[Judith Anne]

That means that God will hand a wrench to anyone, but it doesn't matter to Him which are able to fix the car and which cannot. He just stands there and watches.

Why do you say that it doesn't matter to Him? I am quite certain that He is big enough that EVERYONE matters to Him, even those who reject Him. After all, not even a sparrow falls without His knowing. You have said something similar several times. Do you not know that Christ died even for the sake of salvation for those who killed Him? "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."

That is one of the merits of wearing and displaying the crucifix. It reminds us how much He loves us, each of us, even those of us who nailed him to the cross. That much.

[Forest Keeper]

FK: That means that God will hand a wrench to anyone, but it doesn't matter to Him which are able to fix the car and which cannot. He just stands there and watches.

Why do you say that it doesn't matter to Him?

Just logic. I suppose that if in Catholicism God gives the same saving grace to all men, such that all men have an equal chance to be saved from God's POV, AND, that God will not interfere with any man's decision whether to accept Him, THEN it must be true that it does not matter to God which particular individuals come to Him, if even any do. If God is unwilling to interfere, even though He "nudges", then presumably if no one at all accepted Him, the reaction of God would be "Oh well". :) To me that is a very impersonal idea of God.

Do you not know that Christ died even for the sake of salvation for those who killed Him? "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."

Sure, but this love that Christ showed here is comparatively shallow in Catholicism because not a single person ever made it to Heaven just because He did that. IOW, in Catholicism Christ saved no one, even though the Bible says: "Matt 1:21 : She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." As I understand it, you all believe that Christ only paid for the sins of a person before baptism (including original sin). After that, we are on our own to pay for our sins.

Theologically, to me this position greatly lessens the gravity of sin itself because it supposes that a man CAN pay for his own sins, when in fact he cannot. Further, it makes Christ's sacrifice worth ...... less because the worth of the sacrifice is certainly enough to in fact pay for all sins of all time.