Pope says only true way to know God is to love him



By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The only true way to know God is to love him and enter into a relationship with him through prayer and reading the Bible, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"Just as between people, one really knows another deeply only if there is love, if one opens his heart," so it is with God, the pope said May 2 at his weekly general audience.

St. Peter's Square was a sea of colorful umbrellas and raincoats as rain sometimes gently sprinkled or poured down on the estimated 20,000 visitors gathered for the audience. As the pope rode through the crowd in an open jeep, his personal secretary held a huge white umbrella over him.

As the rain became heavier, the pope told the people that Italian experts had been worrying about a serious drought this year, "so (the) Lord is giving us a sign of his blessing."

In his main audience talk, the pope continued the previous week's discussion about the teaching of Origen of Alexandria.

According to Origen's teaching, the pope said, "understanding the Scriptures requires, even more than study, intimacy with Christ and prayer."

"Origen is convinced that the privileged path to knowing God is love and that there cannot be an authentic knowledge of Christ without being in love with him," the pope said.

Pope Benedict told the crowd that Origen emphasized his idea by pointing to "the meaning sometimes given to the verb 'to know' in Hebrew, as this verb is used to express the act of human love. For example, in Genesis we read, 'Adam knew Eve, his wife, who conceived.' In this way, it is suggested that a union in love leads to the most authentic knowledge.

"Just as the man and woman are two in one flesh, so God and the believer become two in one spirit," the pope said.

In his remarks to Spanish and Portuguese speakers, the pope asked prayers for his May 9-13 visit to Brazil and for the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, which he will open.

"We ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, to bless this ecclesial encounter with abundant fruit so that all Christians truly feel themselves to be disciples of Christ, sent by him to evangelize their brothers and sisters with the divine word and the witness of their lives," he said. (Source)

*Sigh*.. People who say these kind of things.. annoy me slightly.

The basic premise is this:

If you want to "know" this entity:

1. Love said entity.
2. Read and study a book as if it was inspired and written by said entity.
3. Talk to said entity, and believe he is listening, and cares about you and what you have to say.
4. Believe that said entity wants to help you and will.

"If you wear a mask for so long, you begin to forget who you were beneath it."

"The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles." - John Adams

Heaven forbid we should come to the conclusion that we don't need these rules to find God and cut out all the middle men. What would be suitable employment for an out of work Pope?

Janitor at an institution for physically and sexually abused children. So he can see what being an accomplice to the sin of child rape, destroys in the spirit of the innocent.

Sounded like a lovely speech to me How can one really know someone if they don't form a relationship? Christians have been saying that for ages - for me, Christianity is not about going to church and keeping communion, it's not about singing and going to mid-week Bible studies. It's about a relationship with the creator.

I would argue that it's the other way around. How can someone really have a relationship with someone if they don't know them? Let's, for example.. say you were trying to get to know a deaf, blind, mute quadriplegic person. Basically, he or she would have no way to give you any real feedback or explain himself to you. (I am absolutely sure there is no real feedback from God when you believe you know God. I've been there, and nothing impressive or "has to be god" happens.

How do you get to know or understand someone like that? The simple answer is that you can't. You can't have a relationship when someone is giving you no input or feedback. You can interpret things as God, that doesn't mean it is. And these things happen to other people, so statistically, it probably isn't.

After reading that article, I was begining to wonder if Benny had become a Friend.



^^^ Typical Friend Quote. John Adams was one of a handful of Quaker presidents of the USA. (of course, one of the other ones was Richard Nixon... we still forgive him )

HaHa

I remember being amazed when I found out Nixon was Quaker. Up until that point I'd only heard mainstream denominations attending candidates, as they campaigned and had those ever present photo ops, including video of their entering or exiting their church of choice. It's unfortunate that he seemed not to respect the faith, or his office, because I doubt if he respected the faith his conscience would have allowed him to violate the trust of his office.

My mother cried when Nixon left office and boarded, if I remember correctly, the Presidential helicopter, so as to leave for that final time. Ford should have let him take his medicine.

You're right. It's a two-way street. How can you know God if He won't reveal Himself to you? The thing is that if you're the one who is deaf, blind and mute? The only way to get to know someone is if you will allow that person to reach out to you and touch you because otherwise you would be completely unaware they were even standing there. But if you are unwilling to accept touch as the only way that you can get to know others, then you are closing yourself from ever knowing them. He's right there waiting for you to let Him touch you, but you refuse to acknowledge that as the only way you have of knowing Him so you ignore Him.

I think the issue in an analogy such as that, is there are some that believe what is then experienced may be interpreted , according to one dogmatic standard that defines what is characteristic of one true god.

Making what I see as personal relationships, and dogma, incompatible in that respect.

Ingles por favor?

I wager you Habala just fine.

If not, consider it like unto one of jesus parables. If you don't understand, it's not meant for you.