Blasphemous quote of a Pope?

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 5:46 pm

I was just reading a book called The Last Templar in which the author Raymond Khoury quotes Pope Leo X (16th Century) as having said "It has served us well this myth of Christ".
Has anyone else come across this quotation or know where it originated (contextually)?

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something like this.....

It has served us well, this myth of Christ. (sometimes miquoted as "How profitable this fable of Christ has been to us.")

* Widely quoted without source on the Internet. From a satire by John Bale (1495-1563), The Pageant of the Popes: "For on a time when a cardinall Bembus did move a question out of the Gospell, the Pope gave him a very contemptuouse aunswere saiying: All ages can testifie enough howe profitable that fable of Christe hath ben to us and our companie."

registered · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:18 pm

I've never read that quote, however, one needs to be careful when making a judgement about such things. For instance, the Holy Bible makes some references to 'fearing' God. The term 'fear', a used in the Bible, has several different meanings. 'We' could make a whole thread concerning that issue...

To the point: the word 'myth' has several different meanings as well. It isn't necessarily blasphemous! It all depends on how it's used, just like the word 'fear'.

Source: http://www.answers.com/myth&r=67

Quote:

Myth may refer to:

Mythology, mythography, or folkloristics. In these academic fields, a myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths take place before time, before history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false. See also legend and tale.

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 7:54 pm

Well that clears that up, thank you both!