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retniw18
Guest
How do you refute the statement that it’s all about your personal relationship with God and since no relationships are the same then not everyone needs the same church (or any church at all).
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DexUK
Guest
If there were no Church there would be no authoritative source from which to find any way to God at all.
People’s beliefs would migrate according to the fashions of the moment and in, say, 100 years time, people who called themselves believers in God would be believing something very different from their forebears.
It is in the Church that we have the ‘Deposit of Faith’ - i.e. the inerrant truths which we believe. Without the security of the Church to teach the same things at all times, we’d be adrift, cast out on our own whims and misunderstandings.
God may have a unique relationship with each individual, just as much as my relationships with the people I know are all individually unique since the meeting of my personality and those of others will create different results for each ‘pairing’ but that doesn’t mean that we can all decide for ourselves what right and wrong are, what God is, how to understand the actions of Jesus, etc.
A personal individual theology would very rapidly fall apart without something to back it up.
People’s beliefs would migrate according to the fashions of the moment and in, say, 100 years time, people who called themselves believers in God would be believing something very different from their forebears.
It is in the Church that we have the ‘Deposit of Faith’ - i.e. the inerrant truths which we believe. Without the security of the Church to teach the same things at all times, we’d be adrift, cast out on our own whims and misunderstandings.
God may have a unique relationship with each individual, just as much as my relationships with the people I know are all individually unique since the meeting of my personality and those of others will create different results for each ‘pairing’ but that doesn’t mean that we can all decide for ourselves what right and wrong are, what God is, how to understand the actions of Jesus, etc.
A personal individual theology would very rapidly fall apart without something to back it up.
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bingbang
Guest
Uhhh, even with the church there is “no authoritative source from which to find any way to God at all.”If there were no Church there would be no authoritative source from which to find any way to God at all.
If the church was an authoritative source, everyone would be Catholic.
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edwest2
Guest
This is straight out of Oprah. The Bible is very clear and Jesus was very clear. The fact that some chose to Protest and become Protestant or that others chose to believe in other things does not nullify the Word of God.
God bless,
Ed
God bless,
Ed
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retniw18
Guest
It’s so hard to have this argument with a Protestant because according to their beliefs they don’t really need the church to hold these morals because they can just get them from the Bible by themself.
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Mark77
Guest
**Uhhh, even with the church there is “no authoritative source from which to find any way to God at all.”
If the church was an authoritative source, everyone would be Catholic.
bingbang,
my beloved, yet lost brother or sister?
Everyone truly has a different path to God!
If i were lost in the woods, trying to get to the nearest city, & someone handed me a map & a compass directing me straight to that city, but i refused them saying “i’ll find my way.”, which resulted in many weeks lost in the woods & great suffering or even possible death, which would you choose?
Jesus Christ & His Catholic Church is the only authoritative source to Heaven, despite your false claims.
When Jesus lived, preached & performed miracles, the vast majority of people denied His Divinity & wanted Him Crucified for being a “false prophet.”
Even His own chosen Apostles denied, betrayed & misunderstood Him!
If no one believes the Truth, it is still the Truth. If everyone believes false lies, they are still false lies! (paraphrased from Archbishop Sheen)**
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!
mark
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mangy_dog
Guest
You’re right! All relationships aren’t the same.How do you refute the statement that it’s all about your personal relationship with God and since no relationships are the same then not everyone needs the same church (or any church at all).
Jesus instituted the Sacraments (and the church) through which God communicates His grace to us, to our souls.
“Personal relationship with God” can be a very convenient front so that I can do my own thing like, “why would I need to go to any church?” and other self-styled pseudo-religious practices or lack thereof.
“Personal relationship with God” is my way of saying that I don’t want to be bothered by the Sacraments or the church or religion or obligation or reverence or anything except my own “thing”.
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Rascalking
Guest
Pope Benedict once said. in the beginning of the book, “Salt of the Earth” that there are as many ways to God as there are people.
The book is an interview with him. Very, very good.
The book is an interview with him. Very, very good.
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DexUK
Guest
Indeed, but without the Church as mediator and teacher, how will we know whether the path we’re on leads to salvation or ruin?
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JohnDamian
Guest
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”
I feel this is self explanatory; there obviously one gateway; one path to truth. Some travel it faster; some slower; some with greater burdens; but all who are saved follow the true path of Christ.
I feel this is self explanatory; there obviously one gateway; one path to truth. Some travel it faster; some slower; some with greater burdens; but all who are saved follow the true path of Christ.
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Apollos
Guest
Quickest refutation would be, “Aren’t you glad that doctors don’t think that way?”How do you refute the statement that it’s all about your personal relationship with God and since no relationships are the same then not everyone needs the same church (or any church at all).
