Jesus's Explanation of Grace in it's Nature and Effects.

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A

Anima

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No those are not the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church . Those were what was upon the Messiah as prophecied.

Can and do people receive Grace? Yes. To receive Grace is to receive God. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2). So, no, the gift of Grace, and thus the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is not reserved only for Jesus. So, how does Jesus speaking about that contradict what's said in the gospels and directly to His Apostles as you claim?
 

ChristisGod

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Can and do people receive Grace? Yes. To receive Grace is to receive God. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2). So, no, the gift of Grace, and thus the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is not reserved only for Jesus. So, how does Jesus speaking about that contradict what's said in the gospels and directly to His Apostles as you claim?
No those were specifically for the Messiah
 
A

Anima

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No those were specifically for the Messiah

The Messiah is specifically being referred to in Is. 11:1-2, because it's a prophecy about His coming, but that doesn't mean the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can't be received by others as well. Can and do people receive Grace? Yes, and you know that. To receive Grace is to receive God. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2). So, as you can see, the gift of Grace, and thus the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is not reserved only for Jesus in general as you claim, and thus Jesus's words in the OP about people receiving the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit does not contradict anything He said in the Bible. :]
 

keithr

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What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?
According to Paul, there are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that God may give to Christians. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (WEB):

(4) Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.​
(5) There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord.​
(6) There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.​
(7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.​
(8) For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;​
(9) to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit;​
(10) and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.​
(11) But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.​
 

keithr

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He's not using the word in the way you want Him to so as to find a problem. As proof you're reading it wrong, in other parts of Maria's writings, He criticizes the theory we evolved from animals. :]
That's not proof that I am reading it wrongly! Evolution as a single species and evolution from one species to another are different - and both are not possible!
 

ChristisGod

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The Messiah is specifically being referred to in Is. 11:1-2, because it's a prophecy about His coming, but that doesn't mean the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can't be received by others as well. Can and do people receive Grace? Yes, and you know that. To receive Grace is to receive God. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2). So, as you can see, the gift of Grace, and thus the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is not reserved only for Jesus in general as you claim, and thus Jesus's words in the OP about people receiving the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit does not contradict anything He said in the Bible. :]
Nice try its application was for the Messiah no one else.
 

ChristisGod

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According to Paul, there are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that God may give to Christians. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (WEB):

(4) Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.​
(5) There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord.​
(6) There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.​
(7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.​
(8) For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;​
(9) to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit;​
(10) and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.​
(11) But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.​
And there are others as well from other passages we can add to that list which is just another reason we can know Jesus NEVER said anything to the person in the OP.
 
A

Anima

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That's not proof that I am reading it wrongly! Evolution as a single species and evolution from one species to another are different - and both are not possible!

Again, Jesus isn't using the word "evolution" to mean changing from one species to another, rather human growth and development. Words have more than one meaning.

According to Paul, there are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that God may give to Christians. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (WEB):

(4) Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.(5) There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord.(6) There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.(7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.(8) For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;(9) to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit;(10) and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.(11) But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.

It's not Is. 11:1-2 vs. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. They're both verses that speak of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the OP, Jesus spoke of seven of them, which are in Scripture, so He's not contradicting it.

The Catholic Church has perennially taught the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are listed in Isaiah 11:1-3 and received by all Christians (CCC1831).

Beginning early last century, some Protestant Christians—particularly Pentecostals—have focused on the charismatic gifts discussed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, which are given to particular individuals (not all Christians) for the common good of the Church (1 Cor. 12:7)
 
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A

Anima

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Nice try its application was for the Messiah no one else.

The Messiah is specifically being referred to in Is. 11:1-2, because it's a prophecy about His coming, but not in that verse, nor any other, does it say those seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can't/won't be received by others as well.

To receive Grace is to receive God.
Who is the Holy Spirit? God.
What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2).
Can and do Christians receive Grace? Yes, which you know and can't deny.
Therefore, all Christians, in addition to Jesus, can receive those seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which doesn't contradict what Jesus said in the OP.

And there are others as well from other passages we can add to that list which is just another reason we can know Jesus NEVER said anything to the person in the OP.

Such as?
 

