Posted on 02/08/2015 5:56:52 AM PST by infool7
I have been meaning to write this up for months, as it is a regular question that lands in the ol inbox. It is on peoples minds, both inside and outside the Church, especially with the imbecilic, contra-educated words and deeds coming out of the Bishop of Rome in these dark, dark days. It is time to explain this clearly and forthrightly, because it is actually one of the truths that was most persuasive and attractive in my conversion process. Why? Because the explanation is logical, coherent, and satisfyingly beautiful.
This statement is TRUE:
There is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.
The reason why almost everyone in post-Christian western culture today blanches at this is because we have been taught to deny that there is, in fact, any such thing as truth. ONE TRUTH. We have been savagely propagandized and manipulated to accept that 2+2 equals 4, AND 7, and 8,349,085 if that is what someone else wants. Because there is my truth and your truth and we each have our own truth, and life is a journey of discovering our own truth. The infiltrators have not only torn down the entire notion of truth via soft, cultural means, but also through the hardest of the hard sciences MATHEMATICS. Were you taught logic at any point within the context of mathematics? Do you know what a truth table is? If you are under the age of 45, almost certainly not. Logic is the use and study of valid reasoning, that is, truth and falsity. Thus, it was totally scrubbed from math curricula in the western world by the infiltrators by necessity, because logic is the hammer that instantly smashes the vast majority of the staggering, staggering bullshit that we are all, as we speak, drowning in. The reason why even functionally intelligent people today simply cannot parse current events and get their heads around what should be extremely simple-to-grasp dynamics is because people have been conditioned to view as normal if not virtuous the simultaneous holding of utterly contradictory positions.
So, there is exactly, precisely ONE TRUTH, and thus, there must be by mathematical definition, be exactly, precisely ONE CHURCH. There CANNOT be multiple churches, which, by definition, hold contradictory positions (hence their distinctiveness one from another), because two contradictory things CANNOT BOTH BE TRUE. And we know that there is a CHURCH, because Our Lord Himself in the Gospels made repeated mention of it, not the least of which was this hard-to-get-around statement:
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
So we know, just from that, that Our Lord does have, in fact, a Church, and that He has ONE Church, because he used the singular form of the noun. This doesnt even take into consideration the Holy Spirits extensive discussion of the Church as the Body and Bride of Christ through the pen of St. Paul in his epistles. Look, when God Almighty, Incarnate, says, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, all debates about whether or not there even is a Church ends. If a person is so far gone that they cant grind their way through that gearbox, then theres nothing I or anyone else can do.
Now lets discuss what the Church is. The Church consists of THREE PARTS: 1. The Church Militant this is the Church on Earth, this is what we the living see. 2. The Church Suffering this is Purgatory, where the souls of the saved go to be purged of all attachment to sin so that they might enter into the presence of God the Beatific Vision. 3. The Church Triumphant this is the Beatific Vision, The Most Holy Trinity, the angels and saints dwelling inside, pondering, adoring and worshipping God from the inside.
Some day, both the Church Militant and the Church Suffering will cease to exist. The earth, the physical universe, will someday cease to exist, and there will be no additional human beings made. The reason God has not yet brought about what we call The end of the world is because there are not yet enough human beings. God wants more people for heaven. Including the babies conceived by the poor, in violent or disordered circumstances, and by women who have already had multiple c-sections. GOD, not Pope Francis, determines how many humans there should be, and God is very, very clear on this question. He. Wants. More. People. To. Love.
Since the domain of the Church Militant is the physical universe, when there is no longer a physical universe or living human beings, there will be no Church Militant. Some day, the last saved soul will be fully purged of all attachment to sin and will enter heaven, and on that day the Church Suffering will cease to exist.
The Church Triumphant, however, will always exist, because the domain of the Church Triumphant is the Triune Godhead Himself, Who Is Existence Itself. Ever pray the Gloria Patri? Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
So lets get our LOGIC jam on now, shall we? The Church, of which there is only one, is the Body and Bride of Christ, and all of the saved either are now or eventually will be in the Church Triumphant, which indwells, now and forever, inside the Triune Godhead.
Now grind through this, and fight the contra-education you have received as a child of the post-Christian, post-Modern west. How, EXACTLY, could a person be saved and be OUTSIDE of the Church?
Lets attack this from the angle of the Judgment. What happens to every person when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ.
Stop.
