Why there’s always argument about faith between protestant and catholic? After all, we’re all believe the same Jesus Christ. Even there are people who love to accuse other religions, saying that others religions are wrong and only his/her religion is the right one. How are we so sure about that?
Shouldn’t we all be like Jesus? As far as I’m concerned, Jesus never accuse other religions, in fact it is Pharisees who accused Jesus. I hope none of us is modern Pharisees. Regarding about “anonymous disciples” (those that do not belong to Christianity), it is stated clearly on the Bible; Matt 25:31-46. Any comment?
First of all, very few people, if any, are advocating real arguments and hatred between Protestants and Catholics. However, debate is not the same thing as argument and hatred. It is entirely possible to debate something without resorting to personal attacks and hatred.
However, at the heart of this statement is the nature of truth, and the nature of revelation. Catholics believe that we (humans) can know the truth because God revelas it to us, and God cannot decieve or be decieved. Catholics believe that God does not deliberatly hide the truth from people, and that God wants us to know the truth.
If, however, we downplay the reveled nature of religious truth, then yes, you’re right, it is impossible to know the truth. It is impossible to know for sure that Mary is a Servant of God, a great soldier in his army. For all we know, the evangelical Protestants could be right. The Catholic view of Mary could very well be a deceit of Satan, and those who seek who intercession and have devotion to her are wasting their time at best and dangerous at worst. It is entirely possible that this is the truth. It is entirely possible that there is no God but Allah. (For that matter, it is entierly possible that the man in Cleveland who was arrested for engaging in sex with minor boys for a religious ritual is right too.)
But Catholics do not believe in a deist God, who witholds truth from us or keeps us in the dark. God does not send us out into the world without any knowledge. So for Catholics, truth is important, because truth is not simply something a nice feeling, or something that we like to believe. It is true because God reveals truth to us. Catholics also attach a tremendous importance to truth, because “truth sets us free.”
Keep in mind, I am not talking about debates that simply descend into personal attacks or people who simply spew hatred against other Christian traditions. However, I am simply saying that, to Catholics, truth is important, because it comes from God.