I thought it went very well; he came across well; even the media coverage was surprisingly honest.

My reservations about all organised religions remain but generally most have more good than bad aspects and those tend to be disregarded in the media hysteria to cover a good story - normally about bad behaviour.

The most interesting commentary was the Spiked piece linked on another thread, exposing the story of clerical abuse as bollocks - no more prevalent than in other areas of life.

Benedict was fine; I admire people in their eighties like The Queen who still perform tiring activities with courage.

Women priests? Who gives a shit? Religions which think gays are inferior? Good luck to them; freedom of belief is important as long as it doesn't affect others; if gays still want to be Catholics or Muslims or whatever, that's their problem. Change brands if you don't like it. One label is as good as another if you want to buy belief.

Excellent post.

I like women priests and so CofE for me

Great visit and amazing that someone in their 80s can have such a punishing schedule. Respect to Benedict.

Totally changed the way I look at the bloke. He was impressive.

JK2006 wrote:
One label is as good as another if you want to buy belief

This sound bite does not stack up - nor does the absurd concept of buying belief.

However, I agree with the rest of your post.

but look at the alternative...Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens!!!!..talk about grim and no fun

the fiddling would still go on whether there were priests or not...the wars would still happen. War is always about profit..religion or no religion.

I apologise Ramsey; if you create your own belief, you're not "buying" it; but if you purchase a ready made one, then you are.

JK2006 wrote:
if you create your own belief, you're not "buying" it; but if you purchase a ready made one, then you are.

Am I a 'purchaser' or not?

I'm a cherry picker. I take bits from a few religions - those that appeal to me. Essentially, I'm a Christian, but have no truck with any specific religion or church.

Many of my friends are similar; maybe not agreeing with the birth control views of the Catholic church or with a lay person (the Queen) as head of the CoE and choosing its leaders.

There are also bits of Judaism and Buddhism that I cling to and generally follow.

Salvation is free JK. I am sure you know that.

Money exists - sadly it effects everything and does seem ( as the Bible said it would ) rule our lives - including much of major religion. What is the alternative to money ? no idea - in a perfect world we would would all work and only take what is necessary to live. But we have a consumer led culture which persuades people they need things that are not important.

That is why so many very rich people are deeply unhappy and often spend on distraction ( Chelsea - Abramovich ) rather than on things that are worthy that they believe in. Why didnt he buy his local club and make them into a World force if he liked football ? no he waned a play-thing. That is why CHELSEA are the most plastic club in the UK. At least Man Utd and Liverpool and Spurs and Arsenal have real fans and have not bought their success in the same way - they have earned it.

I love football - but totally ignore the Premier League now because Chelsea and Man City have skewed the competition into a battle of the chequebooks.

JK2006 wrote:
Benedict was fine; I admire people in their eighties like The Queen who still perform tiring activities with courage.

Benedict asked JohnPaul II if he could retire, five years before that Pontiff's death ... he said "No".

BR wrote:
Great visit and amazing that someone in their 80s can have such a punishing schedule. Respect to Benedict.

Totally changed the way I look at the bloke. He was impressive.

He is the 283rd Pontiff / Bishop of Rome ... the first being Peter.

"And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18

BR wrote:
Excellent post.

I like women priests and so CofE for me.

What I like about the Catholic faith is that they are true to their beliefs - no changing tack whenever fashions / Sun opinion polls change !

The CofE is starting to look a bit desperate ... so desperate to hang-on to their flock that they will almost agree to anything that anyone wants !

But then again ... what else would you expect from a "church" founded to please the whims of a syphillitic King?

The modern problem is that universal absolutes are intellectually unfashionable, but doing without them diminishes the moral authority of many old ideologies, secular as well as religious. Take feminism: strongest when claiming all women everywhere have certain inalienable rights, but now hopelessly confused and compromised when it tries to say certain things are absolutely intolerable unless you live in a culture in which they aren't. As far as religions are concerned, tablets of stone bring authority, updated axioms (while offering greater credence) inspire less confidence and coherence. A toss of a coin, I guess.

ITV have bought the rights to a new reality show that searches for a new Catholic leader when he kicks the bucket. Pope Idol.

In The Know wrote:
BR wrote:
Excellent post.

I like women priests and so CofE for me.

What I like about the Catholic faith is that they are true to their beliefs - no changing tack whenever fashions / Sun opinion polls change !

The CofE is starting to look a bit desperate ... so desperate to hang-on to their flock that they will almost agree to anything that anyone wants !

But then again ... what else would you expect from a "church" founded to please the whims of a syphillitic King?
Apostolic succession is another false teaching...
Whom did the apostles Peter and Paul understand to be the “rock,” the “cornerstone”?
Acts 4:8-11, JB: “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! . . . it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone [“cornerstone,” NAB].’”
1 Pet. 2:4-8, JB: “Set yourselves close to him [the Lord Jesus Christ] so that you too . . . may be living stones making a spiritual house. As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed. That means that for you who are believers, it is precious; but for unbelievers, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down.”
Eph. 2:20, JB: “You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.”
What was the belief of Augustine (who was viewed as a saint by the Catholic Church)?
“In this same period of my priesthood, I also wrote a book against a letter of Donatus . . . In a passage in this book, I said about the Apostle Peter: ‘On him as on a rock the Church was built.’ . . . But I know that very frequently at a later time, I so explained what the Lord said: ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,’ that it be understood as built upon Him whom Peter confessed saying: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,’ and so Peter, called after this rock, represented the person of the Church which is built upon this rock, and has received ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven.’ For, ‘Thou art Peter’ and not ‘Thou art the rock’ was said to him. But ‘the rock was Christ,’ in confessing whom as also the whole Church confesses, Simon was called Peter.”—The Fathers of the Church—Saint Augustine, the Retractations (Washington, D.C.; 1968), translated by Mary I. Bogan, Book I, p. 90.
Did the other apostles view Peter as having primacy among them?
Luke 22:24-26, JB: “A dispute arose also between them [the apostles] about which should be reckoned the greatest, but he said to them, ‘Among pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you.’” (If Peter were the “rock,” would there have been any question as to which one of them “should be reckoned the greatest”?)
Since Jesus Christ, the head of the congregation, is alive, does he need successors?
Heb. 7:23-25, JB: “Then there used to be a great number of those other priests [in Israel], because death put an end to each one of them; but this one [Jesus Christ], because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.”
Rom. 6:9, JB: “Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again.”
Eph. 5:23, JB: “Christ is head of the Church.”
What were “the keys” entrusted to Peter?