The Massive Heresies in Benedict XVI’s 2011 Book Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week

By Bro. Peter Dimond

*This is from my ongoing study of Benedict XVI’s books. For those who don’t know, Benedict XVI is Joseph Ratzinger.

Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week by Benedict XVI (Ignatius Press, 2011)

Since there are so many heresies from Benedict XVI, I have limited myself to including only those heresies that are truly noteworthy.

HERESIES IN JESUS OF NAZARETH – HOLY WEEK:

-BENEDICT XVI CRITICIZES MATTHEW’S GOSPEL AND REJECTS ITS HISTORICAL ACCURACY

-BENEDICT XVI BLATANTLY TEACHES JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE

-BENEDICT XVI PROMOTES THAT JEWS SHOULD NOT BE CONVERTED

-BENEDICT XVI BLATANTLY DENIES THE NECESSITY OF BELIEVING IN THE GOSPEL FOR SALVATION

-BENEDICT XVI JUSTIFIES THE CONDEMNATION OF CHRIST

-BENEDICT XVI SAYS THE JEWS DIDN’T KILL JESUS

-BENEDICT XVI QUESTIONS THE AUTHENTICITY OF ACTS CHAPTER 2

-BENEDICT XVI DENIES THE END OF MARK’S GOSPEL – HE SAYS IT WAS ADDED

-BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT THE BIBLE CONTRADICTS ITSELF

-BENEDICT XVI QUESTIONS WHETHER JESUS PROPHESIED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

-BENEDICT XVI ADMITS THAT HIS BOOK PRESUPPOSES HISTORICAL-CRITICAL EXEGESIS

-BENEDICT XVI BLASPHEMOUSLY COMPARES CHRIST’S PERFECTION AND FULFILLMENT OF THE ATONEMENT IN HIS “HIGH-PRIESTLY PRAYER” (JOHN 17) TO HOW JUDAISM REDISCOVERED ITSELF AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

-BENEDICT XVI IS GLAD THAT A PROTESTANT COMPANION TO HIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN TO REFLECT THE BELIEFS OF PROTESTANTISM

-BENEDICT XVI SUBTLY TEACHES THAT MAN IS GOD

-BENEDICT XVI APPROVES “FOR ALL” IN THE CONSECRATION

-BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT JESUS ASSUMED ALL FLESH

-BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT ALL HAVE DIVINE SONSHIP

-BENEDICT XVI PROMOTES EVOLUTION THROUGHOUT HIS BOOK

-CONCLUDING THOUGHT

BENEDICT XVI CRITICIZES MATTHEW’S GOSPEL AND REJECTS ITS HISTORICAL ACCURACY

This has to be one of Benedict XVI’s worst heresies yet. It comes in the context of his repeated attempts to exonerate the Jews of any guilt in the death of Christ.

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 186: “An extension of Mark’s ochlos, with fateful consequences, is found in Matthew’s account (27:25), which speaks of ‘all the people’ and attributes to them the demand for Jesus’ crucifixion. Matthew is certainly not recounting historical fact here: How could the whole people have been present at this moment to clamor for Jesus’ death? It seems obvious that the historical reality is correctly described in John’s account and in Mark’s.”

Wow! Benedict is commenting on the words of Matthew 27:25, “And the whole people answering, said: His blood be upon us and our children.” Benedict XVI not only criticizes the words of Matthew’s Gospel as having “fateful” consequences, but he also flat out denies that Matthew’s account is historically accurate. This is simply a rejection of the inerrancy of Sacred Scripture. It is a denial of divine revelation and the Catholic faith. It’s time for people to wake up and see this man for what he is and what he teaches. He utters this massive heresy simply because, as his book makes clear, he desires to exonerate the Jews.

Pope Leo XIII, Proventissimus Deus (#20-21), Nov. 18, 1893: “For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the words of the last: "The Books of the Old and New Testament, whole and entire, with all their parts, as enumerated in the decree of the same Council (Trent) and in the ancient Latin Vulgate, are to be received as sacred and canonical. And the Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been composed by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority; nor only because they contain revelation without error; but because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author."(57) Hence, because the Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, we cannot therefore say that it was these inspired instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, and not the primary author. For, by supernatural power, He so moved and impelled them to write-He was so present to them-that the things which He ordered, and those only, they, first, rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the Author of the entire Scripture. Such has always been the persuasion of the Fathers… 21. It follows that those who maintain that an error is possible in any genuine passage of the sacred writings, either pervert the Catholic notion of inspiration, or make God the author of such error.”

