Do you believe you can follow God by devoting to the Catholic faith?

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Do you believe that if you faithfully devoted yourself to the Catholic faith, that you would be able to serve, worship, and obey Jesus?
 
I also asked this question to a Christian, who I respect, and she replied with this:
We are having a problem with this one because I would never describe myself as being devoted to a particular group within Christianity, but I would always describe myself as being devoted to God and Jesus. Because I’m devoted to God and Jesus I’m willing to follow Him where He leads, and I’m assuming other Christians devoted to God would as well.
This answer implies that devotion to the Catholic faith would restrict one from following God and Jesus. Does this mean we need to follow all denominations in order to follow Jesus?

I’m a little confused by this.
 
rcwitness said:
I also asked this question to a Christian, who I respect, and she replied with this:
We are having a problem with this one because I would never describe myself as being devoted to a particular group within Christianity, but I would always describe myself as being devoted to God and Jesus. Because I’m devoted to God and Jesus I’m willing to follow Him where He leads, and I’m assuming other Christians devoted to God would as well.
This answer implies that devotion to the Catholic faith would restrict one from following God and Jesus. Does this mean we need to follow all denominations in order to follow Jesus?

I’m a little confused by this.
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I’m not seeing the implication there.

I think that’s the standard protestant position. Don’t pledge allegiance to any particular denomination or branch of Christendom.

My pastor calls this the “Jesus and me gospel”…as opposed to the Jesus and we gospel in the Catholic faith.
 
God called me to the Catholic faith. I embraced that call in 1969. I fulfilled that call at my baptism three years later. I devoted myself then, and remain devoted now, to the Church founded by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the Apostles, in creed, sacrament, and governance. Next question, please.
 
I don’t know. On one hand, there are things in Catholicism that I would identify as idolatry (like praying to saints). On the other hand, Catholicism gets the basics right; catholics believe in the Trinity, that salvation is through Jesus alone and that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if Catholicism’s gospel saves. I haven’t asked the Lord very much about it.
 
The Church is the Body of Christ, and in it we find the fullness of His teachings, so yes, I believe that i can follow God by being a devoted Catholic.
 
drac16 said:
I don’t know. On one hand, there are things in Catholicism that I would identify as idolatry (like praying to saints). On the other hand, Catholicism gets the basics right; catholics believe in the Trinity, that salvation is through Jesus alone and that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if Catholicism’s gospel saves. I haven’t asked the Lord very much about it.
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We do not worship the Saints. We ask them to pray for us (often with poetic language) the same way I would ask you to pray for me. The ONLY difference is that when we use a written prayer to the Saints, it’s often poetic and/or filled with romanticism.

Finally, remember all prayers are not worship. To pray means to ask. In American English we tend to only use “pray” with worship. But Catholics really use the “British English” definitions of the word. If search for “prayer” on dictionary.com and scroll down to the “British English” definitions, you will see the following (red, bold, italics are mine to so some emphasis):

British Dictionary definitions for prayer
prayer
/prɛə/
noun
  1. a personal communication or petition addressed to a deity, esp in the form of supplication, adoration, praise, contrition, or thanksgiving
    any other form of spiritual communion with a deity
2. a similar personal communication that does not involve adoration, addressed to beings venerated as being closely associated with a deity, such as angels or saints
  1. the practice of praying: prayer is our solution to human problems
  2. (often pl) a form of devotion, either public or private, spent mainly or wholly praying: morning prayers
  3. (capital when part of a recognized name) a form of words used in praying: the Lord’s Prayer
  4. an object or benefit prayed for
***7. an earnest request, petition, or entreaty
  1. (law) a request contained in a petition to a court for the relief sought by the petitioner***
  2. (slang) a chance or hope: she doesn’t have a prayer of getting married
In short, a Catholic would use all 9 of the above definitions for the word “prayer” or “to pray”

God Bless
 
phil19034 said:
We do not worship the Saints. We ask them to pray for us (often with poetic language) the same way I would ask you to pray for me. The ONLY difference is that when we use a written prayer to the Saints, it’s often poetic and/or filled with romanticism.

Finally, remember all prayers are not worship. To pray means to ask. In American English we tend to only use “pray” with worship. But Catholics really use the “British English” definitions of the word. If search for “prayer” on dictionary.com and scroll down to the “British English” definitions, you will see the following (red, bold, italics are mine to so some emphasis):

British Dictionary definitions for prayer
prayer
/prɛə/
noun
  1. a personal communication or petition addressed to a deity, esp in the form of supplication, adoration, praise, contrition, or thanksgiving
    any other form of spiritual communion with a deity
2. a similar personal communication that does not involve adoration, addressed to beings venerated as being closely associated with a deity, such as angels or saints
  1. the practice of praying: prayer is our solution to human problems
  2. (often pl) a form of devotion, either public or private, spent mainly or wholly praying: morning prayers
  3. (capital when part of a recognized name) a form of words used in praying: the Lord’s Prayer
  4. an object or benefit prayed for
***7. an earnest request, petition, or entreaty
  1. (law) a request contained in a petition to a court for the relief sought by the petitioner***
  2. (slang) a chance or hope: she doesn’t have a prayer of getting married
In short, a Catholic would use all 9 of the above definitions for the word “prayer” or “to pray”

God Bless
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When I read about prayer in the Bible, it’s always an act of worship. I do see verses about the intercession of the Holy Spirit, but not intercession of the saints who are with the Lord.
 
drac16 said:
When I read about prayer in the Bible, it’s always an act of worship. I do see verses about the intercession of the Holy Spirit, but not intercession of the saints who are with the Lord.
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Revelation 5:8 shows elders and creatures offering up the prayers of God’s people; the only way they could do this is if they somehow heard the prayers of the people: “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”

Think of it like this…
Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe followers of Christ go there after they die?
You may not, I’m not sure what your beliefs are. Some believe in “soul sleep.” Catholics believe in heaven and hell. We also believe that those in heaven are aware of our requests when they are directed towards them. It is not idolatry to ask you to intercede on my behalf and say a prayer for me. For us, there is no difference between doing this and asking a brother/sister of Christ in heaven to do the same for us.

