May 12, 2008 7:59 PM
John Hagee on Pope Benedict
I somehow missed this - but better late than never.
Given Pastor Hagee's history of anti-Catholic rhetoric, this is pretty astonishing!
Thank you, Pope Benedict April 28, 2008By Pastor John Hagee - During his recent visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI not only conducted mass and met with the Catholic faithful, but he made a series of public statements about the role that our Judeo-Christian faith can play during these challenging times. As an evangelical Protestant I happen to disagree with Pope Benedict on many issues of Christian doctrine and ritual. But when it comes to his moral vision for America and the world I have one thing to say in response to the Pope's visit: Amen.
I and many other evangelical leaders believe that our faith must not be confined to our churches on Sunday mornings. We maintain that our Christian values and compassion can be powerful tools for helping build a more just and humane nation. Pope Benedict thus spoke for all of us when he said that "Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted" and called for Christian participation "in the exchange of ideas in the public square." . . .
Read the entire article here, or at least Hagee's conclusion:
For decades I have taught that we Christians need to recognize that our roots are Jewish. As Christians we can only understand ourselves if we understand the Judaism from which we sprang. Pope Benedict made this very important point when he visited the Park East Synagogue in New York and shared that: "I find it moving to recall that Jesus, as a young boy, heard the words of Scripture and prayed in a place such as this." With visits and words such as these, Pope Benedict is continuing the important work of recognizing our enormous Christian debt of gratitude to the Jewish people.The world in which we live faces many difficult challenges. In recent days, we read in our paper of increased starvation due to higher food prices; of alienated youth planning to bomb their fellow students; of Islamic militants actually bombing innocents in Iraq and Israel; and about people so devoid of hope that they end their own lives.
I believe that the message of the Bible and of Judeo-Christian faith offers us timely answers to these problems. We were all inspired by Pope Benedict's visit. It is my prayer that we will now follow his example and look beyond our differences to see that when it comes to the great challenges of our times, people of faith have much in common.
Pastor John Hagee is founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Tex.
Now if only some evangelicals I know would show the same ability to take in new information and re-examine their prejudices - plus the humility to publicly acknowledge that Catholics have an important contribution to make - well, that might be truly injurious to our real enemy, wouldn't it?
Posted in Catholicism, Church Issues | Permalink
Comments
I am impressed by Hagee's willingness to move ahead, grow.
But you know, his Protestant church traces its roots to the Catholic just as much as to the Jewish!
Posted by: Julana | May 14, 2008 11:18 AM
