Absolute truth and christianity

[ilovekittens]

I don’t suppose you have followed up on *Where Did I Come from? . . . *

If you are unprepared to put a little effort into understanding the grounding of the Christian position, how can we take you seriously. I get the impression that you are a high school student. That’s fine. But a high school student should be ready to rise to the challenge when solutions are presented.

You could do this. Time to step up to the plate.

I’m not in high school, but I appreciate the compliment. I have been told I still retain my youthful beauty.

 

[mercygate]

I’m not in high school, but I appreciate the compliment. I have been told I still retain my youthful beauty.

So go read the book. There is more to this than meets the eye.

You say “I think” a lot. But your “thinking” is more like subjective reacting than actual processing of material.

Go read the book.

 

[mercygate]

I’m not in high school, but I appreciate the compliment. I have been told I still retain my youthful beauty.

Point: this response is not a response but a deflection of my suggestion.

What is your view of the Church’s position on contraception?

 

[East_and_West]

1. God is pure Love. He is not limiting Himself in any way by loving man.
2. No, grace is available to ALL. I never said anyone who practices Islam will be graced for it.

They will not be graced because of their adherance to Islam. But, the Catholic Church does teach the doctrind of Invincible ignorance. A person raised in Islam who has never encountered the true teachings of Jesus Christ might still obtain salvation by God’s grace.

 

[ilovekittens]

So go read the book. There is more to this than meets the eye.

You say “I think” a lot. But your “thinking” is more like subjective reacting than actual processing of material.

Go read the book.

Sorry, I’m not going to read the book. I just posted this topic because I had been thinking (sorry to say thinking) about the issue for a little while, but I really don’t care much about it in the end. I have things to do, like study for my 9th grade algebra final.

 

[Sarpedon]

When we say that “there is no salvation outside the church”, we don’t mean that only those who outwardly profess the Catholic faith can be saved and everyone else, no matter how good, is damned. It is possible for those who do not know or understand the truth of the Catholic faith for reasons they are not culpable for to be an unknowing member of the church if he follows God to the best of his knowledge.

This is NOT the same as saying all religions are equal or good. Only the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth. All other religions have various amounts of truth mixed with falsehood, and are not the true religion. However, God judges each person individually and if the person is not responsible for not being an outward member of the church, he may be counted among the faithful if he followed God to the best of his knowledge.

Even though an individual outside of the church may be saved due to ignorance (in various forms), it would still have been better for that person to have been a member of the church. This is because:

1. Catholicism is the only religion founded by God (fulfilling Judaism), so He desires everyone to be a member of it
2. It is the only religion with the fullness of truth.
3. It is easier to lead a moral life because graces are available through it that are not available elsewhere (could be wrong on this point)

Now to your main point- why did some people recieve this true religion before others?

As already pointed out, God decided to reveal His church historically. Thus, this necessitated that it begin somewhere.

You will likely think it unfair that some parts of the world recieved this grace before others. Keep in mind that God judges everyone perfectly fairly in regards to his knowledge and will. Thus, God undoubtedly takes into account whether a person had the fullness oftruth to guide him in his life. He certainly had the Natural Law written in his heart. Ultimately though, to love God is a choice- and you don’t have to be an outward member of the church to do so (although to refrain from joining the church with full knowledge would not be loving God at all, and thus mortally sinful).