Pope Benedict XV, Spiritus Paraclitus (#22), Sept. 15, 1920: “Those, too, who hold that the historical portions of Scripture do not rest on the absolute truth of the facts but merely upon what they are pleased to term their relative truth, namely, what people then commonly thought, are - no less than are the aforementioned critics - out of harmony with the Church's teaching, which is endorsed by the testimony of Jerome and other Fathers.”

BENEDICT XVI BLATANTLY TEACHES JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, pp. 236-237: “Paul, who places so much emphasis on the impossibility of justification on the basis of one’s own morality, is doubtless presupposing that this new form of Christian worship, in which Christians themselves are the ‘living and holy sacrifice’, is possible only through sharing in the incarnate love of Jesus Christ, a love that conquers all our insufficiency through the power of his holiness.

If, on the other hand, we should acknowledge that Paul in no way yields to moralism in this exhortation or in any sense belies his doctrine of justification through faith and not through works, it is equally clear that this doctrine of justification does not condemn man to passivity – he does not become a purely passive recipient of a divine righteousness that always remains external to him.”

This is Protestantism, folks. Benedict XVI clearly states that Paul’s doctrine of justification is “through faith and not through works”! To put this heresy into perspective, think of it this way: The next time you engage a Protestant in a discussion about the Catholic faith, and he (wrongly) brings up a passage from St. Paul in an attempt to prove justification by faith alone apart from works, remember that Benedict XVI agrees with the Protestant.

James 2:24- “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

Romans 2:5-6- “… the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

Romans 2:13- “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

It’s no wonder that Benedict XVI was intimately involved in formulating and approving the heretical Joint Declaration with the Lutherans on the Doctrine of Justification. It also teaches justification by faith alone.

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, Annex to the Official Common Statement, #2, C [“Catholic” side and Lutheran side together]: "Justification takes place by grace alone, by faith alone, the person is justified apart from works.”

BENEDICT XVI PROMOTES THAT JEWS SHOULD NOT BE CONVERTED

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 45: “Hildegard Brem comments on this passage as follows: ‘In the light of Romans 11:25, the Church must not concern herself with the conversion of the Jews, since she must wait for the time fixed for this by God, ‘until the full number of the Gentiles come in’ (Rom 11:25).”

Benedict XVI quotes approvingly from Hildegard Brem, who teaches that the Church should not convert Jews. Benedict XVI doesn’t contradict the teaching, but promotes it and agrees with it. This is complete and total apostasy. On the next page, he even expands upon the point. He declares that the Jews retain their own “mission.”

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 46: “Moreover, we have seen that the nucleus of Jesus’ eschatological message includes the proclamation of an age of the nations, during which the Gospel must be brought to the whole world and to all people: only then can history attain its goal.

In the meantime, Israel retains its own mission. Israel is in the hands of God, who will save it ‘as a whole’ at the proper time, when the number of Gentiles is complete. The fact that that historical duration of this period cannot be calculated is self-evident and should not surprise us.”

According to him, the Jews don’t need to be converted because they retain their own mission and are “in the hands of God.” Of course, this is a denial of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, the Catholic faith, and many dogmas. That’s also why we saw him encourage the Chief Rabbi of Rome in his “mission.”

Benedict XVI, Address to Chief Rabbi of Rome, Jan. 16, 2006: “Distinguished Chief Rabbi, you were recently entrusted with the spiritual guidance of Rome’s Jewish Community; you have taken on this responsibility enriched by your experience as a scholar and a doctor who has shared in the joys and sufferings of a great many people. I offer you my heartfelt good wishes for your mission, and I assure you of my own and my collaborators’ cordial esteem and friendship.”

It’s an epic fraud that this man is able to pass himself off as the pope and the head of the Christian Church. The Apostles were converted Jews. The Apostles themselves evangelized the Jews. Jesus’ Great Commission (Mk. 16; Mt. 28) instructed the Apostles to bring the Gospel to everyone. It’s a dogma that the Jews (just like other non-Christians) cannot be saved without baptism and faith in Christ.

