50% Chance Of Getting It Right

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TristanCross

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Hey,

So, I’m worrying a lot about thing. If I chose Catholicism, and Protestants are right, I’m damned. If I chose Protestantism, and Catholics are right, I’m damned. It’s a 50-50 chance. I’m just scared. I want to serve God in the best way. Also, I don’t really want to spend eternity in Hell…I’d rather be in His Kingdom serving Him, learning from Him, etc.

I’m lost…
 
Why is it a 50 percent chance either way?

Can you explain this to me? I do not see it this way even from the catholic viewpoint.
Protestants would give you a different percentage, depending on which one. Are you taking a point spread on this?:confused:
 
I’m not really being quite serious here but there is a problem if you choose Protestantism because you might then have chosen the wrong type of Protestantism. So there is more of a risk if you choose Protestantism.

So if you think of the Anglicans (high and low church), Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Congregationalists, Uniting Church, Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovahs Witness, Lutherism, Dutch Reformed - they would all have a share of the 50%… which so far cuts your chance to to less than 5% of being correct.

I do apologise if you really do feel lost but there is a point to the above if you are really looking at it in terms of percentages.

I know you will take your dilemma to God and he will guide you. We will pray for you too.

God Bless you,

Rove
 
roveau said:
I’m not really being quite serious here but there is a problem if you choose Protestantism because you might then have chosen the wrong type of Protestantism. So there is more of a risk if you choose Protestantism.

So if you think of the Anglicans (high and low church), Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Congregationalists, Uniting Church, Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovahs Witness, Lutherism, Dutch Reformed - they would all have a share of the 50%… which so far cuts your chance to to less than 5% of being correct.

I do apologise if you really do feel lost but there is a point to the above if you are really looking at it in terms of percentages.

I know you will take your dilemma to God and he will guide you. We will pray for you too.

God Bless you,

Rove
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Honestly there is a great point there. Within Protestantism, there are like, 30,000 different denominations. So really if you choose Protestantism, you only have a 1/30,000% chance. That is, supposing God would punish you because you simply got confused.

You need to pray, my friend. I’ll also pray for you brother that you may see the light of the one true Faith.
 
I had similiar worries before I decided to pursue conversion more deeply. Like others have said here, if you choose a Protestant belief system, which one? There are far too many inconsistencies between them - even different communities having the same name could potentially have different things taught there depending on the minister or location, even. God could not desire such confusion. Only the Catholic Church has been entirely consistent with its teaching.

The most important thing is to trust God, and trust that you won’t be lead into error. God desires for you to be saved more than you can imagine; I’m sure He wouldn’t permit you to fall into error at such a vulnerable time. Remember to keep praying, thats the most important thing to do. I’ll definitely be praying for you. 🙂
 
And you haven’t really even considered that Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Atheists, or believers in tribal spiritualism might also be correct. Most people in the world are not, and never have been, Christian in any way.
Seems like most of humanity is dog-meat, no matter who is correct.
And what a terrible loss that will be.
 
TristanCross said:
Hey,

So, I’m worrying a lot about thing. If I chose Catholicism, and Protestants are right, I’m damned. If I chose Protestantism, and Catholics are right, I’m damned. It’s a 50-50 chance. I’m just scared. I want to serve God in the best way. Also, I don’t really want to spend eternity in Hell…I’d rather be in His Kingdom serving Him, learning from Him, etc.

I’m lost…
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Brother or sister - there is a great line from Scott Hahn, who was a Protestant pastor and converted to Catholicism years ago (you might want to listen to his conversion story-some of these conversion stories are on YouTube now) but he says that when he was in the throes of his conversion and he was talking with one of his staunch and extremely intelligent Protestant friends about the fact that he was going to convert, the friend was trying to dissuade him by saying ‘but how do you know the Catholic church is the one, true church’ and Scott says 'brother, how many others are applying for the job?" In other words, what other church claims to be the one, true, universal church? None. Only one has ever made that claim, for 2,000+ years.
 
I don’t believe it’s possible for a loving God to send anyone to the eternal flames because they got their theology wrong so long as they did their best to follow their conscience. Just for today, you should read and meditate on John 3:16

I’ve been right where you are and verses like that really helped bring me peace.
:cool:
 
thunderballs75 said:
Honestly there is a great point there. Within Protestantism, there are like, 30,000 different denominations. So really if you choose Protestantism, you only have a 1/30,000% chance. That is, supposing God would punish you because you simply got confused.

You need to pray, my friend. I’ll also pray for you brother that you may see the light of the one true Faith.
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Every single one of those “denominations” could make the same claim against catholicism… or Judaism… or Islam… or Budhism…or Wicca… need I go on? To boast as being the “One True Church” seems just a wee bit arrogant. Since Vatican II, even the Catholic Church has quietly backed off on making that claim!

Following the Christ as presented in the New Testament makes the most sense to me.

:cool:
 
TLM08 said:
Every single one of those “denominations” could make the same claim against catholicism… or Judaism… or Islam… or Budhism…or Wicca… need I go on? To boast as being the “One True Church” seems just a wee bit arrogant. Since Vatican II, even the Catholic Church has quietly backed off on making that claim!

Following the Christ as presented in the New Testament makes the most sense to me.

