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In a message dated 01/16/2000 9:30:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > I'm not aware that the church has ever taught that the saints were perfect, > except for Mary. One immediately thinks of Peter's denial of Jesus. It's > certainly an imperfection on an apostle's part to deny the Lord and one > hardly deniable on the church's part. > > Bro Thomas Thank you, Bro Thomas. I was thinking of Augustine's Confessions, but your example is better. Peter, who denies the Lord and becomes the first Pope, always reminds me of Aaron, who makes the Golden Calf but becomes High Priest of Israel. I always understood both stories to mean that there are no perfect human beings (except as you've noted Mary), and even those elevated to the highest religious post will have some kind of imperfection that has to be called to the reader's attention. It's a call to humility, maybe, to remembering that only God is perfect. When I was young, the story of Aaron confused me. I couldn't understand why a person who had done something wrong would be chosen as the high priest. Both stories are very nuanced. One has to think about them. pat sloane %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%