Rabbi Hirschfield, a very nice piece. Thanks for it.

Farnaz1Mansouri1, you sure spend a lot of time on these blogs hacking at the Catholic Church for someone who "doesn't care." Lol.

A Pope that does not stand for truth.
A Pope that does not manifest total and unquestionable outrage for Holocaust deniers does not have - in my opinion - any ethical or moral authority over issues pertaining to Isreal's right to exist or over Isreal' security.

The current pope is likely the antichrist because he is doing so many things contrary to Christian teachings.

I like to believe that those leaders will come together because of the 'magic' of the pope but I don't believe it. What I do believe is that those people that the leaders represent are so poor that they believe their life is worth less than a bomb jacket and other leaders know that waging war is the safest way to stay in power.

Small correction:

While in Israel, did the pope meet with the nine all-male directors of the Baha'ist Universal House of Justice?? If so hopefullY they discussed the all-male aspect of religious leadership. Are these "justices" celibate? That would be another area worthy of note comparisons??

While in Israel, did the pope meet with the nine all-male directors of the Baha'ist Universal House of Justice?? If so hopefull they discussed the all-male aspect of religious leadership. Are these "justices" celibate? That would be another area worthy of note comparisons??

Who cares about meeting a Nazi convert to catholic? Plus, organized religion is terrible and all they want is your money, they don't give a rats a$$ about your religious well-being! It’s a farce!

I dont think the pope went to a fashion show ..This Gucci biz is very LOW Class mentality
to keep talking about , what a shame we are in the 21 Century BC.

very hard to understand the language of non respect for the olderly / for the respectfull leader of the church ...as a muslim i feel the pain of the comments made before me...it is hard to figure out why all the hatred .

The Past is dead ......the future is Peace..

And Thomas "the Moses of the NT" Baum is on another "incarnate" trip:

From two historical Jesus exegetes:

"Gerd Lüdemann

Lüdemann (Jesus, 280f) finds the genealogies in both Matthew and Luke to be theological creations with no historical basis. In similar vein he finds no historical value in the dispute over the davidic lineage of the Messiah (Mark 12:35-37 and parallels), finding it instead to be the product of "a learned scribal" effort to demonstrate that Jesus is "more than son of David, namely son of God." (Jesus, 87)

Gerd Lüdemann

Lüdemann [Jesus, 122-24] presents four (4) reasons for regarding the miraculous conception of Jesus as unhistorical: (1) Numerous parallels in the history of religion; (2) it represents a rare and late NT tradition; (3) Synoptic descriptions of Jesus' relations with his family are inconsistent with such an event; and (4) scientific considerations.

More positively, Lüdemann concludes that we can extract as a historical fact behind Matt 1.18-25 the existence of a hostile rumor about the illegitimacy of Jesus. Lüdemann suggests that rape by an unnamed man, possibly even a Roman soldier, is the most likely explanation. He notes that while such an event would have disqualified Mary from marriage to a priest, it would not have prevented from marrying and have other children.

Lüdemann [Jesus, 261-63] discounts Luke's account as a legend deriving from Jewish Hellenistic circles that were concerned to hold together the procreation of the Spirit, the authentic sonship of the Messiah and the virginal conception. "

John P. Meier

Meier [Marginal Jew I,216-219] notes that the "affirmation of Jesus' descent from David might easily be placed alongside his birth at Bethlehem as a theologoumenon (a theological insight narrated as a historical event) if it were not for the fact that numerous and diverse streams of NT tradition also affirm Jesus' Davidic lineage." Meier suggests that the belief that Jesus was "son of David" may have been held by Jesus' followers prior to his death, with his resurrection then being understood as a form of enthronement. However, he notes that such messianic views, whatever their provenance, cannot prove Jesus was "literally, biologically of Davidic stock."

Retrieved from "http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php/007_Of_Davids_Lineage

BRAD HIRSCHFIELD

Thanks for the article, by the way, you didn't mention if you said Hi to the Pope for me.

Isn't it sad that some people seem to find it hard to look at a person as a person.

Have you ever noticed that some of the "open-minded" people out in the world are only "open-minded" to things, people, situations... that they deem worthy of being "open-minded" to?

Personally, I do not think of that as being open-minded but some sure seem to think of it that way.

I suppose one of the reasons that God chose me to be a messenger is that not only am I not perfect, I most definitely know that I am not perfect.

Remember when the OT Moses made the remark, "These are hard-headed and stiff-necked people", have we changed?

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

Jesus, God-Incarnate, said, "He who is without sin cast the first stone".

Even for those that do not believe that Jesus is God-Incarnate, which He is, or for that matter do not believe that there is a God, the above statement speaks volumns.

Instead of honestly looking at oneself, some seem to find it much easier to drag others down rather than try to rise above themself.

If I wish to find someone with faults, all that I have to do is look in the mirror. Finding faults in others doesn't make my faults any less and if I would attempt to think that it does, then all it does is make my faults even faultier.

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

During your next papal audience, please ask the pope what he thinks about some of the various religious cults e.g. the Baha'ists, Peoples Temple, Aum Shinrikyo, Peoples Temple, The Manson Family, Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple, and Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God.

Being very educated, the pope should be aware of the oddities of the referenced groups.

e.g. some oddities/"weirdies" of the Baha'ists.

They follow a 19 day, 19 month calendar.

No politics. No, you wouldn't want to involve yourself
in a good, healthy way that might actually improve the lives
of the people in your community.

Suffering. Yes, suffering. No Baha'i gathering is complete without the friends recounting how they have suffered for their faith.

Silly Christians go to church. There, through outmoded
'rituals' usually led by a 'clergymen' which Baha'is don't
have, they often find themselves enriched and revitalized.
Some even think they have communed with their God. If only
they knew that if they were Baha'is they could go to a 19 day
Feast, a dreary, boring business meeting usually punctuated
by some personal arguments. Some go on all night.

You get to do all sorts of things you don't want to do,
like be the treasurer and spend the next year haranging the
friends for money.

You get hit up for money, you get hit up for more money. The
new world order needs money, your money, it's an honor to
bankrupt yourself for the Faith.

You never have to bother your silly little brain by
thinking again! All that hard brainwork had been done for you by the great "Babs".

http://www.geocities.com/baahith/Topten.html