Acts 4:12-“… the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ… Nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name, under heaven, given to men, whereby we must be saved.”

Acts 13:45-46- “And the Jews seeing the multitudes, were filled with envy, and contradicted those things which were said by Paul, blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas said boldly: To you it behooved us first to speak the word of God: but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles.”

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra:

“Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.– But the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity… Therefore let him who wishes to be saved, think thus concerning the Trinity.

“But it is necessary for eternal salvation that he faithfully believe also in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ...the Son of God is God and man... This is the Catholic faith; unless each one believes this faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.”

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:

“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”

BENEDICT XVI BLATANTLY DENIES THE NECESSITY OF BELIEVING IN THE GOSPEL FOR SALVATION

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 44: “The restlessness with which Paul journeyed to the nations, so as to bring the message to all and, if possible, fulfill the mission within his own lifetime – this restlessness can only be explained if one is aware of the eschatological significance of his exclamation: ‘Necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ (1 Cor. 9:16). In this sense, the urgency of evangelization in the apostolic era was predicated not so much on the necessity for each individual to acquire knowledge of the Gospel in order to attain salvation, but rather on this grand conception of history: if the world was to arrive at its destiny, the Gospel had to be brought to all nations.”

Benedict XVI says that the urgency of evangelization was not predicated on the necessity for each man to believe in the Gospel for salvation. Rather, it was important so that the world as a whole could fulfill its destiny. To the heretic Benedict XVI, it’s not necessary for individuals to know and believe in the Gospel for salvation.

Pope Pius IX, First Vatican Council, 1870: “… no one can ‘assent to the preaching of the Gospel,’ as he must to attain salvation, without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all a sweetness in consenting to and believing the truth.” (Denz. 1791)

Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos (# 13), Aug. 15, 1832: “With the admonition of the apostle, that ‘there is one God, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5), may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that ‘those who are not with Christ are against Him,’ (Lk. 11:23) and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore, ‘without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate (Athanasian Creed).”

BENEDICT XVI JUSTIFIES THE CONDEMNATION OF CHRIST

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, pp. 168-169: “… an eventual decision on the case of Jesus… John tells us that the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together. These were the two leading groups within Judaism at the time of Jesus, and on many points they were opposed to one another. But their common fear was this: ‘The Romans will come and destroy both our holy place [that is, the Temple, the holy place for divine worship] and our nation’ (11:48). One is tempted to say that the motive for acting against Jesus was a political concern shared by the priestly aristocracy and the Pharisees, though they arrived at it from different starting points… Nevertheless, we must not be too hasty in condemning the ‘purely political’ outlook of his opponents. For in the world they inhabited, the two spheres – political and religious – were inseparable.”

Benedict XVI clearly attempts to exonerate those who were responsible for the death of Christ (i.e., the Jews).

Acts 3:12-19- “But Peter seeing, made answer to the people: Ye men of Israel, why wonder you at this? or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk?... But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses… But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”

The Errors of Peter Abelard, Condemned by Innocent II, July 16, 1140, #10: “That they have not sinned who being ignorant have crucified Christ, and that whatever is done through ignorance must not be considered sin.” -Condemned.

BENEDICT XVI SAYS THE JEWS DIDN’T KILL JESUS

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, pp. 184-185: “Now we must ask: Who exactly were Jesus’ accusers? Who insisted that he be condemned to death? We must take note of the different answers that the Gospels give to the question. According to John it was simply ‘the Jews’. But John’s use of the expression does not in any way indicate – as the modern reader might suppose – the people of Israel in general, even less is it ‘racist’ in character… In John’s Gospel this word has a precise and clearly defined meaning: he is referring to the Temple aristocracy.”

This is another concerted effort on the part of Antipope Benedict XVI – the man who wears the Jewish Star of David on his mitre – to rewrite the Gospel and excuse the Jews. His incessant teaching in favor of the Jews is consistent with one who leads the Jewish Counter Church of the Antichrist. Divine revelation, however, is clear that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15- “For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own coutrymen, even as they have from the Jews, Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men…”

Acts 10:39- “And we are witnesses of all things that he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed, hanging him upon a tree.”

