- Feb 5, 2002
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There’s a new document from the Vatican, called Dignitas Infinita. It claims that by virtue of being created in God’s image, we each possess “infinite dignity” unaffected by original or even personal sin. So Hell is probably empty. And Christ really didn’t need to be a substitutionary sacrifice for us. His mission was more of an “attaboy” for humanity.
The Stream found two brilliant theologians (Catholic converts Gavin Ashenden and Jules Gomes) to write about the serious doctrinal problems in this pompous, tedious document. I’m not going to address those, except in passing, because in one way they really don’t matter — not to you, the reader, or to serious Catholics. As with our evangelical friends, those well-formed in their faith already know that when it comes to statements by Pope Francis, if it’s true it isn’t new, and if it’s new it isn’t true.
Of course, that’s the core principle of apostolic tradition: the pope is meant to pass along (traditio) unchanged the doctrines of the apostles, perhaps with little clarifications and up-to-date explanations. Anything that’s a genuine novelty is false by definition. When we read that Pope Francis still (for the moment) disapproves of transgenderism, we yawn. He doesn’t have the power to approve of it, and if he did we would defy him.
I wish it were “no biggie” when a pope does preach some new, heretical doctrine — as Francis has on several occasions and as this new document does. But in fact, it’s tragic. It’s an act of vandalism of historic dimensions, like our Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, which tainted our system of justice for decades and corrupted the rule of law, or like a presidential election getting stolen and the thieves imprisoning citizens for protesting.
Continued below.
stream.org
The Stream found two brilliant theologians (Catholic converts Gavin Ashenden and Jules Gomes) to write about the serious doctrinal problems in this pompous, tedious document. I’m not going to address those, except in passing, because in one way they really don’t matter — not to you, the reader, or to serious Catholics. As with our evangelical friends, those well-formed in their faith already know that when it comes to statements by Pope Francis, if it’s true it isn’t new, and if it’s new it isn’t true.
Of course, that’s the core principle of apostolic tradition: the pope is meant to pass along (traditio) unchanged the doctrines of the apostles, perhaps with little clarifications and up-to-date explanations. Anything that’s a genuine novelty is false by definition. When we read that Pope Francis still (for the moment) disapproves of transgenderism, we yawn. He doesn’t have the power to approve of it, and if he did we would defy him.
I wish it were “no biggie” when a pope does preach some new, heretical doctrine — as Francis has on several occasions and as this new document does. But in fact, it’s tragic. It’s an act of vandalism of historic dimensions, like our Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973, which tainted our system of justice for decades and corrupted the rule of law, or like a presidential election getting stolen and the thieves imprisoning citizens for protesting.
The Wolves in Shepherds’ Clothing
Continued below.
The New Word Salad from the Vatican Contains Broken Glass: Deportation Is Just as Evil as Slavery - The Stream
The new Vatican document teaches that deporting illegal immigrants is just as evil as trading slaves or human trafficking.
stream.org
