Posted on 01/23/2014 9:29:40 PM PST by NKP_Vet
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit.
3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., "faith alone" and many other "Catholic" doctrines - see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., "Scripture alone"), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don't therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the "theory" of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians.
4. Catholicism isn't formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 1:10-13).
5. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23).
6. Catholicism, because of its unified, complete, fully supernatural Christian vision, mitigates against secularization and humanism.
7. Catholicism avoids an unbiblical individualism which undermines Christian community (e.g., 1 Cor 12:25-26).
8. Catholicism avoids theological relativism, by means of dogmatic certainty and the centrality of the papacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at ourcatholicfaith.org ...
If folks can be saved without Jesus why did He bother to come down and die on the cross? It would have been far better under the Roman Catholic scheme for people to remain ignorant than run the risk oh hearing about Jesus, rejecting Him, and being condemned.
And why evangelize? If I tell the good news to someone who is ignorant and they don’t convert I am culpable in their condemnation.
But it isn’t that simple. Muslims, according to the Roman Catholic catechism get a free pass anyway.
By the way, people are judged not because they are ignorant, but because of their sin.
As a practicing Catholic I object to posts preaching religion on a political webpage such as this. These types of posts do more to divide Christians than unite.
Out of curiosity, what are these anti biblical teachings?
And why not Buddhists...Hindus...etc. I'm not sure if Catholics are grasping at straws in support of Rome or if they have truly left the faith. They have become universalists. It was just a matter of time.
...people are judged not because they are ignorant, but because of their sin.
This bears repeating.
They need to hear the truth. It was Jesus’ command.
So they're damned too? Even if their ignorance of Christ is no fault of their own?
How do you reconcile your doctrine with the nature of God, Who is Justice Itself?
I rarely interrupt metmom’s discussions as she is quite capable of handling them herself. However, the Catholic Church no longer supports the founding fathers beliefs. The reason the Reformation occurred was simply because some in the Church felt they wanted to go back to the teaching of the early fathers.
Today’s Catholic are nothing more than universalists (see my post somewhere above). They no longer believe in the atonement of Christ, believing everyone can be saved if they just live a good life.
I don't want justice. I rely on mercy.
God is giving them justice. People are rebellious against God. They know God but do not honor Him. They know they're sinning. God is giving them just what they deserve.
A much more difficult question to answer would be why does God give any of us grace?
Deuteronomy 4:19 and Malachi 1:11.
Just to clarity for myself, do you think only Christians are accepted into heaven?
John 15:22 is a scripture verse that seems to point to invincible ignorance. Do you agree?
You have no idea how much nastier I would be if I was not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being.
-Evelyn Waugh
We are all sinners dude
You didn’t ask me, but I will chime in on your question.
Yes.
No Muslims don’t get a free pass. For those Muslims, or anyone else that have not been exposed to Chrisianity and are living their life according to the Beatitudes, they have a chance at salvation.
Why are Muslims or Jews such a concern when they both share the belief in the Abrahamic God? Does the little 12 year old girl or boy growing up in Israel who has known nothing else in their life really have to go to the Abrahamic God’s sheol/gehenna/eternal hell because they never had a knowledge of Christianity. In the end God will make the call.
The Catholic Church teachings on salvation outside the Church has not changed in 2,000 years.
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/salvation-outside-the-church
On this side of the cross one could argue about aborted babies, people without mental faculties, etc. Are the "Christian" in the strict term? Will they go to heaven? At one time Christians were termed "the Way". The term Christian was applied later. They also are not "Christians" in the strong sense of the word.
So you can see that your question is murky. Personally, I categorized people into believers and non-believers. The scriptures calls them the righteous and unrighteous, the saints and the sinners, those who have received mercy and those destined for wrath, children of light and children of darkness, etc. But all believers share one thing in common, they recognize their sinfulness before God and a need for God to redeem them. The only religion today that offers this hope is Christianity through Jesus our Lord. And, I might add, many "Christian" churches today don't even do this and there are no other religions that offer this promise. There is salvation in no one else.
You’re a Baptist. That doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian.
I compare it to the early believers being chastised for being Paul’s, or John’s, etc., when what they were was Christ’s, which is what I am. I can attend pretty much any Christian church and get blessed by the service and sometimes bless others. I am not a baptist. I am a Christian. The church I happen to go to now affiliates itself with the baptist organization. I don’t.
Just thinking about all those Gods People..Jews, who are condemned to hell, for following the Old Testament...also believed to be inspired by God. Kinda sucks for them doesn’t it?
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