I Wish I Could Word. -Abbigayle Ebling
As I read over the reading assigned to us, I couldn't help but feel emotional and kind of angry at the arrogance of the characters being displayed. Julius especially angered me in "Julius Excluded From Heaven: A Dialogue." I guess I take corruption pretty seriously when it is laughed off or seen as "it could be worse, I mean, I'm better than such-and-such." Those things never sit well in my heart, as it is something I struggle with and I know the Devil uses... Although, any sin makes you bad, so much so that you couldn't get to Heaven even if you tried, as Julius is about to realize.
Peter is the "keeper" at the gates of Heaven, although you don't realize that until after Julius is already pretty riled up that he cannot get in with his key. As Julius stands outside, Peter starts questioning him, asking him personal questions as well as trick ones. The true nature and sin of Julius are instantly revealed, and it gets worse the more he speaks, and Julius also starts to realize how powerless he is against God.
I was reminded of the issue of the holiness that we put in a pastor or preacher, and how we shouldn't always take everything they say as truth, as there are many instances in history where they were incorrect and mislead people... and I'm not just talking about the heretics. I am also talking about those who give into addiction, the lust of the flesh, or other sins. Like it is seen in 1514 when this was written and is true today, sometimes talking to and confronting something that doesn't seem right theologically can be scary or seem like the wrong thing to do because you don't want to overstep your position. It becomes obvious that this was not only frowned upon but impossible to do, as the only way to remove a pope was under the case of heresy. On page 11, it says,
Peter is the "keeper" at the gates of Heaven, although you don't realize that until after Julius is already pretty riled up that he cannot get in with his key. As Julius stands outside, Peter starts questioning him, asking him personal questions as well as trick ones. The true nature and sin of Julius are instantly revealed, and it gets worse the more he speaks, and Julius also starts to realize how powerless he is against God.
I was reminded of the issue of the holiness that we put in a pastor or preacher, and how we shouldn't always take everything they say as truth, as there are many instances in history where they were incorrect and mislead people... and I'm not just talking about the heretics. I am also talking about those who give into addiction, the lust of the flesh, or other sins. Like it is seen in 1514 when this was written and is true today, sometimes talking to and confronting something that doesn't seem right theologically can be scary or seem like the wrong thing to do because you don't want to overstep your position. It becomes obvious that this was not only frowned upon but impossible to do, as the only way to remove a pope was under the case of heresy. On page 11, it says,
Peter: Even if he is openly evil?
Julius: As open as you like. It's just unthinkable that God's vicar on earth, who represents God himself before men, should be rebuked by any puny mortal or disturbed by any sort of popular outcry."
Therefore, they kind of receive a free pass... What? So the very people being the image of God and supposedly being the personal connection to those they minister to can see this cruel and corrupted being? Apparently so. As also found on page 11 after Peter asks a list of sins and if they are enough to be removed, and each one is a solid nope. So Peter starts to lose it and says,
Peter: Not for all these crimes poured together in a single sewer of a man?
Julius then replied,
Julius: Add if you like the names of six hundred other vices, each one worse than any of these, and still the pope cannot be removed from his throne for any such reasons."
On page 16, men are referred to as barbarians... Which in this instance, it makes perfect sense. I mean, it is pretty awful for someone who drowns themselves in sin to lead the church. I don't know, I guess I might have looked into this too much, but honestly, this raises some questions within myself that I want to dig deeper into, but that's all for now.
P.S. I commented on the posts of Moriah Nelson and Will Brady.
It is hard for us to realize that our church leaders are as sinful as we are. Just because they're pastors doesn't automatically make them free of sin. Though that's often how we treat them. When someone is put in a place of authority (especially spiritual authority), it's hard to imagine that they could ever do anything wrong. But they do, because they are human too. While we shouldn't be judgmental of others, we still need to be aware of this.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be under the impression that those of high religious authority are less sinful than other people. You aren't the only one. It seems that many people (myself included) fall into the same misconception. In fact sometimes the opposite is true as we have seen here and with Augustine. Paper idea! it also seems that you have forgotten that this is satire instead of comedy. Erasmus should be upheld for even mentioning the issues in the church. While telling the public may not have been the best idea, he did gain awareness to the wrong doings of the church.
ReplyDeleteGod actually warns us about people who preach "false truths". While I do not reccommend calling out your pastor in the middle of a sermon, I do think it is sometimes right to question "fishy" authority. However, be sure to have your knowledge on a point that you are arguing. The tricky thing about someone who tries to decieve you, is that they are very knowledgable on the truth, so they know how to argue you away from it. 1 John 4:1 states, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
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