Do you believe this? No, seriously. Do you believe that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING, regardless of race, religious confession, time, place, or any other variable, is judged by Jesus Christ? If you do not believe this, then I really dont see how you can possibly claim to be a Christian. Now, if you dont like hearing this, you can go listen to Pope Francis spew some irrational, illogical, Modernist, faux-ecumenical garbage, but understand that his priority is very different from mine. I am interested in the eternal fate of your soul. Pope Francis, it seems, just wants to be popular. Lets go through a list:
What happens to Christians when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
What happens to Jews when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
What happens to Hindus when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
What happens to atheists when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
What happens to musloids when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
What happens to animists when they die? They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.
Noticing a pattern? Mmmmmm?
I have an anecdote. If you recall, a few years ago I attempted to take a course on Aristotelian and Thomistic Ethics through the Archdiocese of Denver. Thats the one that the Novus Ordo Kathys asked the instructor (who was great) to throw me out of, because I didnt respect their truth or whatever. Well, besides myself and the Kathys, there was one man in the class a guy in his 60s who did nothing but sleep and talk on his cell phone. I dont think he ever actually heard a single word the instructor said. Behavior like that REALLY chaps me. Anyway, at the last session I attended there was a discussion at the end of the class, and this guy woke up and said the following, at which I was CLIMBING THE WALLS:
Im a catechism teacher for the teens over at St. Xxxxs and have been for years. The kids ask about reincarnation for the Hindus, and I tell them, SURE, THATS POSSIBLE. IF THAT IS WHAT THOSE PEOPLE BELIEVE, WHY NOT? WHOS TO SAY THAT THERE ISNT REINCARNATION? WE DONT KNOW.
So, lesson one here is: DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS TO ANY SORT OF CATECHISM CLASSES IN A NOVUS ORDO PARISH. Im sorry, but it is just that simple. They will let ANYONE who volunteers teach, and most of these people, whether we like it or not and whether it is malicious or not, are full-blown heretics if not outright apostates. Ah, the New Pentecost (TM). Not QUITE as awesome as the original.
The second lesson is, as we discussed above, people today are so far gone that they can recite the Creed at Mass every Sunday, to wit the parts about He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, and then stand in front of a CATHOLIC CATECHISM CLASS and tell a bunch of kids that, sure, if Hindus believe in reincarnation, whos to say they arent reincarnated? AND THEN BRAG ABOUT IT IN A CATHOLIC ADULT ED CLASS. There is zero sensation of cognitive dissonance or even tension in holding two utterly, completely contradictory positions. 2+2 equals 4. But also 762, and arent I just one of the cool kids because I dont actually believe in the concept of truth, because Im tolerant, and frankly, a little self-loathing, too. The mind simply reels.
Lets focus in on the so-called Christian denominations now. Do we honestly believe that there are multiple heavens? Do we honestly believe that there is a Presbyterian heaven, and a Methodist heaven, and a Baptist heaven? Do we honestly believe that there is a heaven where sodomy, for example, is NOT a sin, where all of the people who believe that sodomy is great will get to go? Is there a heaven where contraception is not a sin because ALL of the protesting sects today deny the sinfulness of contraception? Again, lets get our logic groove rolling again. How can the Triune Godhead hold contradictory positions as both being true? Either sodomy is a sin or it isnt. Either the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ physically, substantially present, or it isnt. Either the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the eternal liturgy of heaven, or it isnt. A house divided cannot stand. If God holds contradictory positions as both true, then there is no truth, and thus there is no God. THIS is the inevitable logical consequence of the Protestant revolt atheism.
Now this is the part that was so compelling for me in my conversion process. What of people who cannot, through no fault of their own, either know about or enter the Church? Can these people be saved? The answer is: yes. It is possible. Lets take all of the people, for example, who lived their lives on the North American continent in the 1450 years between the establishment of the Church by Christ in the Upper Room in ARSH 33, and the landing of Columbus in North America in ARSH 1492. How could a man born on the Great Plains in the 5th century, living his entire life 1000 years before any Christian steps foot on the same continent, making it a physical impossibility that he could have known of Christ, much less His Church, much less received baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, be saved? How could such a man, and billions of others like him over the centuries, possibly be not only saved, but saved IN THE CHURCH, outside of which there is no salvation according to the axiom? The answer is: The Natural Law. Christ judged the 5th century Plains Indian according to the Natural Law, which is indelibly inscribed on the heart of every human being by God. Is it more difficult for those outside The Church? Of course. That is why the Church is a Gift from God, and the most obvious manifestation of His love for us, even above and beyond nature and the stars. The 5th century Plains Indian could not go to the sacrament of confession and hear the words:
God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
But we CAN go to confession and we CAN hear those words, and our sins, venial and mortal, can be forgiven AT ANY TIME. The Catholic Church is a Gift from God.
