I kind of find this interesting. I've not known what to make of Medjugorje for a while. I've had concerns because there are some people who believe that the private revelation happening there is more universal than what it is.
Let me explain. The church mandates that the dogmatic and moral truths of the faith be believed by all the faithful. It's our obligation to understand what those dogmatic and moral teachings are. In other words, the church teaches emphatically that there are three persons to the trinity; Father, Son, and Spirit. It's our responsibility to know that and not believe that there is, in truth, a fourth person named Jim. But, there are also personal revelations (not in scripture but connected to spirituality) wherein God intervenes in human history to promote faith on a pesonal basis. These personal revelations are often appearances of Mary and are definitely not mandated by the universal church for all to believe. It's supposed to strengthen the faith of individual believers.
The problem with Medjugorje is that some of the people believe they are getting revelations that are more universal in scope, ones that the entire church needs to believe. If that's true, it weakens the universality of the revelation of Jesus Christ (scripture and tradition) and, therefore, weakens the claims of the church. I believe that's why the bishop is encouraging silence. These are supposed to be private.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
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2 comments:
What???
Jim is NOT the fourth person of the trinity.
Beer IS :) But not consubstantially; we only experience beer on earth. Hence, in heaven there is no beer...
I think it's kinda like my buddy Ben Franklin once said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
There's my theology on tap for the day.
I posted the bishop's comments on my blog and got several vicious e-mails from believers.
Despite what some people believe private revelations do not equal doctrine or Revelation.
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