:cool:
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Has the Church really backed off the claim to be the one true Church? I realize that non-Catholics can theoretically be saved but I thought they were always saved through the Church in a mysterious way, and never through their own religion. Didn’t Dominus Iesus attempt to clarify that? It’s a drastic oversimplification to say the Church up and changed it’s teaching on that matter after almost two thousand years.
 
TLM08 said:
Following the Christ as presented in the New Testament makes the most sense to me.
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I follow Christ as presented in the New Testament. According to the Catholic Church 😛

Other faith traditions have a different way of presenting the teachings of the New Testament. If that of the Church isn’t correct then which one is, and based on what criteria :hmmm:
 
Tristan - I agree with what others have posted about the 50/50 measure being wrong. There are 38,000 denominations that each have a unique interpretation of scripture and carry out unique worship. There is one Catholic church that they all broke off from.
May I ask, which branch of Protestantism you would chose or that you currently belong to?
I think it is pivotal that you study the early Church. Realize that the Catholic Church has existed for 2,000 years. If you trust the bible as the word of God, which basically all protestant denominations do then you must trust the Church that chose those books and declared them so.

First off, pray for discernment. God will take you leaps and bounds in your journey.
 
TLM08 said:
Every single one of those “denominations” could make the same claim against catholicism… or Judaism… or Islam… or Budhism…or Wicca… need I go on? To boast as being the “One True Church” seems just a wee bit arrogant. Since Vatican II, even the Catholic Church has quietly backed off on making that claim!
Following the Christ as presented in the New Testament makes the most sense to me.

:cool:
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The Church doesn’t leave me with the impression that it’s backed off. I think each time we recite the Nicene Creed, we admit that we believe in “one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church.”

As for the OP, there is no 50-50 chance of being damned here. I recall Jesus saying (Mat 7:14), “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!” So, the chances of entering Heaven appear to slimmer.

The Catholic faith contains the fullness of revealed truth, but even for Catholics a holy life is required for salvation.

There seems to be more information and references here related to the OP.
 
TristanCross said:
Hey,

So, I’m worrying a lot about thing. If I chose Catholicism, and Protestants are right, I’m damned. If I chose Protestantism, and Catholics are right, I’m damned. It’s a 50-50 chance. I’m just scared. I want to serve God in the best way. Also, I don’t really want to spend eternity in Hell…I’d rather be in His Kingdom serving Him, learning from Him, etc.

I’m lost…
Click to expand...
No, there is also Orthodoxy. And they say the Protestants and Catholics are both wrong. I’m afraid I don’t remember how to calculate percentages, but I guess you have a 1/3 chance, assuming that the Christians are indeed correct.

On the other hand, many Protestants will tell you it isn’t necessarily vital which “denomination” you choose, so the above statements that you have to pick the right one are really not accurate. They also would say you are probably ok with the Catholics or Orthodox.

In any case, not even Catholicism or Orthodoxy says all other people are condemned - if you do your best to figure out the truth and live it, and are humble in that task, you are likely to be ok. It is only some fundamentalists that say all people not of their denomination will burn, and some Calvinists might say so too. In any case, if te Calvinists are right there isn’t much we can do about it.
 
Well, I was Lutheran. Now, I’m just a person really considering Catholicism.
 
TristanCross said:
Well, I was Lutheran. Now, I’m just a person really considering Catholicism.
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I know alot of Lutherans and they are wonderful people who love and serve the Lord. I don’t think God is going to send them to hell because they worship Him in Lutheran Church rather than a Catholic Church. I think they are missing out on a couple of things though and I feel badly for them… like Mary, our blessed Mother… and the Eucharist. Those are two blessings that I believe as a Catholics we have and they don’t. So that’s too bad. But it doesn’t mean they are going to hell. I can’t imagine my Lutheran friends believing I am going to hell because I am Catholic.

So my point is… stop worrying about going to hell. Do you love God? Do you try your best to serve him? Are you sorry when you fail? He is looking at your heart… don’t worry. He loves you so much.

I think you should learn all you can about the Catholic Faith and then pray pray pray that God will direct your path - and then TRUST Him to do just that. He will not let you go astray.

God bless you!!! 🙂
 
yellowbird said:
I know alot of Lutherans and they are wonderful people who love and serve the Lord. I don’t think God is going to send them to hell because they worship Him in Lutheran Church rather than a Catholic Church. I think they are missing out on a couple of things though and I feel badly for them… like Mary, our blessed Mother… and the Eucharist. Those are two blessings that I believe as a Catholics we have and they don’t. So that’s too bad. But it doesn’t mean they are going to hell. I can’t imagine my Lutheran friends believing I am going to hell because I am Catholic.

So my point is… stop worrying about going to hell. Do you love God? Do you try your best to serve him? Are you sorry when you fail? He is looking at your heart… don’t worry. He loves you so much.

I think you should learn all you can about the Catholic Faith and then pray pray pray that God will direct your path - and then TRUST Him to do just that. He will not let you go astray.

God bless you!!! 🙂
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Actually, Lutherans have the same views Catholics do on the Eucharist. 😃
 
TristanCross said:
Actually, Lutherans have the same views Catholics do on the Eucharist. 😃
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Uhh… no they don’t.

Lutherans = consubstantiation & no valid confection of the sacrament.
Catholics = transubstantiation & valid confection of the sacrament.
 
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