And so that 5th century Plains Indian, if he lived his life in accord with the Natural Law, coupled with genuine invincible ignorance (due to physical location), made it through his Particular Judgment before Our Lord, is now far, far, far more Catholic than any of us. He knows the Mass better than the greatest liturgist alive today, because he is right there at the Altar, worshiping God in the perpetual sacrifice and immolation of the Lamb. He isnt in some separate animist-pagan heaven for red skinned Injuns (HAD to throw that in). He is in the one and only heaven that there is, which is indwelling in the only God there is, which is His Mystical Body and Bride, Church Triumphant, which is most certainly CATHOLIC, because what the word catholic means is universal or, perhaps more accurately, on the whole.
And so it follows from this that Our Good God has not created one single human being damned. Every one of us and scientists today speculate that there have been roughly 110 billion human beings ever and every person who ever will be, has been knit together, atom by atom, cell by cell, personally by God who provided and provides a means and path and grace sufficient for every one of us to make it to heaven. Including the eighth consecutive child delivered by c-section. Many, many did not and will not make it, but that is our own fault.
Now, isnt that satisfying? Doesnt it make sense? Doesnt it just drip with integrity and logical coherence? AND LOVE?
The big obstacle for post-Christian culture is to shake the pathological need to deny that there is, in fact, ONE TRUTH, and thus ONE CHURCH, and thus ONE TRUE RELIGION, as the world, ruled as it is by satan and his minions, calls us intolerant, rigid, fundamentalist, haters, Nazis and Taliban.
I BELIEVE that the Catholic Church is the ONE, TRUE CHURCH of Christ, instituted by Him in the Upper Room, and is now and always will be His Body and His Bride. There is only ONE Church. There is only ONE True Religion. There is only one heaven, and there is only one God, who is the One and Only Judge of every human being.
Which is why I will scream from the rooftops without the least hesitation or shame:
EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS!
OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION!
Because I actually believe it.
We are in agreement here.
No, I'm not forgetting them.
Jesus gave the apostles the abilities to do miracles, to heal sicknesses, and to cast out spirits. He didn't---in fact, could not have---given them instructions which contradicted His own Scriptures, which show that He was, and is, the Rock.
Still avoiding those verses?
Indeed.
Still avoiding what Jesus says in Aramaic? And all of the other scripture references others have brought to your attention that point to Peter as the leader of Christ’s Church?
I see you’re still pertinacious in your heretical views as well.
Mathew was a tax collector and knew
What the Lord meant in Greek to.
Well, that is certainly a lot of words.
Awesome Summary!
Thank You!
Matthew 16:18 I also moreover to you say That you are Peter and on this the rock (petra) I will build my church and [the]gates of hades not will prevail against it.
Jesus didnt say on this rock, He said on this the rock. Now what does the rest of scripture say is the rock? Its God in every instance.
Deut. 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
2 Sam. 22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
Psalm 18:31, "And who is a rock, except our God."
Isaiah 44:8, "Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
Rom. 9:33, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."
1 Cor. 3:11, "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,"
1 Cor. 10:4, "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock (petras) which followed them; and the rock (petra) was Christ."
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this the rock (petra) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Catholic Church admits.
CCC 424 Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his Church. "To preach. . . the unsearchable riches of Christ"
And Augustine.
For on this very account the Lord said, On this rock will I build my Church, because Peter had said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. On this rock, therefore, He said, which you have confessed, I will build my Church. For the Rock was Christ; and on this foundation was Peter himself also built. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus (Augustine, Tractate 124, 5).
When they build their entire religion on deceit and changing the words of God it simply becomes a cult.
Jesus said that Peter was *petros*(masculine) and that on this *petra*(feminine) He would build His church.
Greek: 4074 Pétros (a masculine noun) properly, a stone (pebble), such as a small rock found along a pathway. 4074 /Pétros (small stone) then stands in contrast to 4073 /pétra (cliff, boulder, Abbott-Smith).
4074 (Pétros) is an isolated rock and 4073 (pétra) is a cliff (TDNT, 3, 100). 4074 (Pétros) always means a stone . . . such as a man may throw, . . . versus 4073 (pétra), a projecting rock, cliff (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
4073 pétra (a feminine noun) a mass of connected rock, which is distinct from 4074 (Pétros) which is a detached stone or boulder (A-S). 4073 (pétra) is a solid or native rock, rising up through the earth (Souter) a huge mass of rock (a boulder), such as a projecting cliff.