Acts 2:5, 22-23, 37-38- “Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven… Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain… Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Benedict XVI admits that in Mark’s Gospel, the “circle of accusers” is broadened. However, he (of course) still finds a way not to blame the Jews.

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 185: “In Mark’s Gospel the circle of accusers is broadened in the context of the Passover amnesty (Barabbas or Jesus): the ‘ochlos’ enters the scene and opts for the release of Barabbas. ‘Ochlos’ in the first instance simply means a crowd of people, the ‘masses’. The word frequently has a pejorative connotation, meaning ‘mob’. In any event, it does not refer to the Jewish people as such.”

BENEDICT XVI QUESTIONS THE AUTHENTICITY OF ACTS CHAPTER 2

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, pp. 255-256: “Peter takes it for granted that it was David who originally prayed this psalm, and he goes on to state that this hope was not fulfilled in David: ‘He both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day’ (Acts 2:29)… We need not go into the question here of whether this address really goes back to Peter and, if not, who else might have redacted it and precisely when and where it originated. Whatever the answer may be, we are dealing here with a primitive form of Resurrection proclamation, whose high authority in the early Church is clear from the fact that it was attributed to St. Peter himself and was regarded as the original proclamation of the Resurrection.”

Acts chapter 2 contains Peter’s Pentecost sermon, one of the most significant addresses in Church history. Benedict XVI doubts whether this address can even be attributed to Peter. This is outrageous heresy and filthy modernism. On July 1, 1933, the Pontifical Biblical Commission responded to a query concerning Acts 2:24-33, the very passage Benedict XVI mentions. The reply stated that it is not even permitted to interpret the words of Psalm 15:10-11, which are quoted by St. Peter in Acts 2:27, as referring to something other than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Denz. 2272). That is to say, those words of St. Peter definitely refer to Christ’s Resurrection. One can only imagine how the Commission would have replied if someone questioned whether the address was given by St. Peter at all.

BENEDICT XVI DENIES THE END OF MARK’S GOSPEL – HE SAYS IT WAS ADDED

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, pp. 261-262: “The ending of Mark poses a particular problem. According to authoritative manuscripts, the Gospel comes to a close with 16:8 – ‘and they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.’ The authentic text of the Gospel as it has come down to us ends with the fear and trembling of women… For what reason our text breaks off at this point, we do not know. In the second century, a concluding summary was added, bringing together the most important Resurrection traditions and the mission of the disciples to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world (Mark 16:9-20).”

According to Benedict XVI, everything from Mark 16:9 to Mark 16:20 is not part of the Bible. He excludes this rather important section from the biblical text.

Mark 16:15-20- “And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.”

The fact that there have been various views on the ancient manuscripts as they relate to Mark 16 is irrelevant. In the ancient Church, there were also disputes about which books constitute canonical Scripture. Since the Church has confirmed the authenticity of Mark’s Gospel, from beginning to end, as it is used in the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI’s statement is heresy. In fact, it’s interesting to consider that the First Vatican Council dogmatically incorporated into its infallible decree the very portion of Mark’s Gospel which Benedict XVI denies.

Pope Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chap. 2 on Revelation: “Wherefore, not only Moses and the prophets, but especially Christ the Lord Himself, produced many genuine miracles and prophecies; and we read concerning the apostles: "But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal and confirming the word with signs that followed" [Mark 16:20]. And again it is written: "And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place" [2 Pet. 1:19].”

If you still believe that Benedict XVI is the pope, then you and he don’t even have the same Bible.

BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT THE BIBLE CONTRADICTS ITSELF

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 106: “The problem of dating Jesus’ Last Supper arises from the contradiction on this point between the Synoptic Gospels, on the one hand, and St. John’s Gospel, on the other.”

In his book he spends quite a bit of time examining what he considers to be contradictions in the biblical accounts.

BENEDICT XVI QUESTIONS WHETHER JESUS PROPHESIED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 111: “Jesus went to the Temple for the great feasts. Even if he prophesied its demise and confirmed this with a dramatic symbolic action, he still followed the Jewish festal calendar, as is evident from John’s Gospel in particular.”

