Cardinal Kasper Vs The Bible
Cardinal Kasper Vs The Bible
Cardinal Walter Kasper is in the news again, after congratulating the people of Ireland for legalising same-sex ‘marriage’, and also for participating in a secret meeting of Church hierarchy in Rome, which apparently was organised with the intention of creating more momentum for a rewriting of important teachings at the upcoming Synod on the Family. Manfred Spieker, a professor emeritus at the University of Osnabrück, has stated that Cardinal Kasper’s favourable views of homosexuality had “schismatic potential”. So this is a very serious matter which we need to be fully informed about.
One of the worst things such heretical ideas is that the misguided people in question fail to appreciate just how wonderful the Church is and how unique is Her place in the scheme of things.
By ‘exchanging the truth for a lie”, so much beauty is rejected and replaced with falsehoods that can only ever fall miserably short of the ideals set before us by God Himself.
Below are some of the proposals being put forward by Cardinal Kasper and his confreres: you can see that they are either already part of the Church’s teaching and have been thoroughly addressed by the Magesterium, or are completely unscriptural, and therefore have no basis for being accepted by the Church.
Concerning Sexuality
- a new “theology of love”: sexuality as a precious gift of God, as itself an expression of love
- the Church’s acceptance of homosexual unions
- the importance of the human sex drive
- sexuality as basis for a long-lasting relationship
Concerning Marriage
- a Catholic Hermeneutic of the Bible on the basis of the words of Jesus about divorce
- the change of moral patterns in a pluralistic society
- admittance of “remarried” couples to the sacraments
- a second marriage as an “authentic union”
- the indissolubility of marriage as “an ideal or ‘utopia’”
- with the lengthening of lifespans, the borders of fidelity are also changed
Concerning the Church’s ability to change doctrine
- the Church’s listening to the voice of the Baptized in moral questions
- the development of Church doctrine and discipline over time
(Source: Life Site News article here. )
I went to St. John Paul II’s wonderful book, “Theology of the Body”, for some inspiration before examining Cardinal Kasper’s proposals regarding sexuality and marriage.
In my opinion, “Man and Woman He Created them: A Theology of the Body” (sometimes abbreviated to TOB) is the greatest work since Thomas Aquinas’ Summa. John Paul’s insights are so profound and are such a beautiful explanation of what it means to be fully human.
I’ll reproduce a section from TOB regarding the analogy between the sacrament of matrimony and Christ’s love for the Church, based on Ephesians 5.
[The Book of Ephesians is where we find the Armor of God (Eph. 6:10-20) and the directive about wives respecting their husbands. Also this wonderful passage:
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Eph 5:11)
My study bible tells me that is a little different from St. Paul’s other letters because many of the Ephesians were recent converts, and Paul took the opportunity to catechise them about the mysteries of the Redemption and of the Church, the ‘holy and universal community that shines out to a world shattered by sin.’ I love that description: that’s OUR Church - we are so fortunate to be baptised into the Catholic Church.]
Below is the passage John Paul is referring to:
Even so, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes it and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his mother and father and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church; however, let each one of you love your wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5: 28-33
And here is the extract from the Theology of the Body:
This Mystery is Great.
1. The author of Ephesians writes,
‘No one, in fact, ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes it and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church, because we are members of his body” (Eph 5:29-30).
After this verse, the author considers it fitting to quote the text that can be considered the fundamental text on marriage in the whole Bible, Genesis 2:24.
“For this reason a man will leave his mother and father and unite with his wife, and the two will form one flesh.” (Eph 5:31, Gen 2:24)
It is possible to infer from the immediate context in Ephesians that quoting Genesis 2:24 is necessary here, not so much to recall the unity of the spouses, defined “from the beginning” in the work of creation, but to present the mystery of Christ with the Church, from which the author deduces the truth about the unity of the spouses.
This is the most important point of the whole text, in some sense, its keystone.”
The author of Ephesians includes in these words everything he said earlier, when he traced the analogy and presented the likeness between the unity of the spouses and the unity of Christ with the Church. By quoting the words of Genesis 2:24, the author emphasises that the bases of this analogy should be sought in the line that unites, in God’s salvific plan, marriage as the most ancient revelation (and “manifestation”) of that plan in the created world with the definitive revelation and “manifestation,” namely, the revelation that “Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her” (Eph 5:25), endowing his redemptive love with a spousal nature and meaning.
TOB 93: 1
St. John Paul is showing us that Jesus’s relationship with the Church is inextricably linked with marriage between one man and one woman for life. And he shows how the establishment of Christ’s Church in turn elevated marriage to a new and higher state. It is quite clear that there is no room here for a different interpretation allowing a homosexual union, or a second marriage, and that indissolubility is a hallmark of both the relationship of the spouses, and that of Christ and His Church, and not merely an ideal.
I suppose it’s worth pointing out that in cases where Catholics seek an annulment, the granting of a decree of nullity invalidates a prior marriage and so the indissolubility refers to any second (valid) marriage. I am in this category, after all.
Cardinal Kasper really is leading a lot of people astray with his call for a new “theology of love.” His words imply both that the theme of love has not been adequately addressed by the Church, and that Christ our Lord made a glaring omission when he referred to marriage as being between a man and a woman for life.
In fact, rather than calling for a rewriting of Catholic teaching, the Cardinal is really suggesting that Scripture Itself should be rewritten. And there is as much likelihood of that happening, as there is of two homosexuals creating a new life, that is, conceiving a baby together, which is of course the main purpose of marriage.