ChristisGod

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The Messiah is specifically being referred to in Is. 11:1-2, because it's a prophecy about His coming, but not in that verse, nor any other, does it say those seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can't/won't be received by others as well.

To receive Grace is to receive God.
Who is the Holy Spirit? God.
What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is.11:1-2).
Can and do Christians receive Grace? Yes, which you know and can't deny.
Therefore, all Christians, in addition to Jesus, can receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which doesn't contradict what Jesus said in the OP.



Such as?
You are making an argument from silence a poor hermeneutic and Isaiah 11 was prophecied and fulfilled in the Messiah , no one else . Otherwise you can make Isaiah 53 apply to everyone like you are doing with Isaiah 11 or make Isaiah 14 apply to everyone along with the Messiahs prophecy and specific fulfillment in Him.

In theology we call what you are doing eisegesis not exegesis.

hope this helps !!!
 
A

Anima

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You are making an argument from silence a poor hermeneutic and Isaiah 11 was prophecied and fulfilled in the Messiah , no one else . Otherwise you can make Isaiah 53 apply to everyone like you are doing with Isaiah 11 or make Isaiah 14 apply to everyone along with the Messiahs prophecy and specific fulfillment in Him.

In theology we call what you are doing eisegesis not exegesis.

hope this helps !!!

I'm not applying the prophecy of the Messiah to all Christians. I'm applying the gift of Grace to all Christians. Do you deny Christians can and do receive Grace?

And there are others as well from other passages we can add to that list which is just another reason we can know Jesus NEVER said anything to the person in the OP.

Again, such as? Or, are you just saying that?
 

keithr

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Again, Jesus isn't using the word "evolution" to mean changing from one species to another, rather human growth and development. Words have more than one meaning.
It says that man evolved "to be endowed with reason", which is not consistent with Scripture. Man was made perfect, with reasoning powers, and has been degenerating ever since Adam's first sin, not evolving to something better. We don't have more reasoning powers than our ancestors because of human evolution, we have less reasoning power.
 
A

Anima

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It says that man evolved "to be endowed with reason", which is not consistent with Scripture. Man was made perfect, with reasoning powers, and has been degenerating ever since Adam's first sin, not evolving to something better. We don't have more reasoning powers than our ancestors because of human evolution, we have less reasoning power.

Have you seen a baby reason like an older child or adult? Prob not. So, Jesus is just the using the word "evolution" to mean there's a a point in our human development when we start to use the reason God gave us. Aside from that, in the section of the OP you're referring to, Jesus is just describing what we'd be like if we didn't have Grace. You're overthinking.
 

keithr

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Have you seen a baby reason like an older child or adult? Prob not. So, Jesus is just the using the word "evolution" to mean there's a a point in our human development when we start to use the reason God gave us.
I don't believe it was Jesus who spoke to Maria Valtorta. From WikiPedia ("The Poem of the Man-God"):

On 16 December 1959, the Congregation of the Holy Office ordered the 4-volume work entitled "The Poem of the Man-God" placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Pope John XXIII approved the decree and directed that the condemnation be published. The decree was then promulgated by the Holy Office on 5 January 1960.[5][6] The decree was published also in L'Osservatore Romano of 6 January 1960, accompanied by a front-page article under the heading "A Badly Fictionalized Life of Jesus".[5]
The Vatican newspaper republished the content of the decree on 1 December 1961, together with an explanatory note, as mentioned in 1985 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[3]
The Index was abolished in June 1966 and formal sanctions against reading books placed on the Index ended at this time.[7]
In a 31 January 1985 letter, Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, entrusted to Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, the decision whether to inform a priest of his archdiocese that the work of Valtorta had been placed on the Index and that the Index which keeps its moral force. Ratzinger adds that "a decision against distributing and recommending a work, which has not been condemned lightly, may be reversed, but only after profound changes that neutralize the harm which such a publication could bring forth among the ordinary faithful".[3]
In 1993 Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to Bishop Raymond James Boland of Birmingham, Alabama, that his Congregation had made that request to the Italian Bishops Conference to ask the publisher to have a disclaimer printed in the volumes that "clearly indicated from the very first page that the 'visions' and 'dictations' referred to in it are simply the literary forms used by the author to narrate in her own way the life of Jesus. They cannot be considered supernatural in origin".[3]