There is no question whether Jesus prophesied the destruction of the Temple, if you believe in the words of the Bible. Jesus’ prophecy is recorded in Matthew 24:1-2, and it was fulfilled. Benedict XVI says, “Even if he prophesied its demise,” as if it’s not certain Jesus made this prophecy. This is heresy.

Some will respond by saying that Benedict XVI’s expression is just a manner of speaking. On the contrary, his book is filled with detailed discussions questioning the historical validity and accuracy of the events recorded in the New Testament. He clearly states that the Gospels contradict each other. He also admits that his book adopts historical-critical exegesis, which in our day equates to a deconstruction (rather than acceptance) of the Bible’s recorded history.

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 295: “As explained in the foreword to Part One, this book presupposes historical-critical exegesis and makes use of its findings, but it seeks to transcend this method and to arrive at a genuinely theological interpretation of the scriptural texts.”

BENEDICT XVI BLASPHEMOUSLY COMPARES CHRIST’S PERFECTION AND FULFILLMENT OF THE ATONEMENT IN HIS “HIGH-PRIESTLY PRAYER” (JOHN 17) TO HOW JUDAISM REDISCOVERED ITSELF AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

In his book, Benedict XVI makes some good points about how Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17 – known today as his “high-priestly prayer” – corresponds to the prayer of the high-priest on the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament.

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 78: “The structure and ritual described in Leviticus 16 is reproduced exactly in Jesus’ prayer: just as the high priest makes atonement for himself, for the priestly clan, and for the whole community of Israel, so Jesus prays for himself, for the Apostles, and finally for all who will come to believe in him through their word – for the Church of all times (Jn. 17:20).”

Benedict XVI spends some pages establishing that Jesus’ “high-priestly prayer” is the divine fulfillment of the Old Testament ritual and type. In Christ, the true high-priest has arrived. However, Benedict XVI then goes on to compare Jesus’ perfection and fulfillment of the Atonement to how Judaism rediscovers itself after the destruction of its Temple and the end of its cult!

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 90: “This purifying and sanctifying ‘truth’ is ultimately Christ himself. They must be immersed in him; they must, so to speak, be ‘newly robed’ in him, and thus they come to share in his consecration, in his priestly commission, in his sacrifice.

Judaism, likewise, after the demise of the Temple, had to discover a new meaning to the cultic prescriptions. It now saw ‘sanctification’ in the fulfillment of the commandments – in being immersed in God’s holy word and in God’s will expressed therein (cf. Schnakenburg, The Gospel according to St. John III, pp. 185.

This is heresy, blasphemy and apostasy. The destruction of the Jewish Temple and the end of its cult signified that Judaism is dead. The Messiah had come. All true Jews were to be incorporated into the universal covenant of the Savior. There is no future or re-discovery for Judaism after the destruction of the Temple. It’s over and finished; it has passed into the Church.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, 1441, ex cathedra: “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and teaches that the matter pertaining to the law of the Old Testament, the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, sacred rites, sacrifices, and sacraments… after our Lord’s coming… ceased, and the sacraments of the New Testament began… All, therefore, who after that time (the promulgation of the Gospel) observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, the holy Roman Church declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation.”

Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi (#’s 29-30), June 29, 1943: “And first of all, by the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had been abolished… on the gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees [Eph. 2:15]… establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human race. ‘To such an extent, then,’ says St. Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our Lord, ‘was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to the Church, from many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as our Lord expired, that mystical veil which shut off the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent violently from top to bottom.’ On the Cross then the Old Law died, soon to be buried and to be a bearer of death…”

Benedict XVI not only indicates that Judaism had a future, and that it rediscovered a new meaning to its prescriptions, but he argues that Judaism’s rediscovery is comparable to (and therefore as valid as) Jesus’ perfection and fulfillment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement. In other words, to him modern Judaism is comparable to (and therefore as valid as) the actions, religion and divine fulfillment of the Savior.

