Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Pope Benedict's United States's Trip is In the Bible

Tip of the Hat again to the busy Anchoress.

Well it might not be the exact people and personalities but it is the ultimate precursor to today. In truth we don't see any new Heresy nowadays. It is often the same ole thing we saw over 1500 years ago. Just repackaged with a new people. It only seems new because people don't know their history It is the same as to Paul and the Corinthians and Benedict and the in this case the American Church. It only seems new because perhaps people are not reading their bibles.

The wonderful Mark Shea in the American Specator says in part:
They say, 'His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.'"So wrote the Apostle Paul describing the scuttlebutt about himself in one of his periodic gusts of annoyance with the Church at Corinth.

The Corinthians had definite ideas about what an apostle should look and sound like and Paul did not measure up in their eyes. Part of the problem was that there seemed to be a disconnect in the minds of the Corinthians between how Paul sounded in print and the way he came off in person.

Communication wasn't especially helped by the fact that the Corinthians were pretty confident they were All That and that Paul would really be improved if he would just listen to their up-to-date theories. Throughout the correspondence that constitutes 1 and 2 Corinthians, you can see Paul patiently (and sometimes not-so-patiently) attempting to shepherd a group of people who are blissfully confident that they had it together.

The Corinthians brag about their tolerance of sexual immorality, revel in class inequalities, pull their chins thoughtfully while the latest philosopher tells them there is no resurrection from the dead, resent Paul's authority, are all excited about some new moral theory that "Grace" = "Go Nuts and Do Whatever you Want!", as well as various other alarums and discursions that force the apostle to put out a bunch of fires.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. The Corinthians sound remarkably American. And as you survey the Mainstream Media (MSM) coverage about Pope Benedict, who is visiting America this week, what comes through again and again is that much of the MSM is already weary of hearing what it has never yet heard.

Many come to bury Benedict, not to praise him, let alone listen to him. Their minds are made up. Like the Far Side cartoon about what we say and what dogs hear, much of the press coverage will consist of TV spots which will consist pretty much of regurgitations of The American Media Narrative on Benedict: "Benedict blah blah blah Hitler Youth blah blah blah God's Rottweiler blah blah blah inflexible blah blah blah homosexuality, divorce, women priests blah blah blah Vatican crackdown, etc. blah blah."

Read the rest at the link. Good stuff

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