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<p>Dear sinoditalgulised,</p>
<p>I was two days in bed with a fever, which meant among others that
the first
real-life meeting of the <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/talgud/about/#term-sinoditalgutiim"><span
class="xref std std-term">sinoditalgutiim</span></a> had to be
postponed once more.
Next possible date is only on February 16th (because on February
9th I am still
in quarantine). Please let me know your availability on this date.</p>
<p>Two days in bed gave me time to think about the project. I
realized that <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/draft/"><span class="doc">my
draft</span></a> is too long and too poorly structured. Here
is my attempt of
an “executive summary”. I invite you to comment this. No need to
respond to all items at once. Feel free to speak boldly (Some
of my statements may be foolish or unclear, and I won’t throw you
out of the
team just because we disagree about some point).</p>
<section id="an-executive-summary">
<h2>An executive summary</h2>
<p>(<span class="count">1</span>) We need an independent
institution to unite all Christians
because the referee cannot participate in the game. We have an
architecture
problem: The Pope exercises two different roles: “research”
(“What does the
Gospel mean today?”, “Where to go?”) and “deployment” (“How to
get there?”, “How
to explain this to the faithful?”).</p>
<p>(<span class="count">2</span>) I meanwhile imagine this
institution as a small community of
individuals who live and pray together with the Pope. They will
come from very
different backgrounds, similar to the disciples of Jesus. The
Pope will be their
direct apostolic leader. They will be economically independent
and make their
own living. They will run a guesthouse, and their main service
will be to
listen to their guests.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">3</span>) I claim that Synodality means to
be <em>together</em> (we can’t refuse
anybody who wants to join or to stay) and <em>on our way</em>
(i.e. we know that we
don’t know the truth). We have only the Scriptures as our guide
and the Holy
Spirit to interpret it. And we see that our interpretations can
conflict with
each other.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">4</span>) The Church has always been
apostolic. This concept needs better
documentation. The basic idea behind <a class="reference
internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/draft/#term-apostolic-governance"><span
class="xref std std-term">apostolic governance</span></a> is
that an
individual person gets <em>appointed</em> to do a given job.
Any appointed person can
herself appoint other persons to help her with her job. The Pope
is the
top-level appointer and gets appointed by the procedure of papal
succession.
Apostolic governance embraces democracy and monarchy and as such
can be an
answer to issues of these government forms. It has the potential
to lead to a
new social and economic system called synodalism, as an
alternative to
capitalism, communism and socialism.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">5</span>) The SC will also accept
donations and decide how to share them.
This is only possible because they will use <a class="reference
internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/pmpa/#term-public-accounting"><span
class="xref std std-term">public accounting</span></a>.
Yesterday
I asked a professional sworn auditor whether my idea that the
world needs public
accounting (see <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/pmpa/"><span class="doc">Public
money, public agreements</span></a>) can “have a future”. He
was unable to answer. He
did not even seem to understand it.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">6</span>) I currently define at least two
“naive” definitions: A
<strong>faithful</strong> is “anybody who cares about their <a
class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/faith/#term-faith"><span
class="xref std std-term">faith</span></a> and believes in
the
<a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/draft/#term-Gospel"><span
class="xref std std-term">Gospel</span></a>”. And a <strong>sin</strong>
is “a choice that causes harm to somebody”. See
also <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/blog/2022/0203_0829/#about-the-youcat">About
the YOUCAT</a> below. As a software developer I claim that a
definition should be a short sentence that every end user
manages to remember.
The “end users” of the church teachings range from youngsters
preparing for
confirmation over farm workers to doctors in theology.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">7</span>) I currently claim that the main
job of the SC community will be
to publish and maintain a small but authoritative website with
“master
teachings” that “explain” the Gospel in our time. The apostles
of the Pope won’t
have much time to teach themselves directly, they will delegate
this job to
others. How would that website look like? See <a
class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/blog/2022/0203_0829/#the-approval-system">The
approval system</a> below.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">8</span>) “Announcing the Gospel to
everybody” is the major job of the
Church. This job is poorly done today. Two observations:</p>
<p>(<span class="count">9</span>) Church representatives happen to
teach things that are in
contradiction with plain common sense. “Estonians are a
sceptical and
unforgiving people. When you tell them something that is in
contradiction with
plain common sense, they simply turn away and will distrust you
for the rest of
their life.”</p>
<p>(<span class="count">10</span>) My simple question “What is
this Gospel, this message that you
teach in your church?” received unsatisfying, confusing and
contradicting
answers. How are we supposed to announce something that cannot
be summarized “in
60 seconds”? You cannot announce something without having clear
knowledge about
it.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">11</span>) The Gospel is more than any
teaching, it is a divine message. It
is revealed to us in nature, in the thankful smile of a poor, in
a personal
experience of success or failure. But also in rites, sacraments,
and other
non-verbal signs that deserve regulation and formal approval.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">12</span>) The <a class="reference
internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/draft/#sc-draft-examples"><span
class="std std-ref">Examples of some teachings</span></a>
are
only my personal opinion (unless we would all agree on these
formulations, which
is unlikely). We should either present them together with a
completely different
example, or remove them. My original idea was to show how
different
interpretations of the Gospel can be.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">13</span>) I say that Christians dare to
speak about sins because we
believe that God forgives them even before we realize or repent
them. Your sins
may cause you trouble in the <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/meaning/#term-visible-world"><span
class="xref std std-term">visible world</span></a>, but they
cannot separate
your from God’s love nor from communion in the Church. This is
one of the
central messages of the <a class="reference internal"
href="https://hw.saffre-rumma.net/sc/draft/#term-Gospel"><span
class="xref std std-term">Gospel</span></a>. It is
especially visible in in Luke
15:11–32 (the <a class="reference external"
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Prodigal_Son">Parable
of the Prodigal Son</a>) where the father
had been waiting for the return of his son already <em>before</em>
the son had shown
repentance.</p>
<p>(<span class="count">14</span>) I currently claim that there
are organizations who do not
actively use the Bible as a tool of inspiration and hence their
language is not
biblical, but their mission is in harmony with the Gospel. We
can consider them
as “indirectly inspired”.</p>
<p>At your service,<br>
Luc<br>
</p>
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