglican terms, rather than what many see as a theologically (rather) eccentric option."

Those who have spoken of swimming the Tiber must now, as the Bishop of Ebbsfleet has said, "Either put up or shut up!" (Hallelujah for that)

The reality is that having some old geezer in Rome being able to speak as if it were God himself is a big sticking point for so many orthodox Christians. Mind you, at least he does speak out on matters of principle and does bring people back to an applied Christianity - more than we see from many within our denomination, something some would trade the odd heretical Papal Bull for!

I understand that Limbo has gone (How low could they go?) but that Purgatory still exists - another place of contention for me, but perhaps I can be indulged here?

The Marian aspects leave me troubled and far away from removing my clothes and putting on my Tiber swimming kit. If she was born without sin, this makes whole 'Jesus Myth' out to be nothing more than a con, she merely played a role and wasn't human at all. To have had no further children (mistranslation of adelphos and its variants in the LXX helps here) is a piece of stretching it too far accommodation. The final straw comes when we find she's 'translated', an extra-Biblical cherry on an already unpalatable cake.

So - at last Rowan raises two fingers, but only slightly - but it's a start.

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