Tag Archive for ‘papacy’ at bcg

Tag Archive for 'papacy'

Humility and the popes

on 1 April 2008

. 0 Comments

Susie and I recently returned from a few days in Rome, courtesy of her great aunt. I have wanted to visit the Eternal City for years, mostly to see the Roman ruins, which are, well, ruins, but still spectacular! The best preserved is probably the Pantheon, which is incredible, but the Colosseum and Baths are not far behind.

We also visited the Vatican museums and St Peter's. The Sistine chapel really is quite special, as are many other things in the museums. However, St Peter's basilica provides much food for thought. In huge letters the front reads:

IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII

That is, translated, 'In honor of the prince of apostles by Paul V Borghese, a Roman, Supreme Pontiff, in the year 1612 and the seventh year of his pontificate.'

All very well and good, but what you actually see when you look at it is 'PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS', because it's in the middle, on the central pediment! This is the story throughout Rome: the most prominent place is always given to the name of the Pope. Even on the side of the Colosseum pope Pius IX gets pride of place!

While there I read this verse:

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honour.

Proverbs 15.33 (ESV)

And also this verse:

For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2.21 (ESV)

I couldn't help but think of all the popes who have sought their own interests, their own honour, before God's. All it would take is 'SOLA DEO GLORIA' ('only for God's glory') as an inscription.

The challenge to us is how easy it was for the popes to behave like this - and we are no different. I'm sure if I was the pope and built an enormous church I'd be tempted to stick my name on it somewhere for the generations to see.

Barth on Liturgy and the Apostolic Succession

The absolutely never breaking permanent link to this post.
Published

bcg

on 2 November 2007

in Bible, Quotations and Theology

. 0 Comments

I'm currently reading a lot of Barth. Expect more quotations to come!

It is a strange thing that when there are revisions of books of order and hymn-books in the Evangelical churches every possible authority is usually consulted as standard but not dogmatic science. The results usually correspond.

Barth, Church Dogmatics I.1, 81

Perhaps we could add modern worship songs to the list; one of my constant frustrations in churches is the use of songs with poor - sometimes misleading - theology.

Here is a typically long sentence by Barth, but he makes (I think) an excellent point. I heard it made similarly a couple of days ago: the apostolic succession means those who succeed the previous generation in faith and doctrine, not physically by the laying-on of hands. This is similar to Paul's argument in Romans 4 about the descendents of Abraham being by faith, not flesh.

The protest of Protestantism in this question of [Apostolic] succession is directed solely and simply against the fact that the Tu es Petrus, etc., is mechanically transferred over Peter's head to every succeeding bishop as a second, third and hundredth Peter, as if the succession and tradition of the Peter of Mt. 16 to whom flesh and blood had not revealed such things, could be related to any succession but a spiritual one, or as if, being spiritual, it could be tied to the secular circumstance of a list of bishops of this kind.

Barth, Church Dogmatics I.1, 103

Although 'the Rock' is Peter himself, he is only called 'the Rock' after he makes a confession about who Jesus is. So, Peter is properly 'the Rock' on which the church will be built only as one who rightly confesses who Jesus is. Those who truly succeed Peter in the church are therefore those who rightly confess who Jesus is.

Of course, such people do include many (hopefully most!) bishops. But it is important to stress that those bishops only have ecclesiastical authority derived from Peter if they too make the confession: 'Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.'

‘Churches back plan to unite under Pope’

The absolutely never breaking permanent link to this post.
Published

bcg

on 19 February 2007

in Church

. 0 Comments

Today in The Times I was somewhat shocked to read the front-page headline: 'Churches back plan to unite under Pope. It seemed from the article that at some point in the next few months there was a real chance that the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches might unite.

This, of course, is not the case. The Anglican Communion News Service released the following statement:

Clarifications etc.

The statement makes clear that the document in question, Growing Together in Unity and Mission is 'an attempt to synthesize the work of ARCIC (the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission) over the past 35 years.'

So unity isn't imminent, then! The document 'identifies the level of agreement which has been reached by ARCIC, but is also very clear in identifying ongoing areas of disagreement, and in raising questions which still need to be addressed in dialogue.'

Today was obviously a slow day for the news men at The Times. But there is no excuse for such sensationalism. It's tabloid journalism, certainly not what you'd expect from The Times. It could even be seen as dishonest, deliberately mis-reporting (if that's a word) a fairly unsensational document.

I shall let the press release have the last word:

'It is unfortunate that [the] contents [of the document] have been prematurely reported in a way which misrepresents its intentions and sensationalises its conclusions.'