Dinner with Michele Renouf

One of the most painful evenings of my life was spent in the company of Michele Renouf. We had invited an elderly Count, now sadly passed away, around for dinner, who told us that he would be probably be bringing Raine Spencer, who we had met before from time to time. But we were not due for a quiet social evening. He brought with him instead Michele Renouf clothed Indian style, a memory of a previous romance.

A priest was also present. We all were amazed when she regaled us with theories about the superfluousness of the Old Testament. She also declared that Jesus was not in the slightest way Jewish echoing, ironically, the views of the 19th century liberal Catholic theologian, Ernest Renan who wrote The Life of Christ.

More recently, according to Wikepedia, she has gone further

She has been working during 2007-8 on Pious Piracy, a new DVD about the New Testament that questions whether Jesus ever existed and that features interviews with Prof. Dr. Christian Lindtner (author of Gematria and the Gospels), Kenneth Humphreys ("Jesus never Existed"), and Dr Zacharias Thundy ("Buddha and Christ"').

Adding irony to irony, Ernest Renan wrote a work called "Anti-Christ", which is the fourth volume of his "Magnum Opus", the origins of Christianity whose tone is less than sympathetic to Judaism. The only time that I have heard Bishop Williamson preach, he opened his sermon with the words, "The Anti-Christ is approaching", a sermon completely lacking in the pious hope, intrinsic to Christianity, that the Church can be restored prior to the dread day of judgement. He held out as little hope for Catholicism as Renan did for the Jews.

The author of the Anti-Christ meets Christ






Return to our dinner party. How can there be a Christianity without the magnificent prayers of the Psalms, how can the Old Testament be read except as a providential foretelling of the great Redemption that was at hand? Michele Renouf is not alone in thinking that there are no archetypes in the Old Testament- there are liberal Catholic professors in Rome who think that they are merely poetic contrivances.

Michele Renouf was at the time studying at the Jesuit Heythrop College who were clearly so liberal as to tolerate such gross error. The priest at the dinner party did all he could to correct her views, but she was obstinate.

Bishop Williamson should be careful about the company he keeps. Does he not know that David Irving's best friend is the playwright, Hochhuth, whose play The Representative can be seen as the ultimate source of every myth about the wartime role of Pope Pius XII? See Articles of Faith.

The Bishop would be the first to say that "error has no rights" but then goes and gives voice to such a grave error. The final irony is that his erstwhile pursuers would be, at least in theory, the last people to maintain that "error has no rights."

All this just stresses the importance of a high view of truth. As the great Anglican theologian, E L Mascall put it (whose sadly didn't in the end convert),

For there is really nothing academic, in the pejorative sense, about the notion of Truth at all. It lies at the base of all sane human intercourse, civilized and uncivilized alike. It is what children are taught to teil and what even liars hope they will be thought to be telling. It is what every witness in a court of law is placed under oath to respect and for disregard of which he may be sentenced for perjury. The capacity to recognize it differentiates man from the brutes. It is the ground of what I have described as the Intellectual Principle. And that, as I said at the beginning, is so obvious that hardly anyone but philosophers and theologians would think of questioning it.

and Pope Benedict is firm that truth cannot ever be relativised, as the modern world, to the left and the right and the centre of politics is so fond of doing.

Comments

Joseph Shaw said…
Fascinating! What a nut-job Renouf is. One can only assume Williamson is unaware of her side-line in Christophobia. Just as Pope Benedict should have Googled Richard Williamson, so Williamson should have Googled Michele Renouf.
Kevin said…
Was she ever Catholic? I looked at her website, the speech she gave at the Tehran Conference is an eye opener! Apparently Mohamed is a prophet and the Old Testament is misanthropic. She does look fetching in her Mohammedan garb though.
Dolorosa said…
They said Jesus should be careful about the company he keeps as well. Jesus came for sinners and so does Bishop Williamson! Perhaps many will convert because the Bishop seeks the truth. How many today in the Catholic Church are telling the Jews they need to convert to the Catholic faith? No, for years, the new church has told Jews they are still awaiting their messiah. How many catholics are putting God before man today?
Michael Hoffman said…
You've mixed several different accusations here. Let's sort a few out: whatever Michelle Renouf's heretical beliefs, such as the heresy of Marcion, imbibed, methinks, from Douglas Reed's "Controversy of Zion," I would very much doubt that Bp. Williamson is associating with her for reasons other than arranging competent legal counsel willing to brave a storm of media opprobrium.

Now I ask you, if you were facing a European Union arrest warrant and found a barrister who was competent would you then question him on his personal religious beliefs to determine if he should represent you in court?

Lady Renouf is not a barrister but she is the organizer of legal counsel for persecuted revisionists in Britain, as the recent case of Frederick Toben demonstrates. Therefore, whatever her personal heteordoxies, I imagine Bp. Williamson has associated with her for reasons of organizing his legal defense.