It also lists some critcisms:

According to Father Mitch Pacwa SJ, "the long speeches of Jesus and Mary starkly contrast with the evangelists, who portray Jesus as humble, reserved; His discourses are lean, incisive". In addition, Pacwa writes that the poem has "many historical, geographical and other blunders. For instance, Jesus uses screwdrivers (vol. I, pp. 195, 223), centuries before screws existed".[3] Screwdrivers are mentioned by Valtorta twice in her work.[10]
In 2023 Joachim Bouflet [fr] made various criticisms of The Poem of the Man-God's consistency. For example he addressed the claim of Valtorta that the Second Temple has domes, something that in Bouflet's opinion archeological excavations have proven to be false. Bouflet states that Valtorta also talks about the existence of Tiberias in her vision, at a time in her vision (when Jesus Christ was 5 years old, in Egypt) when it was not founded yet. Furthermore, the descriptions of the ficus carica of Palestine she provides only matches the descriptions of the ones that grow in the American continent. Bouflet states that the use of the word "vanilla" by Aglae (a first-century former prostitute), in section 168 of the book, is linguistically anachronistic since the term was only coined in the 16th century. However, Bouflet does acknowledge that vanilla existed in first-century Judea.[10]

Maria's writings were considered a work of fiction, based on the author's understanding of the Bible stories. With multiple bishops, cardinals and popes questioning its trustworthiness, and with clear contradictions with the Bible, I wouldn't waste much time on reading it, let alone believing it to be truth.

Jesus, praying to God for the church, said, "Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). We should trust that God has arranged for His word to us to be found in the Bible, and very suspicious of anything outside of it claiming to be God's word. We should be like the Bereans, of whom Paul said:

"Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).​
 
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Cassandra

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It says that man evolved "to be endowed with reason", which is not consistent with Scripture. Man was made perfect, with reasoning powers, and has been degenerating ever since Adam's first sin, not evolving to something better. We don't have more reasoning powers than our ancestors because of human evolution, we have less reasoning power.
Thank you so much for continuing to bring this up.
God is very much Creator. Evolution denies God's "He spake and it was--He commanded and it stood fast."Psalms 33:9 that the Bible says, as well as Genesis, which tells what God did and when He did it. Evolution places death before sin--which cannot be true if we believe the Bible. That Book is the same book that speaks of Jesus being Redeemer. Is one part a lie, and the other truth?
If we had remembered God was Creator, and given Him worship because of this, and believed what the Bible says about how the earth came about, we would be a much better world. Things would have value, and we would not hold ourselves in such high regard, because we worship a Creator.

In these last days, it is crucial to give God His due, and to give allegiance to Him as God over all things.

And thank you for saying it over and over.

Romans 1:20-21
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:


21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.


1686233083805.png
 

Behold

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Jesus explaining Grace in its nature and its effects is of the devil you say?

No, im saying that you telling us that Jesus is now speaking directly to Maria, is a deceit.

This is shown to be true by how this false "jesus" is teaching that Grace is "mystical performance".
 
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Behold

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I'm applying the gift of Grace to all Christians.

The Gift of Grace is the Cross of Christ.

Its by being born again "in Christ" that we exist in "God's Grace'".

"God's Grace" is the redemption of sin, that allows God to restore the believer into Himself, spiritually, as born again.

Your false "jesus" is teaching that God's Grace is for them to walk on water and perform the mystical.

So as i told you already.

That is Alister Crowley and Madame Blavatsky....its demonic spiritulism.

= "occult".
 