BENEDICT XVI IS GLAD THAT A PROTESTANT COMPANION TO HIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN TO REFLECT THE BELIEFS OF PROTESTANTISM

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, Foreword, pp. xiii-xiv: “A further joy for me is the fact that in the meantime this book has, so to speak, acquired an ecumenical companion in the comprehensive volume of the Protestant theologian Joachim Ringleben, Jesus (2008). Anyone who reads both books will see, on the one hand, the great difference in approach and in underlying theological presuppositions through which the contrasting confessional backgrounds of the two authors are concretely expressed… Despite the differing theological viewpoints, it is the same faith that is at work, and it is the same Lord Jesus who is encountered.”

Benedict XVI is glad that a heretic is publishing a book on Jesus. He says the heretic’s book reflects the theological presuppositions and confessional background of Protestants (i.e., heresy). Therefore, Benedict XVI endorses and promotes a Protestant book. Benedict XVI also says that Protestants have the same faith in Jesus. This is manifest heresy.

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (#5), June 29, 1896: “The Church of Christ, therefore, is one and the same for ever; those who leave it depart from the will and command of Christ, the Lord - leaving the path of salvation they enter on that of perdition. "Whosoever is separated from the Church is united to an adulteress. He has cut himself off from the promises of the Church, and he who leaves the Church of Christ cannot arrive at the rewards of Christ. He who observes not this unity observes not the law of God, holds not the faith of the Father and the Son, clings not to life and salvation."

BENEDICT XVI SUBTLY TEACHES THAT MAN IS GOD

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 199: “‘Ecce homo’ – the expression spontaneously takes on a depth of meaning that reaches far beyond this moment in history. In Jesus, it is man himself that is manifested. In him is displayed the suffering of all who are subjected to violence, all the downtrodden.”

Man is not manifested in Jesus, because man is not the God-man. While this is far from his book’s most significant or problematic passage, it is worth noting.

BENEDICT XVI APPROVES “FOR ALL” IN THE CONSECRATION

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 135: “He [Joachim Jeremias] tried to prove that the word ‘many’ in the Old Testament means ‘the totality’ and is therefore most accurately translated as ‘all’. This thesis quickly gained ground at the time and became part of received theological thinking. On this basis, during the words of consecration, the word ‘many’ has been translated in a number of languages as ‘all’. ‘Shed for you and for all’ is how the faithful in many countries today hear the words of Jesus during the mass.”

This is a heresy, a lie, and an outrageous perversion of the words of Jesus.

The Catechism of the Council of Trent, On the Form of the Eucharist, p. 227: "The additional words for you and for many, are taken, some from Matthew, some from Luke, but were joined together by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Spirit of God. They serve to declare the fruit and advantage of His Passion. For if we look to its value, we must confess that the Redeemer shed His Blood for the salvation of all; but if we look to the fruit which mankind has received from it, we shall easily find that it pertains not unto all, but to many of the human race. When therefore (our Lord) said: For you, He meant either those who were present, or those chosen from among the Jewish people, such as were, with the exception of Judas, the disciples with whom He was speaking. When He added, And for many, He wished to be understood to mean the remainder of the elect from among the Jews and Gentiles. WITH REASON, THEREFORE, WERE THE WORDS FOR ALL NOT USED, as in this place the fruits of the Passion are alone spoken of, and to the elect only did His Passion bring the fruit of salvation."

BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT JESUS ASSUMED ALL FLESH

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 56: “On returning, Jesus does not strip away his humanity again as if it were a source of impurity. The goal of this descent was the adoption and assumption of all mankind, and his homecoming with all men is the homecoming of ‘all flesh’.”

Benedict XVI says that Jesus’ descent into Hell, and return therefrom, was the “adoption and assumption of all mankind” and “all flesh.” This is universal salvation. It alludes to John Paul II’s heretical teaching that Christ united Himself with each man in the Incarnation, and assumed all “flesh.” John Paul II taught that the Word, the Son of God, actually didn’t become man but became all men.

John Paul II, Dominum et Vivificantem (#50), May 18, 1986: “The Incarnation of God the Son signifies the taking up into unity with God not only of human nature, but in this human nature, in a sense, of everything that is "flesh": the whole of humanity, the entire visible and material world.”