This sordid guilt-by-association business is grasping at straws.
Enoch said…
Bishop Williamson should stay as far away as possible from the revisionists and their goofy, messed-up agenda, which is anything but Catholic. It is not truth that the revisionists are seeking, but instead they want to promote their Aryan religion, and 'revisionism' is merely the first step in their plans. I'm assuming that Bishop Williamson doesn't know about the religious part of the scheme.

Any lawyer that a revisionist would find would only cater to the agenda of the revisionists, and subsequently turn any sort of courtroom (if it comes to that) hearing into a pro versus anti revisionist scenario. The revisionists will want to control the situation if they can. The good bishop would do well to escape from their clutches immediately.
Unknown said…
This kind of rhetoric really irks me, start judging events based on facts and stop impugning people because of your ridiculous opinions.

If I was Bishop Williamson, abandoned by a cowardly Pope, abandoned by SSPX and so-called gatekeepers of truth like the Remnant, I would be grategful for any legal advice I could get.

http://www.thesevenangels.com/zionism/open-letter-to-the-remnant
Enoch said…
David, would you happen to know if Bishop Williamson has asked for help from Bishop Fellay or the Pope? I've been trying to ascertain this, but can't find any info.
In order to be abandoned by the Pope and Bishop Fellay, H.E. would first have to ask for help, and then be denied it.
Unknown said…
Enoch, you are playing with semantics.

You know, as well as I, that Rome has cowered before Zionism.

Why not open a Canonical trial and allow scholars who would support the Bishop's position to present evidence without the threat of being thrown into jail?

I'm surprised that you are not disturbed by this behavior. The Pope even quoted from the Talmud recently which is a most blasphemous and hate filled book.

Can you explain why a Pope is sacrificing a bishop to Zionist demands and content to preach from the Talmud?
Unknown said…
The world is going to hell in a hand basket, the New World Order is all but ushered in and the very font of truth is more concerned with political expediency than truth.

Quoting the Talmud, whats next, somehow finding the satanic bible, or Aleister Crowley's "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole of the Law" compatible with the ten commandments to reach out to satanists? It's ridiculous.

People are watching Rome, will they stand up for truth? On this issue, the Holocaust, they have sold themselves for 30 pieces of silver, and people fighting to save our civilization, can see it.

Does a man drowning need to ask for help before you help him? If you let him drown to placate others, does that excuse you from your moral duty to help him?

It is obvious what has happened, don't play semantic games.

Rome sacrificed a bishop to appease the zionist.
Enoch said…
David,
Rome has cowered before many anti-Catholic elements; Zionism being only one of many. Yes, I was very disturbed when the Pope visited the synagogue in the US and quoted from the Talmud. And yes, I am well aware of the horrible blasphemies contained in the Talmud against Our Lord and Our Lady. It was equally upsetting when the Pope earlier went into the Blue Mosque and prayed.

You mentioned a canonical trial, which might not be a bad idea, actually, but I can't see that realistically happening anytime soon.

I'm not so sure that Rome has sacrificed Bishop Williamson. Do you happen to know if H.E. has requested help from the Pope?

Here's an idea: perhaps Bishop Williamson should make his way to the Vatican, then throw himself at the feet of the Pope and beg for mercy and asylum. It would be a shocking and radical thing to do, but better to be with a Pope of the Holy Catholic Church (even if some of his ideas are not Catholic) than the idiotic revisionists.
Unknown said…
Perhaps, that would certainly bring things to light...but I hold little hope for with each passing day, each press release, Rome defines its position more clearly. I had always believed it was Prudence which kept Rome placating the world, knowing that many Catholics were weak in their Faith and heavily influenced by the media. This whole incident, however, is very disturbing. I can't help but see the Church of God transforming into the Church of the New World Order, whether its out of "Prudence" or because it has become impotent. It upsets me, and I wonder if these are the times that Our Lady of Salette spoke of. to stand for Catholic Truth
Unknown said…
Enoch, revisionists are not idiotic and they are not evil Aryan's...thats a slanderous and untrue accusation.

Personally I find their view of history a lot more intelligible than the "accidental" view of things.

In addition, when facts emerge years after the event, the revisionists are more often than not proven right.

You must understand that history is a means of control. A favorite quote of mine succinctly captures this fact "Those who control the past, control the future. Those who control the present, control the past."

What is at stake is historical truth, and the real power behind politics is keen to keep things as they are because it serves their agenda.

There are many example, consider what people believe about the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, Pearl Harbor, etc.

I recommend that you listen to Benjamin Freedmen's talk, you can listen to it at www.iamthewitness.com

btw..I was referring to the Pope quoting the Talmud in France recently, see:

http://www.zenit.org/article-23759?l=english