A

Anima

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I don't believe it was Jesus who spoke to Maria Valtorta. From WikiPedia ("The Poem of the Man-God"):

On 16 December 1959, the Congregation of the Holy Office ordered the 4-volume work entitled "The Poem of the Man-God" placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Pope John XXIII approved the decree and directed that the condemnation be published. The decree was then promulgated by the Holy Office on 5 January 1960.[5][6] The decree was published also in L'Osservatore Romano of 6 January 1960, accompanied by a front-page article under the heading "A Badly Fictionalized Life of Jesus".[5]
The Vatican newspaper republished the content of the decree on 1 December 1961, together with an explanatory note, as mentioned in 1985 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[3]
The Index was abolished in June 1966 and formal sanctions against reading books placed on the Index ended at this time.[7]
In a 31 January 1985 letter, Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, entrusted to Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, the decision whether to inform a priest of his archdiocese that the work of Valtorta had been placed on the Index and that the Index which keeps its moral force. Ratzinger adds that "a decision against distributing and recommending a work, which has not been condemned lightly, may be reversed, but only after profound changes that neutralize the harm which such a publication could bring forth among the ordinary faithful".[3]
In 1993 Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to Bishop Raymond James Boland of Birmingham, Alabama, that his Congregation had made that request to the Italian Bishops Conference to ask the publisher to have a disclaimer printed in the volumes that "clearly indicated from the very first page that the 'visions' and 'dictations' referred to in it are simply the literary forms used by the author to narrate in her own way the life of Jesus. They cannot be considered supernatural in origin".[3]

It also lists some critcisms:

According to Father Mitch Pacwa SJ, "the long speeches of Jesus and Mary starkly contrast with the evangelists, who portray Jesus as humble, reserved; His discourses are lean, incisive". In addition, Pacwa writes that the poem has "many historical, geographical and other blunders. For instance, Jesus uses screwdrivers (vol. I, pp. 195, 223), centuries before screws existed".[3] Screwdrivers are mentioned by Valtorta twice in her work.[10]
In 2023 Joachim Bouflet [fr] made various criticisms of The Poem of the Man-God's consistency. For example he addressed the claim of Valtorta that the Second Temple has domes, something that in Bouflet's opinion archeological excavations have proven to be false. Bouflet states that Valtorta also talks about the existence of Tiberias in her vision, at a time in her vision (when Jesus Christ was 5 years old, in Egypt) when it was not founded yet. Furthermore, the descriptions of the ficus carica of Palestine she provides only matches the descriptions of the ones that grow in the American continent. Bouflet states that the use of the word "vanilla" by Aglae (a first-century former prostitute), in section 168 of the book, is linguistically anachronistic since the term was only coined in the 16th century. However, Bouflet does acknowledge that vanilla existed in first-century Judea.[10]

Maria's writings were considered a work of fiction, based on the author's understanding of the Bible stories. With multiple bishops, cardinals and popes questioning its trustworthiness, and with clear contradictions with the Bible, I wouldn't waste much time on reading it, let alone believing it to be truth.

Jesus, praying to God for the church, said, "Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). We should trust that God has arranged for His word to us to be found in the Bible, and very suspicious of anything outside of it claiming to be God's word. We should be like the Bereans, of whom Paul said:

"Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).​

Well, there were people who didn't believe who was, but He was who He said. Anyway, I've refuted those arguments before on this forum and others over the years.
 

keithr

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Well, there were people who didn't believe who was, but He was who He said. Anyway, I've refuted those arguments before on this forum and others over the years.
Here is one of the references on the Wikipedia page in full. It's fairly clear why nobody should believe Maria'a writings to be genuinely from Jesus:

Author: Fr. Mitch Pacwa

IS "THE POEM OF THE MAN-GOD" SIMPLY A BAD NOVEL?
Maria Valtorta's multi-volume life of Jesus flirts with heresy and exhibits bad taste. Its claim to authenticity have been rejected by Rome.

"The Poem of the Man-God" is a five-volume "narrative" of the life of Jesus written in the 1940s by a sickly Italian woman named Maria Valtorta. "Poem" purports to fill in the details of Jesus' life left blank by the four Gospels. Such narratives have been produced since the second century A.D. Some were written by gnostic heretics. Some by New Agers and occultists. And some were produced by pious Christians who made up stories about Jesus to edify their readers and listeners.

The four Gospels do not give a biography of Jesus--or of anyone else in His life. Their purpose is evangelical and theological--to proclaim the Good News that human beings need for their salvation. Thus, for centuries, the "hidden life" of Jesus has been the subject for speculation.

