So the Pope has riled non-Catholics with his new document that says Protestants don't have real churches. I don't pretend to be a theologian, but I'm not sure I fully (partly, but not fully) understand the fuss. Consider this paragraph from the FoxNews story:
The new document -- formulated as five questions and answers -- restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, Dominus Iesus, which riled Protestant, Lutheran and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."
I think this is more of a question of definitions. If the Pope says they're not true churches because they don't have the "means of salvation," I'm not sure the non-Catholics would disagree. Protestants emphasize the direct pipeline to the God, with no earthly intermediary--i.e., no sacramental router known as the "priesthood." I remember one articulate, if somewhat rabid, Protestant explaining it to me boldly while I was at the University of Michigan: "The Pope is the Antichrist, because he stands between God and man." He went on to say, "Catholics admit it. They think they need the Catholic Church and its priests to connect to God."
If you ask the average Protestant on the street, I think he'd say that he's directly saved and doesn't need a church to do it. In that, the Protestant doesn't view his church as the "means of salvation," so he's in agreement with B16.
Just my simple take.
__________
The land of dope and buggery. California? Nope: Canada ranks fifth worldwide when it comes to marijuana usage, but ranks first among industrialized nations, according to the 2007 World Drug Report. Unrelated sex and stoning story: In a rare confirmation, Iran on Tuesday said a man convicted of adultery was stoned to death last week in a village in the northern part of the country, Iran's judiciary spokesman said.
__________
Congratulations to the Tigers-led AL All-Star team. Eleven seasons without a loss.