Christ is still the only mediator between man and God because all prayer must be offered through Christ. ie if you pray for me, you are mediating and interceding for me but your prayer will still be done through Christ.
 
drac16 said:
I don’t know. On one hand, there are things in Catholicism that I would identify as idolatry (like praying to saints). On the other hand, Catholicism gets the basics right; catholics believe in the Trinity, that salvation is through Jesus alone and that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if Catholicism’s gospel saves. I haven’t asked the Lord very much about it.
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What is Catholicism’s Gospel? If you do ask the Lord about it, will you please share what He says to you?
 
Hello,

To be able to follow God the best way humanly possible, then the person would need the fullness of truth to do that, otherwise that person would be in error some of the time.

I only know of one Church that has the fullness of truth.

🙂
 
Lenten_ashes said:
I think that’s the standard protestant position. Don’t pledge allegiance to any particular denomination or branch of Christendom.
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Exactly.

Her answer presupposes that denominations are only options that contain unnecessary teachings. If a person chooses to accept one of those teachings, fine. But they’re not following a teaching which is necessary for salvation.

Catholics don’t buy that presupposition. All of the things that this person might view as being unnecessary we would say are quite necessary and, indeed, are Apostolic in origin. Moreover, we see denominations as being various points in a gradation of dissent from Christ’s Church. They’re not simple window dressing, they’re not Okay for some but not Okay for others. They’re wrong. And while not everyone who belongs to a particular denomination might be in a state of mortal sin, and while they may even have a great deal of holiness, this is not due to their formal dissent from the Church, but through God’s mercy and their ignorance.

Most importantly of all: the Catholic Church is not a denomination. It IS Christianity as Christ intends it to be, complete with all the requisite pieces in place.
 
rcwitness said:
I also asked this question to a Christian, who I respect, and she replied with this:
We are having a problem with this one because I would never describe myself as being devoted to a particular group within Christianity, but I would always describe myself as being devoted to God and Jesus. Because I’m devoted to God and Jesus I’m willing to follow Him where He leads, and I’m assuming other Christians devoted to God would as well.
This answer implies that devotion to the Catholic faith would restrict one from following God and Jesus. Does this mean we need to follow all denominations in order to follow Jesus?

I’m a little confused by this.
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Yeah, my answer did not imply that at all. My answer wasn’t implying anything, it was a statement on wording differences. By being devoted to God and Jesus I would expect us all to follow Him where He leads and He may lead to the Catholic church, but as I’m still a Protestant I wouldn’t have a tendency to then say I was devoted to Catholicism… I would still be devoted to God.

You can be devoted to God as a Catholic, protestant, Orthodox, etc…
 
rcwitness said:
I also asked this question to a Christian, who I respect, and she replied with this:
We are having a problem with this one because I would never describe myself as being devoted to a particular group within Christianity, but I would always describe myself as being devoted to God and Jesus. Because I’m devoted to God and Jesus I’m willing to follow Him where He leads, and I’m assuming other Christians devoted to God would as well.
This answer implies that devotion to the Catholic faith would restrict one from following God and Jesus. Does this mean we need to follow all denominations in order to follow Jesus?

I’m a little confused by this.
Click to expand...
That attitude is why it is so easy for them to switch from one denomination to another, depending on the preacher, music or whatever. The Catholic Church, was founded by Jesus Christ, has the fullness of TRUTH, teaching authority, Apostolic Succession, the Sacraments and 2,000 years of history, with Christ’s promise that HE will be with us till the End of the World. Can’t ask for anything more!!! God Bless. Memaw
 
Kliska said:
Yeah, my answer did not imply that at all. My answer wasn’t implying anything, it was a statement on wording differences. By being devoted to God and Jesus I would expect us all to follow Him where He leads and He may lead to the Catholic church, but as I’m still a Protestant I wouldn’t have a tendency to then say I was devoted to Catholicism… I would still be devoted to God.

You can be devoted to God as a Catholic, protestant, Orthodox, etc…
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Ok, that is better than what I was understanding.

Still, there is a bit of “relativity” in your view, no?

What I mean is you say we can loyally follow either a Protestant denomination faith or the Catholic faith, and still be following God.

Trust me, I realize there are many genuine Christian communities, and so it is very possible to follow the same catholic (universal) faith whether one is Catholic or Protestant. But would God lead one person to join the Catholic Church, and his neighbor a Protestant church?
 
rcwitness said:
Do you believe that if you faithfully devoted yourself to the Catholic faith, that you would be able to serve, worship, and obey Jesus?
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I think God faithfully uses the Catholic faith to draw people to Him, through word and sacrament, making it possible for one to serve, worship and obey Jesus.
 
drac16 said:
I don’t know. On one hand, there are things in Catholicism that I would identify as idolatry (like praying to saints). On the other hand, Catholicism gets the basics right; catholics believe in the Trinity, that salvation is through Jesus alone and that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if Catholicism’s gospel saves. I haven’t asked the Lord very much about it.
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For invocation of the saints to be idolatry, one would have to be worshipping the saints as gods. That’s what idolatry is. Clearly, that is not what Catholics do. In most Protestant settings, asking people to pray for other people is commonplace. Catholics, and others, recognize the Church and its membership to extend to those who have transferred to the Church Triumphant. Asking them to pray for us, then, seems reasonable.

You don’t have to do it, but calling it idolatry is a mis-characterization.
 
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