"The Poem of the Man-God" is in this tradition of apocryphal literature on New Testament themes. Valtorta claimed that she was the "secretary" of Jesus and Mary, and was setting down the divinely inspired truth about Jesus' life. The Church has rejected this claim. Nevertheless, "Poem" has become quite popular, particularly among Catholics as well.

Remarkably, the book has grown in popularity in part because its champions claim that high Church officials--including one Pope--endorsed it. They haven't. In fact, "Poem" was included on the Index of Forbidden books until the abolition of the Index in the 1960s. No less an authority than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterates the Church's rejection of the claims made for "The Poem of the Man-God."

How did "The Poem of the Man-God" come to be, and how has the notion become widely accepted that it contains important religious truth?

Maria Valtorta, author of "Poem," was born in 1897 into a sadly dysfunctional family, where she suffered emotional abuse at the hands of a despotic mother. When she was 23, she was attacked and beaten by a mugger. She was never completely well after that. From 1933 on, she was unable to leave her bed.

Maria began to receive "dictations" on Good Friday, 1943. In 1947, she handed over 10,000 handwritten pages to her spiritual director, Father Romuald Migliorini, O.S.M. Father Migliorini typed them and Father Corrado Berti, O.S.M. bound them. Fr. Berti, brought them to Father later Cardinal Augustin Bea, S.J., spiritual director to Pope Pius XII.

Did Pope Pius read the whole manuscript or parts? If only part, which part? Advertisements by the Canadian Central distributors for Valtorta (CEDIVAL) quote Father Bea: "I have read in typed manuscripts many of the books written by Maria Valtorta . . . As far as exegesis is concerned, I did not find any errors in the parts which I examined." Notice, he read only parts of the books. Which were they?

On Feb. 26, 1948, Fathers Migliorini, Berti and A. Cecchin enjoyed a private audience with Pope Pius XII, as listed in L'Osservatore Romano's daily announcement of audiences. Standing in St. Peter's Square after the audience, Father Berti wrote down Pope Pius' words as he remembered them. These words were "not" printed in L'Osservatore Romano, but Father Berti remembered the Pope saying:

"Publish this work as it is. There is no need to give an opinion about its origin, whether it be extraordinary or not. Who reads it, will understand. One hears of many visions and revelations. I will not say they are all authentic; but there are some of which it could be said that they are."

CEDIVAL calls this a "Supreme Pontifical Imprimatur," where "he took upon himself to pass the first official judgment on these writings." CEDIVAL glues this inside the cover, though the publisher does not print an imprimatur. The reason: it has none!

(To be continued.)
 

keithr

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Continuing from post #59...

Confident of papal approval, Father Berti brought the books to the Vatican press. However, in 1949, two commissioners of the Holy Office, Msgr. Giovanni Pepe and Father Berruti, O.P., condemned the "Poem," ordering Berti to hand over every copy and sign an agreement not to publish it. Father Berti returned the manuscripts to Valtorta and handed over only his typed versions.

Despite his signed promise, in 1952 Father Berti went to publisher Emiliano Pisani. Though aware of the Holy Office's opposition, Pisani printed the first volume in 1956, and a new volume each year through 1959.

When volume four appeared, the Holy Office examined the "Poem" and condemned it, recommending that it be placed on the Index of Forbidden Books Dec. 16, 1959. Pope John XXIII signed the decree and ordered it published. L'Osservatore Romano, on Jan. 6, 1960, printed the condemnation with an accompanying front-page article, "A Badly Fictionalized Life of Jesus," to explain it.

The article complained that the "Poem" broke Canon Law. "Though they treat exclusively of religious issues, these volumes do not have an "imprimatur," which is required by Canon 1385, sect. 1, n. 2."

Second, the long speeches of Jesus and Mary starkly contrast with the evangelists, who portray Jesus as "humble, reserved; His discourses are lean, incisive." Valtorta's fictionalized history makes Jesus sound "like a chatterbox, always ready to proclaim Himself the Messiah and the Son of God," or teach theology in modern terms. The Blessed Mother speaks like a "propagandist" for modern Marian theology.

Third, "some passages are rather risque," like the "immodest" dance before Pilate (vol. 5, p. 73). There are "many historical, geographical and other blunders." For instance, Jesus uses screwdrivers (Vol. 1, pp. 195, 223), centuries before screws existed.

