What is thelogically wrong with new Pope from America.
Today's sermon is about the issue of the identity of God and Jesus Christ. In other words, it is the issue of the identity of God and the Savior. But does such a thing have any effect on our lives? Most people don't know this, but the issue of the identity of God and the Savior has been much debated since the time of the early church about 2,000 years ago.
The debate that emerged at that time took three forms. The first opinion was that Jesus was a kind person who taught about God, but he was a human being. The second opinion was that Jesus was God. Therefore, he did not feel pain when he was crucified, and he only appeared to be dead, but he was not actually dead. These two opinions were rejected as heresy. The correct teaching, which is called orthodox theology, and the teaching that has been passed down to the present day, is the idea that Jesus was truly a human being and truly God.
Is this teaching really useful? In fact, unless you understand this teaching, your salvation will not be confirmed, and you will always be in a confused state of mind. Even if a person has been baptized, that is only the entrance to the kingdom of God. If you do not firmly hold on to the idea that Jesus was truly human and truly God, then there is no Savior, and so there is no problem in normal times, but if you encounter a storm in life, you will be blown away. You will also not feel much gratitude or happiness in your everyday life. This is because you are living without a Savior who is God.
On the other hand, a life with many Saviors is also a problem. There is a Togenuki Jizo in Sugamo, Tokyo. It is divided into categories, such as stroking the head if you have a head illness, and stroking the stomach if you have a stomach illness. There is also a Pokkuri Jizo, whose purpose is to prevent you from causing trouble to your family with a long-term illness. There are countless names for gods, such as Taishakuten, Tainichinyorai, Bonten, and Amitabha Nyorai. In Japan, this is written as Yaorozu no Kami (Yaorozu no Kami). I thought that this was a problem only in Japan, but it is also found in Christianity. Recently, Robert Prevost, the first American to become Pope, was elected as the new Pope at the conclave. His new name is Leo XIV, not Louis XIV. And there was a video on YouTube of his inauguration speech in front of a large crowd gathered at the Vatican, with English subtitles. I was surprised when I saw it. He was saying exactly the same thing as the eight million gods. He said that the Virgin Mary is God. The argument that Mary is an Apostle because she is the mother who miraculously gave birth to Jesus Christ, the son of God, was also present in the early church, and was called the Theotokos theory, or the theory of the mother of God. This is rather heretical. Because the Bible does not say that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was God. Also, Mary did not perform miracles, did not evangelize, did not help people who were suffering, and it is not written that she was crucified, died, and then resurrected. However, in the Catholic Church, anyone who is important has been made a saint and has been the subject of prayer. This is the same as the eight million gods of Japan, and it can provide comfort to those who are suffering. It is the same as the Togenuki Jizo. However, no matter how much you stroke Jizo's head, it will not cure a stroke. Because it is not a true God, it has no healing power.
Finally, let's look at the Gospel of John, which is today's Bible reading. Here, what does Jesus say to the skeptical Jews? He also says, "I give them eternal life" (John 10:28). He also says, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). This means that God the Father and the Son are of the same nature. The son of a frog is a frog, and the Son of God is God. This is where it is depicted that Jesus Christ, the Savior, who is the pinnacle of orthodox theology, is a true man and a true God.
You are free to believe it or not. Those who did not believe in Jesus crucified him and killed him. If we do not believe, we will also crucify and kill the Savior, and there will be no salvation. However, when Jesus is a true human and a true God, miracles occur. The miracle is when the words "I give them eternal life" come true. The opposite of eternal life is death. The Bible also says that death is the result of sin. Because humans are controlled by sin and its result, death, they cannot achieve what they wish for. They can't even diet. Some people spend hundreds of thousands of yen to go to Rizap, but they end up rebounding and going back to their original state. They can't even quit smoking or drinking. The famous Fukuzawa Yukichi wrote this. After quitting drinking, he felt bored, so he started smoking. When he smoked, he wanted to drink, so he went back to drinking. Before, it was just drinking, but now he can't quit drinking or smoking. What a weak-willed person I am. Even a famous person like him can't do some things. However, the disciples who believed in Jesus' words were able to do things that they had not been able to do before. If you firmly believe that Jesus is a true human and a true God, you will surely experience the impossible becoming possible. This does not mean that one has become a Christian by accident, but that one is to become a disciple who can truly overcome trials and evangelize. As today's special prayer says, "Lead us to the correct faith." Finally, one of my favorite books is "The Secret of a Happy Christian Life" written by an American woman named Hannah Smith. Here is the original English version. It says the following. When we are tempted or faced with trials, the important thing is to believe that "I am zero and equal to nothing, and Jesus Christ is everything." And to hand over all our worries to the hands of the Savior and leave them there. It teaches that just because the situation has improved a little, we should never try to solve it ourselves. I hope you all will try this method. I'm sure you will be able to live happily no matter what trials or temptations you face. What's important is not many gods, like the eight million gods, or faith in the Virgin Mary or saints. It's just faith in the one God, the words of Jesus, "I give them eternal life, and I and the Father are one." Amen. (If you have a quwstion about this, please send me a mail.)