Posted on 04/25/2006 8:04:00 AM PDT by churchillbuff
Praise His Holy Name!b'shem Y'shuaThe Name above all other names.
YHvH has become my Salvation (Psalm 118-14)
The Catholic doctrine of "Baptism of desire" covers this. It holds that if someone wants to lead a good life and would have received Baptism had they known about it, they can be saved.
The saying "Outside the Church there is no salvation" has to be interpreted as the Church interprets it. Father Feeney was excommunicated for teaching that non-Catholics couldn't be saved. What the saying means is that the only route to salvation is that preached by the Church: repentance for sin and reform of your life. The reason for being in the Church is that the Sacraments help you to repent and reform.
But not all these people that knew could ever have been contacted through the work of an evangelist. Some had been living in remote areas of the world for far longer than Christianity. But they too believed in Jesus and God (obviously, they didn't call him Jesus, but they knew who he was). It is proof of the power of God to transcend time and space. God spoke directly to these people. It is the only way they could have known what they did.
No, Fr. Feeney was actually excommunicated for disobedience. He was summoned to Rome to meet with Pope Pius XII, and he continually refused, so he was excommunicated for disobedience, not the things he taught.
Amen to that! What do you make of islam and the followers of islam? It's foundational text, the Koran, explicitly states that Jesus Christ did not die on the cros, did not rise from the dead and is not the Son of God.
Buddhism?
Absolutely, Jesus is no normal "man".
The Lord created each one of us with a hunger for Him. Whether we know who "He" is or not. It's how we respond to that hunger. We who have been told about Jesus Christ have a much higher burden than those in the remote mountains of South America or the deserts of Africa who've never heard the name yet long just the same. D'you know what I mean?
It can be argued hun calling himself a prophet and the son of man isn't necessarily claiming to be God. You should also know I don't believe NT texts to be inspired. I believe the guy was an observant Jew and later writers, redactors and interpolaters made him into the man-god figure. So its not him that's necessarily the madman. Its the pointy hats that came after him.
Luke 12:48.
But he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more.
Your question is a good one.
We aren't in a position to know the answer, except that God always gets it right. However, we are certainly in a position to GUESS.
C.S. Lewis took a stab at answering this question in several ways and places. One of the most interesting was in the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia. In this book a good person who nevertheless worshiped the wrong god died. He was met by Aslan (the Narnia version of Jesus) and saw the truth. He immediately repented and asked for forgiveness, which he received.
I believe you to be insane if you can discern someone speaking metaphorically. :-)
I don't think an observant Jew would say the following:
John 8:58. Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM.
I believe the guy was an observant Jew and later writers, redactors and interpolaters made him into the man-god figure. So its not him that's necessarily the madman. Its the pointy hats that came after him.
Based on what evidence.?
As I heard once, even the people in the deepest, darkest, jungles who have never seen a preacher, know that there is a higher being than them that makes the sun rise and set. That makes the clouds and the rain,... etc.
Why would the apostles (the people who really should have known the truth, whatever it was) die martyrs deaths (all, or at least a majority of them) if He didn't say those things? When I was searching for the truth, that was the clincher for me. These people were willing to die for this. They were there when it all took place. They would have known if it was not true.
However, nothing anyone says will convince you of anything. It's really between you and God. God Bless and good luck.
susie
"The New Living Translation puts it this way: For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved (Romans 10:9-10)."
______________________________________
Amen!
That is a good question. What does Scripture teach?
Romans 3:10 as it is written:
None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.
13 Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of asps is under their lips.
14 Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Exactly. And so few people ever ask that question.
But your question implies that you get to say who is God and how he should act. If you are God, then he is not.
Yep. Life is as God directs it to be. No one will be in heaven who deserves to be there, but only by the grace of God. We're told to preach the Gospel to every nation so that everyone who has been given ears to hear will do so and rejoice.
"Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." -- Psalms 119:104-105
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God...Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." -- 1 John 4:1-3;10 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
"And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, sought out, A city not forsaken." -- Isaiah 62:12
As God wills.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.