The Pope doesn't believe in Hell...?

[Tony.Williams]

According to the front page of the Times (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-43592557 ) the Pope believes that Hell may not exist.

Well, that's a start. Next comes Heaven, then God...

[chaggle]

I find it puzzling in the extreme how faiths can change over time.

Hell either exists or it doesn't.

If you believe that it does and then believe that it doesn't you either were wrong before or you are now.

Doesn't that sort of thing bother these people ?

[Tony.Williams]

There's a long history of Christianity changing what it believes in. Sometimes this leads to offshoot versions of the religion, sometimes it just gets absorbed. The one which doesn't change is Islam - one of the drawbacks of having a holy book which cannot be questioned. Since the Christian Bible blatantly contradicts itself in some places, not to mention offering two massively contradictory versions of God in the Old and New Testaments (an eye for an eye vs turning the other cheek) it affords some welcome flexibility.

[chaggle]

The Guardian says The Vatican says that Il Papa was misquoted...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... ell-exists

The Holy See issued a terse statement saying a lengthy article published in La Repubblica on Wednesday by Eugenio Scalfari, 93, the newspaper’s founder, was “the fruit of his reconstruction” and not “a faithful transcription of the Holy Father’s words”.

[Ketchup]

There's a long history of Christianity changing what it believes in. Sometimes this leads to offshoot versions of the religion, sometimes it just gets absorbed. The one which doesn't change is Islam - one of the drawbacks of having a holy book which cannot be questioned. Since the Christian Bible blatantly contradicts itself in some places, not to mention offering two massively contradictory versions of God in the Old and New Testaments (an eye for an eye vs turning the other cheek) it affords some welcome flexibility.

As I understand it, there are many different versions/interpretations/disagreements related to the Qur'an, just as there are with the Bible.

http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-wife-be ... hbrush.htm

All agree that the Koran instructs men to beat their wives in Qur'an 4:34
But you must beat her with a "miswak" (a small natural toothbrush)
Islam is split on the subject, those in Muslim controlled countries are more likely to take the Koran at face value, the way it reads, while those living in the West world tend to say it is a symbolic stroke with a toothbrush. What we are pointing out here, is that the Koran, instructs men to beat their wives. Regardless of how you interpret this verse in "Allah's holy book", we must say that such a verse is shocking and unprecedented in the Bible.

[Tony.Williams]

As I understand it, there are many different versions/interpretations/disagreements related to the Qur'an, just as there are with the Bible.

Yes, that's true, but the key difference is that the Koran was dictated by Mohammed so cannot be changed, the Bible is a collection written by a wide range of people, and even the contents have been changed in the distant past, to omit writings by women, for instance.

[Tony.Williams]

The Guardian says The Vatican says that Il Papa was misquoted...

The Holy See issued a terse statement saying a lengthy article published in La Repubblica on Wednesday by Eugenio Scalfari, 93, the newspaper’s founder, was “the fruit of his reconstruction” and not “a faithful transcription of the Holy Father’s words”.

Well, they would say that, wouldn't they?

Someone should tell the Vatican that the approved phrase for such circumstances (i.e. wriggling out of responsibility for having "misspoke") is "taken out of context"!