How much authority do YOU put on Gods point of view ,his word.
How much authority do YOu put on mans point of view .
For me Gods word is Final Authority and I have no right nit picking over it for it then becomes only a bone of contention or foolishness on our part. Ps We are set free from the law and have covernent of grace written in the blood of Jesus in his will and testement . We obey the law with the Holy Spirits help and when we fall he if faithful to pick us up and dust us down if we confess our sin to him. If we chose to hide behind a fig leaf as Adam did we separate ourself from God as the penalty for sin is separation from God

Dear Oly,

Thanks. I am looking forward to your
reply. Because I'm still rather unsure
as to why the Vatican would issue such a
directive.If other Popes did
not have a problem with Yahweh, why is this
a problem now?

Is this a way of going back to the ancient
tradition? - because Jews thought the name
Yahweh was too holy to pronounce.

By the
200's B.C they were using the word "Adonai"
as a respectful substitute when reading from
the scriptures. When Yahweh was preceded by
Adonai, they said "Elohim."

When writing the
word, Jewish scribes mixed the vowels of
Adonai and Elohim with the consonants of YHWH,
the traditional spelling of Yahweh. This mixing
resulted in the Latin spelling, Jehovah, which
carried over into English.

Perhaps the Vatican is doing this out of respect
for the Jewish tradition?

Richie 10

I look forward to your response to my question regarding who (human) can start a church? Constantine? Elizabeth I? You? Me.

The true consequence of your argument is that we do not need churches. The alledged substitutionary randsom would be one-time event in history. History could record such an event.

If the priest does not have power over the Host, why is it necessary for a priest or minister or pastor to be involved. Why shouldn't a Christian family have The Bread & Wine with friends and family? Herein, our relationship with said god would be absolute. Direct, no intercession.

Institutional priesthood have their roots in Sumer and have as much to do with the administration of land (owned by god(s)), when peoples started the first city states, e.g., Ur.

Philo,

You are also correct in saying that my comment on the Vatican's direction relates to the name of God. Greetings.

Essentially the Church is not an organisation based upon a hierarchy. It is a movement in the hearts and spirits of humanity of relationship to our Creator and expressed social relationship to each other, i.e. love of God and human. The love of God is revealed in the spirit of humanity as our spirit lives in the holy aspiration of living in God. No one can say I love God yet hate his neighbour.

Philo, others,

Does the Celebration of the Eucharist necessarily require an ordained person? Or is it a protocol?

Unfortunately when the Church became the State it took on hierarchical roles as established in the Roman Empire. This is not the position forseen by Jesus, who said when two or three are gathered in my name there anm I, and again to paraphrase his words, my kingdom is not established upon power structures as the organisations of this world.

He said my kingdom is within you. He that would be greatest in my kingdom would be your servant. Even the disciples and one mother struggled with this and sought the right hand position for her sons in the new government they assumed. For them they believed His kingdom would be established along hierarchal structured lines. He taught rather it was a kingdom ruling in men's hearts not a State kingdom, based upon power lines. He had high commendation for a poor widow and low regard for learned Jewish professors of the law