4073 (petra) is a projecting rock, cliff (feminine noun) . . . 4074 (petros, the masculine form) however is a stone . . . such as a man might throw (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
Its also a strange way to word the sentence that He would call Peter a rock and say that on this I will build my church instead of *on you* as would be grammatically correct in talking to a person.
There is no support from the original Greek that Peter was to be the rock on which Jesus said he would build His church. The nouns are not the same, one being masculine and the other being feminine. They denote different objects.
Also, here, Paul identifies who petra is, and that is Christ. This link takes you to the Greek.
http://biblehub.com/text/1_corinthians/10-4.htm
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock (petra) that followed them, and the Rock (petra) was Christ.
http://biblehub.com/text/romans/9-33.htm
Romans 9:30-33 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock (petra) of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
http://biblehub.com/text/1_peter/2-8.htm
1 Peter 2:1-8 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,
and
A stone of stumbling, and a rock (petra) of offense.
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
All occurrences of *petra* in the Greek.
Some examples of papal pronouncements reiterated repeatedly over the years.
As for "extra Ecclesiam nulla salus" (outside the Church there is no salvation)
Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Ecclesiam_nulla_salus
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM
841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."330
"Outside the Church there is no salvation"
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336
847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337
Pius 9, Quanto Conficiamur Moerore: Also well known is the Catholic teaching that no one can be saved outside the Catholic Church. Eternal salvation cannot be obtained by those who oppose the authority and statements of the same Church and are stubbornly separated from the unity of the Church and also from the successor of Peter, the Roman Pontiff..
-http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9quanto.htm
Pope Pius IX, Amantissimus: There are other, almost countless, proofs drawn from the most trustworthy witnesses which clearly and openly testify with great faith, exactitude, respect and obedience that all who want to belong to the true and only Church of Christ must honor and obey this Apostolic See and Roman Pontiff." Pope Pius IX, Amantissimus (On The Care Of The Churches), Encyclical promulgated on April 8, 1862, # 3.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/P9AMANT2.HTM
Pope Pius IX (18461878), Encyclical Singulari Quidem March 17, 1856): There is only one true, holy, Catholic Church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church. There is only one See founded on Peter by the word of the Lord, outside of which we cannot find either true faith or eternal salvation. He who does not have the Church for a mother cannot have God for a father, and whoever abandons the See of Peter on which the Church is established trusts falsely that he is in the Church. (On the Unity of the Catholic Church)
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9singul.htm
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos: Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors. Did not the ancestors of those who are now entangled in the errors of Photius [the eastern Orthodox schismatics] and the reformers, obey the Bishop of Rome, the chief shepherd of souls?...Let none delude himself with obstinate wrangling. For life and salvation are here concerned... Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, PTC:873) The Promotion of True Religious Unity), 11, Encyclical promulgated on January 6, 1928, #11;
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19280106_mortalium-animos_en.html
Pius XII, Humani Generis (27,28): "Some say they are not bound by the doctrine, explained in Our Encyclical Letter of a few years ago, and based on the Sources of Revelation, which teaches that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing.[6] Some reduce to a meaningless formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to gain eternal salvation...These and like errors, it is clear, have crept in among certain of Our sons."
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html
Fourth Lateran Council (1215): "There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved."
Fifth Lateran Council: Moreover, since subjection to the Roman pontiff is necessary for salvation for all Christ's faithful, as we are taught by the testimony of both sacred scripture and the holy fathers, and as is declared by the constitution of pope Boniface VIII of happy memory, also our predecessor, which begins Unam sanctam, we therefore...renew and give our approval to that constitution... Fifth Lateran CouncilSession 11, 19 December 1516,
http://www.piar.hu/councils/ecum18.htm
Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV: "One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine; the bread (changed) into His body by the divine power of transubstantiation, and the wine into the blood, so that to accomplish the mystery of unity we ourselves receive from His (nature) what He Himself received from ours." Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV (A.D. 1215) [considered infallible by some]
Therefore, if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema. Vatican 1, Ses. 4, Cp. 1
St. Thomas Aquinas: It is also shown that to be subject to the Roman Pontiff is necessary for salvation. For Cyril says in his Thesaurus: Therefore, brethren, if we imitate Christ so as to hear his voice remaining in the Church of Peter and so as not be puffed up by the wind of pride, lest perhaps because of our quarrelling the wily serpent drive us from paradise as once he did Eve. And Maximus in the letter addressed to the Orientals [Greeks] says: The Church united and established upon the rock of Peters confession we call according to the decree of the Savior the universal Church, wherein we must remain for the salvation of our souls and wherein loyal to his faith and confession we must obey him. St. Thomas Aquinas, Against the Errors of the Greeks, Pt. 2, ch. 36
http://dhspriory.org/thomas/ContraErrGraecorum.htm#b38
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini: "Many Protestants have almost the same practices as we, only they do not submit to the Holy Father and attach themselves to the true Ark of Salvation. They do not want to become Catholics and unite themselves under the banner of truth wherein alone there is true salvation. Of what avail is it, children, if Protestants lead naturally pure, honest lives, yet lack the Holy Ghost? They may well say: 'We do no harm; we lead good lives'; but, if they do not enter the true fold of Christ, all their protestations are in vain." St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, "Travels", Chicago: 1944, pp. 84, 71.
