More signs of the times…the Pope takes a clearly universalist stance on salvation.
I say…why bother having a religion at all?
What Christianity can there be without truth? Was God a liar when he condemned people to hell for their sins and unbelief?
Pope Francis says atheists can be good | World news | The Guardian.
March has come and gone. Certainly it was the “month of the popes” in so many ways. Popes don’t usually resign. The last one that resigned, in 1415 and by force, still had two or more popes and antipopes competing for the spot, all claiming to be the true Vicar of Christ.
Pope Francis I
The new pope certainly has charmed the world. Many evangelicals have expressed excitement over his election, hoping that he might somehow overturn centuries of going the wrong direction. Luther tried to change the tide, and we all know how that ended: with a Reformation and Counter-Reformation resulting in many people burnt at the stake and Bibles confiscated.
Honestly, it’s hard not to like him. He is so “not Benedict XVI”. He is South American, he rides the bus, he is certainly not as formal. The problem is that he is still a pope, the head of a religious organization that claims (among other things) to have authority over Scripture itself, to have an infallible leader who is the “Great High Priest, the bridge between man and God”, that there are many mediators and that one can be saved by works of righteousness plus Christ.
Here are the two questions that I get the most:
Here are three simple yet serious concerns:
I have had a few good friends ask me more information about my applying for Italian citizenship.
The question might be something like this:
“Are you giving up your American citizenship in order to become Italian citizen?”
Maybe you are wondering the same thing!
The simple answer is: No! I am and hopefully will always be an American citizen.
The slightly more detailed answer that I gave my friends so far as been:
I would NEVER drop my American citizenship!
Fortunately I can be a dual citizen!
After all…my ancestors were charter members of the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut!
When I was a kid, I was once asked: “Where do you like living more; in America or in Italy?” I remember my answer pretty clearly.
I asked them: “Who do you love more; your Mother or your Father?”
Just because I love Italy and the Italian people does not mean that I love America less. I believe this sentiment is typical of most missionaries.
David Livingstone, one of the greatest missionaries to Africa of the nineteenth century died in Africa. His body is buried in Westminster Abbey, in London, but his heart is buried in Africa.
This may not be a typical burial, but trust me, it is a typical sentiment among missionaries.
Paul himself did not give up his Jewishness because he was a Roman citizen. And he did not feel like he had to minimize being a Roman citizen in order to be a good Jew.
The apostle Paul said it best:
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – ESV)
Please pray for tomorrow, as it is an important Sunday in the ministry of the Centro Evangelico Battista.
When and how long is Christmas?
How do they decorate for Christmas?
What about the Christmas tree?
What do they eat for Christmas?
Do they have any traditional Christmas songs?
Christmas in Italy goes only for twelve days from December 24th through January 6th.
Traditionally, the first day of Christmas really is Christmas, not Christmas Eve, because the celebrations started with midnight mass. In some parts of Italy they do celebrate with a very special dinner, but most people celebrate Christmas day.
Christmas day is spent with family. In fact, they have a saying: “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi”, which translated means: “Christmas with your family, Easter with whoever you like.”
The day after Christmas is also very important. It called “Santo Stefano” (Saint Steven), In English we have a reminder of the festivity in the first line of the song Good King Wenceslas: “Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,…”
The last day of Christmas is the Epiphany, January 6th, – day that celebrates the arrival of the magi to bring gifts to the King. It is also called the day of the “Befana” because a “good” witch visits children, complete with broom and a bag full of gifts. Good children receive sweets, but bad children receive coal!
Today Christmas in Italy has become more commercialized as in many parts of the United States and Europe. There are many Christmas lights and bells ringing.
They are not big on decorating their houses for Christmas, but even the smallest of towns will have festive Christmas lights adorning the streets, and most likely a Christmas star on top of the church’s bell tower. Most people today will have a Christmas tree and a Presepe (see the following discussion).
Traditionally the Italian people did not know much about Santa Claus, or holly or Christmas trees.
Italians do have Christmas trees now, though in the past they were more into the Nativity scene. Legend has it that the nativity scene, (alternately presepe, presepio or crèche) was invented by Saint Francis near here in Assisi in the early 1200s.
These nativity scenes, which are very elaborate, going beyond the Biblical story to depict medieval peasant scenes, with hundreds of people gathered to worship the holy family.
Though Italians traditionally have celebrated a “religious” Christmas, this does not mean that they celebrate a Christ-filled Christmas.
The traditional image of Christmas is of the “perpetual Virgin” Mary (Madonna), holding the helpless Christ-child (Gesù Bambino). Gesù Bambino was the one who would bring gifts to children.
Mary, however always grasps people attention, and is celebrated and prayed to in their Christmas masses. She and the saints are asked to intercede on behalf of the people, who in their view are not worthy to approach God or Jesus directly.
People pay offerings to light candles, which are supposed to help their dead family members to move more swiftly from purgatory to heaven.
Every region of Italy differs in their specialty. On the coast they prefer dishes that have fish in them. In Umbria, where we live, women start days before Christmas preparing cappelletti, a fresh pasta filled with meat and usually served in a meat broth.
Often a cappone, a kind of chicken, is used for the broth. Pasta al forno (pasta cooked in the oven) is also very popular.
The most famous Pasta al Forno of course is Lasagna!
Traditional desserts vary by region, but some of the most common ones are Panettone (fruit cake), Pandoro and Torrone. Chocolate is also very prevalent today, especially for us, since Perugia is home of the most famous Italian chocolate factory.
The most traditional Christmas song in Italy is “Tu Scendi dalle Stelle“. Here are the translated words (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_scendi_dalle_stelle)
From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter’s icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd’ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff’ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
Thou art the world’s Creator,
God’s own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire
For Thee, Divine Lord.
Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, o Love Divine,
Will’st now so poor to be.
Traditionally it is sung with the accompaniment of a zampogna, which is the Italian version of a bagpipe.