There are theological errors, as when "Jesus says" (vol. 1, p. 30) that Eve's temptation consisted in arousing her flesh, as the serpent sensuously "caressed" her. While she "began the sin by herself," she "accomplished it with her companion." Sun Myung Moon and Maria Valtorta may claim the first sin was sexual, but Scripture does not.

Vol. 1, p. 7, oddly claims, "Mary can be called the 'second-born' of the Father . . ." Her explanation limits the meaning, avoiding evidence of an authentic heresy; but it does not take away the basic impression that she wants to construct a new mariology, which simply goes beyond the limits of propriety." "Another strange and imprecise statement" made of Mary (vol. 4, p. 240) is that she will "be second to Peter with regard to ecclesiastical hierarchy. . . " Our Lady surpasses St. Peter's holiness, but she is not in the hierarchy, let alone second to St. Peter.

Further, Valtorta did not claim to write a novel, but called herself a "secretary" of Jesus and Mary, so, "in all parts on reads the words 'Jesus says. . .' or 'Mary says . . .'" The Church takes this claim to revelation very seriously, since it has the God-given duty to discern what is or is not truly from the Holy Spirit. In Valtorta's case, the Church decided against Divine inspiration.

Finally, "Poem" is condemned for reasons of disobedience. Competent Church authority had prohibited the printing of Valtorta's work.

Pope John's approval of the condemnation of the "Poem of the Man-God" should have ended the issue, but it did not. The publishers printed a second edition of 10 volumes, which the Church condemned in another front-page article in L'Osservatore Romano, Dec. 1, 1961. This second Italian edition was later translated into German, French, Spanish and English.

CEDIVAL asserts that a "modernist clan in the Church" . . . "surreptitiously attempted to seize the manuscripts and destroy them," claiming "firsthand documentation on this." These "enemies" included Msgr. Pepe and Father Berruti, the Holy Office censors.

I asked the head of CEDIVAL, Prof. Leo Brodeur, for evidence that Msgr. Pepe and Father Berruti held any modernist heresies, but he had none. He assumed they were modernists because the "Poem" claims "to help the Church fight against the terrible heresy of modernism." If the "Poem's enemies are modernists, Msgr. Pepe and Father Berruti must be modernists, too.

Such assertions are unacceptable. Accusations of modernism or any other heresy without proof is slander.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, present head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the same office that condemned the "Poem"), informed Cardinal Siri in 1985 of the "Poem's condemnation:

After the dissolution of the Index, when some people thought the printing and distribution of the work was permitted, they were reminded again in L'Osservatore Romano (June 15, 1966) that "The Index retains its moral force despite its dissolution."

More recently (April 17, 1993, Prot. N. 144/58i), he wrote:

"The 'visions' and 'dictations' referred to in the work, "The Poem of the Man-God," are simply the literary forms used by the author to narrate in her own way the life of Jesus. They cannot be considered supernatural in origin."

The best that can be said for "The Poem of the Man-God" is that it is a bad novel. This was summed up in the L'Osservatore Romano headline, which called the book "A Badly Fictionalized Life of Jesus."

At worst, "Poem's" impact is more serious. Though many people claim that "Poem" helps their faith or their return to reading Scripture, they are still being disobedient to the Church's decisions regarding the reading of "Poem." How can such disregard for Church authority and wisdom be a help in renewing the Church in these difficult times?

When Catholics insist on reading "Poem," despite Church condemnation, I make these requests: First, read three hours of Scripture for every one hour spent in the "Poem." The Church guarantees that the Bible is God's Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Church has judged the "Poem" to be a poorly done human work. Second, read solid Catholic theology books in addition to Scripture. G.K. Chesterton, Frank Sheed, Archbishop Sheen's "Life of Christ" and many other works are excellent starts. Third, maintain a strong prayer life, drawing closer to Christ Jesus, Our Lord, at Mass and at eucharistic adoration, and to our Blessed Mother Mary, especially in the Rosary.

If sheep insist on bad pasturage, at least let them take antidotes.

This article appeared in February 1994 edition of "New Covenant"