St. Ambrose, "Expl. of Luke: "The Lord severed the Jewish people from His kingdom, and heretics and schismatics are also severed from the kingdom of God and from the Church. Our Lord makes it perfectly clear that every assembly of heretics and schismatics belongs not to God, but to the unclean spirit." St. Ambrose, "Expl. of Luke", ch.7, 91-95; PL 15; SS, vol. II, p. 85, (quoted in The Apostolic Digest, by Michael Malone, Book 4: "The Book of Christians", Chapter 2: "Those Who Reject Christ's Church are Anti-Christian").http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/6480/catholics/apostolic4chp2.html
Pope Boniface VIII, Bull Unam sanctam (1302): "We are compelled in virtue of our faith to believe and maintain that there is only one holy Catholic Church, and that one is apostolic. This we firmly believe and profess without qualification. Outside this Church there is no salvation and no remission of sins, the Spouse in the Canticle proclaiming: 'One is my dove, my perfect one. One is she of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her' (Canticle of Canticles 6:8); which represents the one mystical body whose head is Christ, of Christ indeed, as God. And in this, 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism' (Ephesians 4:5). Certainly Noah had one ark at the time of the flood, prefiguring one Church which perfect to one cubit having one ruler and guide, namely Noah, outside of which we read all living things were destroyed
Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam:(Promulgated November 18, 1302) We declare, say, define, and pronounce [ex cathedra] that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. "If, therefore, the Greeks or others say that they are not committed to Peter and to his successors, they necessarily say that they are not of the sheep of Christ, since the Lord says that there is only one fold and one shepherd (Jn.10:16). Whoever, therefore, resists this authority, resists the command of God Himself. " Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (Promulgated November 18, 1302)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/b8-unam.html
Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino (1441): "The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the "eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41), unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church."
Pope Eugene IV and the Council of Florence: "The sacrosanct Roman Church...firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that..not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life but will depart `into everlasting fire...unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that..no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. Pope Eugene IV and the Council of Florence (Seventeenth Ecumenical Council), Cantate Domino, Bull promulgated on February 4, 1441 (Florentine style), [considered infallible by some]
I wouldn’t be so quick with that. The Greek word used when Jesus spoke to Peter was used 36 times in the New Testament and in every instance it meant Satan. There is another word for adversary which is not used for Satan but is used in Matthew 5:25, Luke 12:58, Luke 18:3, and 1 Peter 5:8. If Jesus had meant adversary He would have used that word instead.
The Catholic church gave him a Catholic funeral.....
Which would mean he was literally calling Peter Satan.
They do. When compared to the Greek it's different in many areas.
The Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament to be written in Greek which specifically differentiates between petra and Petros. We'll go with what the Holy Spirit inspired not the second guessing of the Catholic Church.
Based on the Roman Catholic Catechism there is salvation for the Muslims.
I guess they will spend eternity together, where they do so will be a surprise to them both.
841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”330
I like your synopsis. Christ's simple message is the best idea ever, trying to capitalize on it is missing the point, it is supposed to be offered free of charge but at the same time all of this evangelization costs real money and families have hungry mouths to feed.
I don't have all of the answers but His message needs to get through and the message is:
Love one another as I have loved you.
The Catholic Church has as it's sole core purpose preserving and spreading the message of His good news as you have illustrated, even a simple job is no easy task but our true enemy is clever and we easily fall into his scheme to get us working against each other and against Christ. May he forgive me for my mistakes which are many.
God Bless
The Holy Spirit inspired the words in Greek not Aramaic.
Yes. Christ's Church teaches that there exists the possibility of salvation for anyone who is ignorant of Christ, through no fault of his own, yet tries to do good and follow truth to the best of his ability, since such people are implicitly following Christ, who is Goodness and Truth Itself.
Such people are saved by Christ's atoning death and the graces that are mediated through His Church.
If God is Goodness Itself, it's impossible to imagine anything other.
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