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TedDC
Guest
Not to pick on you, but you’ve echoed what I see all too often in this forum: the unfounded assertion that those who don’t belong to the Catholic church are somehow inferior in morals and spirituality. In my case, I simply don’t believe that some of the essential tenets of Catholicism are the truth. That does not I don’t try to become closer to God, to love my neighbor, and to conduct my life in the way I believe God wants me to.You’re right! All relationships aren’t the same.
Jesus instituted the Sacraments (and the church) through which God communicates His grace to us, to our souls.
“Personal relationship with God” can be a very convenient front so that I can do my own thing like, “why would I need to go to any church?” and other self-styled pseudo-religious practices or lack thereof.
“Personal relationship with God” is my way of saying that I don’t want to be bothered by the Sacraments or the church or religion or obligation or reverence or anything except my own “thing”.
O
OraLabora
Guest
There has to be an objective truth somewhere. The question to ask is which religious doctrine brings us closest to it?How do you refute the statement that it’s all about your personal relationship with God and since no relationships are the same then not everyone needs the same church (or any church at all).
It is true that our personal relationship with God can differ. But one of the great things about Catholicism is that indeed there are, within the Church, many different relationships possible. Each Protestant church, for instance, tends to focus on just one way: Pentecostals are into the Holy Spirit; Evangelicals, the Bible, Baptists, adult baptism, etc. Each of those routes to God possess a portion of the Truth; the members of those churches, provided they did not apostatize from Catholicism, are not sinning by being members. The “sin” was the schism. But each one is far from a complete revelation of Truth.
In the Catholic Church however, we believe the fullness of revelation, insofar as Mankind can understand it as imperfect beings, lies within her.
And in the Church there is room for many different kinds of spirituality. Benedictines and other monastic orders are contemplative; Jesuits teach and are scientists; Dominicans preach; Salesians teach; charismatics are our version of Pentecostals. There are mendicant orders, healing orders, charitable orders (e.g. St. Vincent de Paul), missionary orders, apostolates both clerical and lay, and for humble parishioners, various ways to serve. The diversity of possible relationships with God within the Church is simply astounding, if you stop and think about it.
I am often reminded of this verse from the Bible when meditating on this very topic, which comes up every 3d Thursday in the Liturgy of the Hours at Morning Prayer:
As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
(1 Peter 4:10-11)Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We have different charisms, that we are to use to glorify God.
We each have different prayer approaches too. The Rosary for some, the Liturgy of the Hours for others, etc.
But, all those different approaches, lead to a central Truth, as revealed through the Church that Christ himself founded.
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PAboy57
Guest
Since we have free will we are able to choose whatever path to God we believe is best.
Since this is a Catholic website I think it is logical to hear answers to that view point. I find it amazing how many people with a different view still come to this site and ask these types of questons. The result you get answers pointing you to Jesus and the Catholic Church.
I’m using my free will to trust in Jesus and the Catholic Church to get me to Heaven. I have experienced some of the other paths but found myself drawn back to the Catholic Church. I am very satisfied with my decision base upon personal experience and the wealth of information going back to when the church began.
I hope you find your path to Heaven. Studying here might give you a good start.
God Bless.
Since this is a Catholic website I think it is logical to hear answers to that view point. I find it amazing how many people with a different view still come to this site and ask these types of questons. The result you get answers pointing you to Jesus and the Catholic Church.
I’m using my free will to trust in Jesus and the Catholic Church to get me to Heaven. I have experienced some of the other paths but found myself drawn back to the Catholic Church. I am very satisfied with my decision base upon personal experience and the wealth of information going back to when the church began.
I hope you find your path to Heaven. Studying here might give you a good start.
God Bless.
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teachccd
Guest
John 14:6
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dontknow
Guest
I tend to agree with this statement…Not to pick on you, but you’ve echoed what I see all too often in this forum: the unfounded assertion that those who don’t belong to the Catholic church are somehow inferior in morals and spirituality. In my case, I simply don’t believe that some of the essential tenets of Catholicism are the truth. That does not I don’t try to become closer to God, to love my neighbor, and to conduct my life in the way I believe God wants me to.
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mangy_dog
Guest
Pick away,Not to pick on you, but you’ve echoed what I see all too often in this forum: the unfounded assertion that those who don’t belong to the Catholic church are somehow inferior in morals and spirituality. In my case, I simply don’t believe that some of the essential tenets of Catholicism are the truth. That does not I don’t try to become closer to God, to love my neighbor, and to conduct my life in the way I believe God wants me to.
Allow me to make it clearer…Catholics are not morally or spiritually superior to anyone.
However, the catholic church is the one, true church that Christ intended to exist after HIs ascension into heaven and of which He left Peter as its first pope…263 popes later to Pope Benedict XVI. And the gates of hell have not and will not prevail against her.
The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus also. They are the way in which God commuicates His grace directly to our souls and effects change. Only God can do this and, while the Sacraments are a sure way, God’s grace is gratis datae - freely given…to everyone. Not everyone accepts this free gift. God’s grace is also resistible.
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