Statistician William Briggs posted an article on his site titled The Fourth Crisis Of The Church & Pope Francis. Briggs is very critical towards the reformation attempts by the pope.
I replied to this article, which triggered a reaction by another reader, and I followed that up. I copy the small discussion here:
I agree partially with you, but not on everything, e.g. on the role of women in the church. In my opinion our pope tends to the right direction for that subject, whereas he is wrong on secular issues such as migration and AGW.
It is hard for humans to know God’s intentions for us. Jesus did not give clear instructions about many issues, such as the possible clerical roles for women. So in principle part of the current church rules may be wrong. How can God communicate clarifications to us? He cannot send some paperwork to earth, or a CD-Rom or USB stick. His messaging should probably be through prophets and/or spiritual visionaries. Many people may claim to be a prophet or visionary, but how to judge their reliability? Somehow God should provide accompanying evidence.
The following case relates to my earlier stated opinion.
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