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State
of Christianity
Introduction The Bible
A violent & vengeful God
Extremism in the Old Testament
Bible Book 1 - Genesis
Was Moses under
drugs? Europe shapes Christianity
"When the
ecclesiastical authorities decided in about AD 384 what the
foundation documents of the faith were to be, they formed the canon of
Scripture... a collection of writings which were regarded as
authoritative. It was forbidden to take out any book out of or add any
book to the collection. The contents of the Bible had been decided for
all time." (Scripture Bulletin, 2001)
Christianity gets
hellenised & romanised
Pope Nicholas V
gave Portugal full backing for imperial conquest. A Papal Bull (decree)
issued about 1454 declared (in extract):
Crusades, colonial backing, no salvation outside the church
"European Christianity shared
the prevailing attitude of domination, not only of nature but of alien races and
cultures. The culture of domination (had) no place for the recognition of the
value of the Other. The Catholic Church was an integral part of the
colonising venture... Medieval Christian theologians shared with the
Israelites the belief that land was a gift of God for the Israelites in Old
Testament times and later for the Spanish and Portuguese in the New World.
Columbus saw in his 'discoveries' the fulfilment of the Scriptures..."
Gregory XVI (1831-46) opposed all modernist trends and even banned the railway in the papal states, calling it the 'hellway'. In 1832, he declared that democracy was sinful, and freedom of the press was 'heretical vomit'. Pius IX (1846-78) railed against several groups which he called 'secret societies'. These groups were operating to unite Italy into one kingdom and the pope was worried that a united Italy would mean a loss of temporal power to which popes had become accustomed. In Qui Pluribus (1846) he denounced these secret societies and warned about "the unspeakable doctrine of communism." In his determination to assert papal authority and oppose modernism, he summoned Vatican Council I in 1869, the first such Council in 300 years. This Council issued decrees condemning contemporary materialism and atheism. It also defined a new doctrine: the Dogma of Papal Infallibility in 1870. In that very year, Rome itself was added to the Kingdom of Italy and made its capital, further diminishing the pope's status. It was left to the next pope, Leo XIII (1878-1903) to react to the growing power of capitalists and their exploitation of workers. In important encyclicals, he declared his firm opposition to socialism and sought accommodation with capitalism.
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Leo XIII on Socialism
- Leo's Encyclicals: against equality & socialism - Church shows interest in social issues (late 19th century)
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Stan Lourdesamy
(on Vatican's stand on capitalism) # Pope John Paul II - John Paul II & the Opus Dei Connection
Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador had
pleaded fruitlessly with Carter to stop the US backing of repression - 6
weeks later, he was murdered in March 1980.
The Vatican
under John Paul II actually questioned him on his criticism of El Salvador's military rulers.
After his murder, the pope appointed a hardliner who restored the old inequalities. - More on murdered Bishop Romero - Liberating Poland, submitting to the Reagan doctrine on Central America -
Mother Teresa beatified
1. Opus Dei 4. Christian & Jewish fundamentalists make a potent mix
Church of England - Race & Class (K Leech) Church still Eurocentric 100 years later, in 1991, Pope John Paul II's Centesimus Annus
still focuses attention on Europe - on the collapse of communist
governments in - On other religions (JP2) - Thoughts & platitudes 2002 (JP2) - Thoughts & platitudes 2003 (JP2) - Vatican concerns on the EU constitution 2003 (JP2) In 1981 Ratzinger became head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (pompous new name for the Inquisition Office). In Jan 1997, Ratzinger (70) notified Sri Lankan theologian Fr Tissa that he had deviated from the truths of the Catholic Faith and could non longer act as Catholic theologian. He was summarily excommunicated - the first time the extreme penalty has been used since 1953. - How Leo XIII & other popes regarded non-Europeans
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Vatican still thinking in Manichean terms # Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Ratzinger) - Cardinal Ratzinger's Eurocentric ways - Pope Benedict's first encyclical - Benedict's crusader mentality angers Muslims - Pope again belittles other churches (July07)
Europeanised image of Jesus still widely used
2. Racism in the Catholic Church (Part II) 3. Letter to UK Bishops on BBC Panorama program 4. To the Cardinal on the occasion of Bishop Sentamu's elevation Christian leaders on society, Church in crisis & decline Church figures for 2003 show that only 22% of an estimated 4m English & Welsh Catholics attend Sunday mass regularly – a little over 1 in 5. People who consider themselves ‘practising Catholics’ attend Mass only once or twice a month. Church authorities struggle to maintain parish networks in Eng & Wales. In the 2001 Census, 72% of the population declared themselves Christian but according to Future of the Church, a report by Christian Research, a research group (Oct05), this will drop to about 35% by 2040, making Christians a minority. Church attendance standing at 6.8% in 2005 is expected to drop to 2% by 2040. Britain no longer Christian, say top Christian clerics
# Western Theology & Catholic Social Teaching CST - eurocentric and alien to Asia Critique by European theologian Critique by Indian theologians
# Liberation Theology Liberation Theology - the future
# Asian Perspectives Bible interpretation-2 (GSoares) Aloysius Pieris- issues facing the church (2002) Aloysius Pieris- who are the poor?
# Black Theology
Black Theology 1
Glimpses of Church History
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