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Post by maolsheachlann on Sept 13, 2019 17:45:37 GMT
Pope Francis often speaks against proselytism, opposing it to evangelization, and recently he said this:
"But what does it mean for you, pope, what does evangelization mean? It is a phrase of St. Francis that has illuminated me a lot. St. Francis of Assisi said to his brothers: “Preach the Gospel, if necessary also with words.” That is, to evangelize is that which we read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Witness. And that witness provokes questions. But why do you live like this? Why do you do this? And I explain to them: For the Gospel. The proclamation comes after the testimony. First to live as a Christian and if they question you, you say it. Witness is the first step. The missionary is not the protagonist of evangelization, it is the Holy Spirit that allows Christians and missionaries to give a witness. Then questions come or they do not come. But a witness of life. This is the first step. It is important to avoid proselytism. When you see religious propositions that go the way of proselytism, they are not Christian. They look for proselytes, not adorers of God and truth, of witness."
What do you think he means by this?
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Post by assisi on Sept 13, 2019 19:02:49 GMT
Pope Francis often speaks against proselytism, opposing it to evangelization, and recently he said this: "But what does it mean for you, pope, what does evangelization mean? It is a phrase of St. Francis that has illuminated me a lot. St. Francis of Assisi said to his brothers: “Preach the Gospel, if necessary also with words.” That is, to evangelize is that which we read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Witness. And that witness provokes questions. But why do you live like this? Why do you do this? And I explain to them: For the Gospel. The proclamation comes after the testimony. First to live as a Christian and if they question you, you say it. Witness is the first step. The missionary is not the protagonist of evangelization, it is the Holy Spirit that allows Christians and missionaries to give a witness. Then questions come or they do not come. But a witness of life. This is the first step. It is important to avoid proselytism. When you see religious propositions that go the way of proselytism, they are not Christian. They look for proselytes, not adorers of God and truth, of witness." What do you think he means by this? If he had said 'By all means evangelise but make sure that you yourself are living a Christian life' that would be fine. His jumping from the term evangelisation to proselytism is confusing. I guess the word proselytise means, for him, some sort of numerical emphasis on converts rather than the truly genuine conversions.
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Post by hibernicus on Sept 19, 2019 22:45:32 GMT
He's very ambiguous as usual. One suggestion some people are putting about is that he is downplaying formal church membership in favour of awakening a basic awareness of God's love, even if it's Protestants or Orthodox who are doing the awakening. Another is that he is referring to (for example) the concept of "mealie Christians" recruited by various material or social rewards rather than by genuine conversion. Another might be the distinction between intellectual/ideological commitment and genuine transformation through love. BTW the St Francis quote is not genuine.
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Post by maolsheachlann on Sept 20, 2019 13:53:54 GMT
He's very ambiguous as usual. One suggestion some people are putting about is that he is downplaying formal church membership in favour of awakening a basic awareness of God's love, even if it's Protestants or Orthodox who are doing the awakening. Another is that he is referring to (for example) the concept of "mealie Christians" recruited by various material or social rewards rather than by genuine conversion. Another might be the distinction between intellectual/ideological commitment and genuine transformation through love. BTW the St Francis quote is not genuine. My wife and I once had this exchange on the subject of that quotation's veracity: Bean Uí Cheallaigh: Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. Me: St. Francis never actually said that. Bean Uí Cheallaigh: He didn't have to.
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 4, 2019 21:19:59 GMT
Some of Pope Francis's recent remarks seem to suggest that he means by "proselytism" simple additions to church numbers (as if the church were a political party) and by "evangelisation" a sort of wider transformation involving good works. One problem is that this definition of "evangelisation" may mean joining up to "the party of Francis" rather than (let us say) "the party of Apollos" (so to speak), with the former being assumed to be by definition beyond criticism and the latter to be by definition spiritually sterile, in both cases without investigating what they actually achieve.
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