How about the millions of other Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, who believe that God alone is infallible, and that 'now we see through a glass darkly'. Personally, I think that ultimate knowledge is well beyond and above us (see Psalm 119). Many people are uncomfortable with this level of uncertainty so they embrace a rigid faith. Okay. Fine. Many of us, however, are comfortable trusting in God, seeking to follow Christ, but admitting that we don't have a monopoly on truth. We are ready to leave question marks here and there when it comes to doctrine.
One example. Mary. Was she ever virgin, always sinless, and deserves veneration, adoration, crowning, etc., as in Catholicism? Scriptures can be quoted, especially in the nativity narratives and the crucifixion narratives, that seem to elevate her. But the two other instances in the gospels where she appears almost sound as though she is not to be venerated. And if Mary is to be venerated, why does St. Paul write all those letters to the early churches, full of doctrine, and never once mention Mary?
My feeling is that Christians should be free to lean in either direction. If they want to elevate Mary above every other human being, okay with me. If they feel - like most Protestants do - that she should be honored but not venerated, okay with me, too. It's the attitude of 'my church is the only true church' that can be annoying and leads to pride, bigotry and even much worse in past history when thousands of devout people were executed because their doctrines diverged from the only acceptable ones. Even St. Thomas Aquinas favored capital punishment for heretics.
Frankly, most Catholics and Protestants I know agree with me. There's an old hymn which begins: "You go to your church and I'll go to mine, but let's walk along together...." A good summary of what I consider a proper Christian attitude that I too often find lacking here on CAF.
But I presume the human psyche of many needs the security that comes from religious surety, the notion that our group has the truth and thereby are 'spiritually' superior to those of other denominations and/or faiths. So dogmatists probably are forgiven in the long haul as long as they obey Jesus. When he was asked how to inherit eternal life - remember, the young lawyer asked him? - he cited love God and love one's neighbor. Not a word about doctrine. He illustrated his point by giving the parable of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were heretics of their day, despised by Jews, who had different beliefs and had intermarried outside he tribe. If Jesus selected a Samaritan as an example, my conclusion would be that Jesus was far less interested in dogma than in helping one another.
I can't claim to know, but I would bet the store (if I owned one) on the anticipation that in heaven we will meet people of all sorts of faiths, even animists and probably even atheists. That's the sort of God I believe in. "God is love...." He (she) looks at our hearts and not at our church connections, doctrines, or our view of scripture. We are saved by grace through a simple faith and not by details that usually are/were beyond our control. Most people follow generally along the pathway traveled by their parents. Will God condemn us for that? I don't think so.
God bless all his children, of every creed, color and country, and forgive us for our spiritual arrogance, our trespasses, believing that we are among those with special possession of the truth. When I look at the heavens at night, my guess is that we're all still extremely ignorant. Maybe a billion or more solar systems out there. So often our God is too small.
left it out of your Bible).
sad, confused people who hates Catholics more than you love Jesus Christ!
falling into Lake Ontario!!