I hope you have been tuned in over the past few days. There have been some very interesting things on the air; some of which I'll address here. First, on Friday Marty quoted Dr. John McAuthur's book "Hard to Believe". I've published things in the past on Dr. McAuthur and the more I look into his teachings, I think I can safely say this man is a false teacher. (Look for my Article "Examining the Doctor" in the archives {12/26/04-01/01/05} for more on Dr. McAuthur.) In his book, Dr. McAuthur uses a quote from Pope John Paul II in which he claims the Pope said "all who live a just life will be saved". Marty proclaimed that the Pope was teaching something that is not biblical. As soon as we went to a break I asked Marty off air where that came from because I wanted to look into myself. As I suspected, Dr. McAuthur was misleading us once again. The quote comes from the Pope's Audience on December 6, 2000 in which he actually said " All the just of the earth, including those who do not know Christ and his Church, who, under the influence if grace, seek God with a sincere heart are thus called to build the kingdom of God by working with the Lord, who is its first and decisive builder." He continues, "Whoever does not not accept the kingdom of God like a child, Jesus said, shall not enter it". Even Dr. McAuthur would have to agree with that. It's not hard to find transcripts of what Pope John Paul II says in public, yet Dr. McAuthur chose to use edited comments and a misleading statement for his book. We are fortunate to see Dr. McAuthur's true anti-Catholic agenda exposed for what it really is, misleading paraphrasing and twisted half truths.
On Monday, Marty told a caller you can't interpret the Bible to mean what you want it to mean. I couldn't agree more. However, how do we know what interpretation to trust? That's the problem with well intentioned, educated, biblical scholars who all come to different understandings of scripture. Jesus did not hand out copies of the Bible as tell us to go learn it. He wants us to know the truth and he gave us a single source that we all can trust to provide the proper understanding. The Holy Spirit, acting through the Catholic Church, is what Christ founded to be the only provider of proper understanding of Scripture and the teachings of the Apostles. Anything outside of that is subject to error and charts a path for misleading and false understanding.
A Progam note: Dr. John McAuthur will be joining us live on the show Friday 1/21 to promote yet another book. I hope many of you will tune in!
12 comments:
I'd love to say you're entirely right, but you, too, edited out a significant statement.
"Those who have chosen the way of the Gospel Beatitudes and live as 'the poor in spirit', detached from material goods, in order to raise up the lowly of the earth from the dust of their humiliation, will enter the kingdom of God."
This seems to imply that faith in Christ is not absolutely necessary.
related article:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/57/story_5704_1.html
PowerBall,
You may or may not be aware there is a book out called "The Gospel According to James McAuthur" which responds to his views:
http://catalog.grottopress.org/viewProduct.cfm?item_id=666953
Brian K
That's not true, Funky. Read again: "Those who have chosen the way of the Gospel..."
I wish I had the space to post the whole thing verbatim. Anyone can go on the Vatican website and read every word and decide for themslef. My point is Dr. McAurthur is misleading all those who follow him and the I hear "See what your Pope said. See how ungodly he is." Thanks for the tip on the McAurthur book. I've just begun looking into him because so many hold him up as a hero of the faith. He will be live on the show Friday 1/21. I hope many of you will call him and challenge him on the Catholic faith.
I read it. The Pope never says you don't need the Gospel or Christ. I'm not even Catholic but fair is fair.
I always get the sense that many anti-Catholic folks read through Catholic texts in order to find ammo, rather than to gain a sense of understanding.
For anyone with an open mind, read some apologetic works by someone from within the Church. Akin, Hahn, and Ray are just a few good authors.
It seems there may have been a mistranslation. The Beliefnet article says the text is, "The gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the Beatitudes--the poor in spirit, the pure of heart, those who bear lovingly the sufferings of life--will enter God's kingdom".
I'm working directly off the Vatican text not what Beliefnet published. Anyone who would like to read the entire thing in context will find it here:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_20001206_en.html
Hey that book is on James McCarthy not John McAurthur.
Perhaps foes of the Church deliberately played fast and loose with the translation.
BTW, does Marty believe every bad thing he reads about the Church without checking its veracity?
I can't speak for Marty. You'll have to ask him.
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