BENEDICT XVI TEACHES THAT ALL HAVE DIVINE SONSHIP

Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011, p. 161: “Indeed, the Son’s whole being is expressed in the ‘not I, but you’ – in the total self-abandonment of the ‘I’ to the ‘you’ of God the Father. This same ‘I’ has subsumed and transformed humanity’s resistance, so that we are all now present within the Son’s obedience; we are all drawn into sonship.”

Only those who are incorporated into Christ receive divine sonship.

Pope Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Third Session, April 24, 1870, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chapter 3: “Since, then, without faith it is impossible to please God and reach the fellowship of his sons and daughters, it follows that no one can ever achieve justification without it, neither can anyone attain eternal life unless he or she perseveres in it to the end.”

BENEDICT XVI PROMOTES EVOLUTION THROUGHOUT HIS BOOK

Benedict XVI promotes the heresies of both theological evolution and physical evolution throughout his book. On page 100, he refers to the “human world as it has evolved in history.” On pages 139-140, he speaks of how the liturgy was to “evolve.” On page 244, he tells us that the Resurrection of Jesus constitutes “an evolutionary leap.” On page 247, he writes of creation waiting for the last and highest “evolutionary leap.” On page 274, he speaks again of the Resurrection of Christ as a radical “evolutionary leap.”

Pope Pius X, Pascendi (# 26), Sept. 8, 1907, Explaining the doctrine of the Modernists: “To the laws of evolution everything is subject – dogma, Church, worship, the Books we revere as sacred, even faith itself, and the penalty of disobedience is death. The enunciation of this principle will not astonish anybody who bears in mind what the Modernists have had to say about each of these subjects.”

CONCLUDING THOUGHT

There were about 20 to 40 other passages in his book that were heretical or smacking of heresy and modernism, but I felt that it was best to focus only the ones that I presented above. Out of all the books authored by Benedict XVI that I have studied (28), this book is perhaps the most heretical and definitely in the top three.

A HERETIC CANNOT BE A VALID POPE

It is a proven fact that Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) is a non-Catholic heretic. The Catholic Church teaches that a heretic cannot be validly elected pope, since a heretic is not a member of the Catholic Church. Ratzinger, who is now Benedict XVI, is a non-Catholic antipope whose election was utterly null and void.

Pope Paul IV, Bull Cum ex Apostolatus Officio, Feb. 15, 1559: “6. In addition, [by this Our Constitution, which is to remain valid in perpetuity We enact, determine, decree and define:-] that if ever at any time it shall appear that any Bishop, even if he be acting as an Archbishop, Patriarch or Primate; or any Cardinal of the aforesaid Roman Church, or, as has already been mentioned, any legate, or even the Roman Pontiff, prior to his promotion or his elevation as Cardinal or Roman Pontiff, has deviated from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy:

(i) the promotion or elevation, even if it shall have been uncontested and by the unanimous assent of all the Cardinals, shall be null, void and worthless;
(ii) it shall not be possible for it to acquire validity (nor for it to be said that it has thus acquired validity) through the acceptance of the office, of consecration, of subsequent authority, nor through possession of administration, nor through the putative enthronement of a Roman Pontiff, or Veneration, or obedience accorded to such by all, nor through the lapse of any period of time in the foregoing situation;
(iii) it shall not be held as partially legitimate in any way…

(vi) those thus promoted or elevated shall be deprived automatically, and without need for any further declaration, of all dignity, position, honour, title, authority, office and power….

10. No one at all, therefore, may infringe this document of our approbation, re-introduction, sanction, statute and derogation of wills and decrees, or by rash presumption contradict it. If anyone, however, should presume to attempt this, let him know that he is destined to incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul.

Given in Rome at Saint Peter's in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1559, 15th February, in the fourth year of our Pontificate.

+ I, Paul, Bishop of the Catholic Church…”

St. Robert Bellarmine: “A pope who is a manifest heretic automatically (per se) ceases to be pope and head, just as he ceases automatically to be a Christian and a member of the Church. Wherefore, he can be judged and punished by the Church. This is the teaching of all the ancient Fathers who teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction.” (De Romano Pontifice, II, 30)

The Catholic Encyclopedia, “Papal Elections,” 1914, Vol. 11, p. 456: "Of course, the election of a heretic, schismatic, or female [as Pope] would be null and void."

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