The Manhattan Declaration

A Call of Christian Conscience

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1.the sanctity of human life
2.the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3.the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I was a little hesitant that this might be some evil email-gathering tool for spammer-types, but it was good enough for Archbishop Chaput (http://www.americanpapist.com/2009/12/archbishop-chaput-on-why-he-signed.html), so it’s good enough for me.

I may vomit… that’s the peak of relativism and height of pride… “I accept all of the church’s teachings as authoritative with which I agree, and reject as specious all those with which I disagree.” There may be teachings we have difficulty understanding, but the challenge is for us to exercise sufficient humility to recognize that the failure MAY BE in our understanding, and not in thousands of years of thinking and teaching by men and women who have devoted their entire lives to these issues.

For what it’s worth, the Council of Trent made the following statement about Purgatory -

CONCERNING PURGATORY

FIRST DECREE

Began on the third, and terminated on the fourth, day of December, MDLXIII., being the ninth and last under the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IV.

Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar; the holy Synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine concerning Purgatory, transmitted by the holy Fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and every where proclaimed by the faithful of Christ.

Catholic Essentials presents a quick summary of teachings on Purgatory here: http://www.catholicessentials.net/purgatory.htm that may be of interest to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also offers:

• Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3, Article 12, SubSection 3
• Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 4, SubSection 10, Heading 2
• Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 4, SubSection 10, Heading 3

Just a reminder to check out http://www.philippineaid.org, founded by fellow (although with greater frequency and erudition) blogger Tim Troutman. Help fight poverty in the Philippines. PAS is a charity that offers Filipinos a helping hand.

http://www.usccb.org/deacon/DIA_1.PDF

Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word “love” is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite.

(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=048DC840-14E1-467D-8DCA-19D2A8FD7485&displaylang=en)

The creed as expressed by the First Council of Nicea (A.D. 325)

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten (γεννηθέντα), not made, being of one substance (ὁμοούσιον, consubstantialem) with the Father. By whom all things were made, both which be in heaven and in earth. Who for us men and for our salvation came down [from heaven] and was incarnate and was made man. He suffered and the third day he rose again, and ascended into heaven. And he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead. And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost. And whosoever shall say that there was a time when the Son of God was not (ἤν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν), or that before he was begotten he was not, or that he was made of things that were not, or that he is of a different substance or essence [from the Father] or that he is a creature, or subject to change or conversion — all that so say, the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.

Looking first at the English (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/again), we see in the American Heritage dictionary again doesn’t mean only “a subsequent time,”

1. Once more; anew: Try again.
2. To a previous place, position, or state: left home but went back again.
3. Furthermore; moreover: Again, we need to collect more data.
4. On the other hand: She might go, and again she might not.
5. In return; in response: paid him again.

In this case, “again” indicates “to a previous place, position, or state”, or “anew”. Jesus was returning to his original state of being alive.

We use this in common language as well, as in “I tripped and fell, but picked myself up again, dusted off my knees, and looked around to see who might have noticed.”

This seems to be consistent with my VERYrudimentary understanding of the Latin and original Greek.

http://www.archive.org/download/HistoryOfTheCatholicChurchPowerpoint/ChurchHistoryLubbockSp09.pptx