God to big for one religion?

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Rachel84

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Today my friend made the statement that she believes God is too big for one religion. I’m a Catholic and dont agree with this but dont know how to explain. Any any ideas on how to expain things to her with scripture evidence?
 
Before I can offer my two cents, I would like to know what religion, if any, your friend follows or has followed. That makes a big difference in determining what route of explanation to take. Do feel free to PM me if that is an easier route for you.
 
Well you might want to point out no matter how big God is, there are some things that He is and is not (haha is that correct grammar??) for instance if God is love, then He isn’t hate and any religion that would teach that would be wrong about God. It’s not about Him being big but rather what the Truth of Him is. While all religions have a few similar ideas, they’re mostly contradict eachother (Hinduism=God is all, everything, the universe while Islam=God is aeperare from His creation and unlike anything else)
 
God is not too big for any one religion. God is static, constant, truth itself, and morally He is not relative but definitive. God has a personality, a will, a desire, a purpose, and depth to Himself that makes things as such that He cannot be all things to all people. He cannot be the dualistic Hindu deity of Shiva and yet be the vengeful monotheistic Allah as well as the Judeo-Christian God all at the same time…God is not moldable and changeable but rather the only constant in a constantly changing world. It would take one true religion to house His truth and manifest it for the world to see. He cannot be all things to all people nor can he live in contradiction to Himself and the world around Him.
 
This statement is a relativist’s saying. That all religions are okay it only matters what you believe.
So my suggestion is for you to read up on relativism and arguments regarding.
Peter Kreefte has some stuff. Look him up.
 
God is too big for human understanding. That does not mean that He is too big for any one religion. Here is way.

Religion is the basic set of beliefs and values that a people use to approach a deity. In our discussion here, it is how we understand, relate to, and worship God. Now, our understanding cannot handle God. So, in order for a religion, which is limited by human understanding, to be of use, it must work within that concept. Now, if God is all powerful and all knowing, he would know that. Therefore, we should be able to say that if a religion is revealed by God, it should be the best possible way to understand, relate to, and worship God.

Now, if this is true, we must find which religion is revealed, if any are. All of them cannot be revealed as they contain contradictions between each other. In other words, it is impossible for God to exist equally within all religions
 
Scriptures tell us that the Church was meant to be one. Christ even prayed to the Father that we all be one.

Below are a few verses to support that thought.

**Joh 10:16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

Eph 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them.

1Co 1:10 I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Php 2:2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Rom 15:5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
Rom 15:6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.
Joh 17:20 "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,
Joh 17:21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
Joh 17:23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Rom 12:4 For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,
Rom 12:5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,

Col 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.**
 
glenconnor said:
Before I can offer my two cents, I would like to know what religion, if any, your friend follows or has followed. That makes a big difference in determining what route of explanation to take. Do feel free to PM me if that is an easier route for you.
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My friend isnt really any religion but she does believe in God. I tried to explain to her how through the life and death of Jesus came the Catholic Church but I dont think I explained it right. What she was trying to tell me is that shes not against the Catholic Church (a conversation we got into because both her boyfriend and I are Catholic and we were asking her if it would be something she might be interested in) she’s just doesnt see how all the other christian religions can be wrong and the Catholic Church can be the only right one.

Thanks you all for all the good help, I really appreciate it!
 
Rachel84 said:
My friend isnt really any religion but she does believe in God. I tried to explain to her how through the life and death of Jesus came the Catholic Church but I dont think I explained it right. What she was trying to tell me is that shes not against the Catholic Church (a conversation we got into because both her boyfriend and I are Catholic and we were asking her if it would be something she might be interested in) she’s just doesnt see how all the other christian religions can be wrong and the Catholic Church can be the only right one.

Thanks you all for all the good help, I really appreciate it!
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Rachel, The Catholic Church teaches that there is some truth in every reliegion. Where there is truth, there is God. You should acknowledge that fact with your friend. God is present and constantly calls his children to Himself and that can happen in many ways. He founded a Church so that they might ultimately find Him. He doesn’t desire that his children have partial truth, but rather the fullness of truth found only in the Catholic Church.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ through our common Baptism and God does not withold his grace from non-Catholics. But He desires that we become one and I think reason alone is enough to assume that this oneness would come to fruition in the Church He Himself founded and in which He is present; body, blood, soul and divinity.
 
Scripture is great for sharpening those who use it, or at least it should be LOL,

it often is not so good for witnessing outside, the heart does this best as it speaks better to a heart not living directly out of the written word.

**
G-d calls us all to One True Religion for He has One absolute truth for us to take joy in.

G-ds love is bigger than one religion, aint He the best.**

I will be who I will be, you have free will so choose who you see
 
If God is omnipotent enough to create the universe, I think God can handle one religion 🙂
 
You hit the nail on the head, jessep. God is omnipotent, to a normal Christian. But many, many people nowdays are really deists even though they don’t realize it. They believe in some kind of god, some vague, vaporous entity that is nothing but a clock-winder who started it all then departed and leaves us all to fill in the blanks. He has no personality, heart, soul, desire, or purpose for humanity. He leaves it all for us to create. This pseudo-religion is what so many Americans buy into. “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that Oprahesque tripe I’d be Donald Trump.

You’re right, God is omnipresent, omnipotent, has a personality and His love is timeless and evidenced in Scripture and ultimately on the Cross. God isn’t too big for one religion.
jessep28 said:
If God is omnipotent enough to create the universe, I think God can handle one religion 🙂
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I should probably also add that I had asked my friend if she believed in Jesus Christ and that He was the son of God. She said yes, so I went on to try and explain that Jesus Christ came and founded the Catholic religion but she just responded that she thought Jesus was jewish. (I imagine you can figure out how the rest of that conversation went.)
To be honest, I love these kinds of conversations with my friends because it inspires me to learn more about my religion, I just feel like a fool when I feel a statement my friends make are wrong but I dont know how to explain in the right words how its wrong.
 
Well he was Jewish, that’s at least accurate. 🙂
Rachel84 said:
I should probably also add that I had asked my friend if she believed in Jesus Christ and that He was the son of God. She said yes, so I went on to try and explain that Jesus Christ came and founded the Catholic religion but she just responded that she thought Jesus was jewish. (I imagine you can figure out how the rest of that conversation went.)
To be honest, I love these kinds of conversations with my friends because it inspires me to learn more about my religion, I just feel like a fool when I feel a statement my friends make are wrong but I dont know how to explain in the right words how its wrong.
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gurneyhalleck1 said:
Well he was Jewish, that’s at least accurate. 🙂
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Oh yeah, that much we agreed on, but from there I was trying to explain that it was through the life and death and of Jesus himself that the Catholic religion was founded and that the farther you get from the Catholic Church is the farther that you get from God and the truth but I dont think that she quite understood that so I was hoping to get some good ideas of explaining this to her in a better way.
I’m not trying to convert her, I know all too well that you cant force someone into a religion because she will just grow to resent me and the Catholic Church itself for having tried to push it on her. I just want her to see how I as a Catholic sees things. Unfortunatly this conversation accured at a friends house where I was unable to have any reference materials to support my beliefs. I told her I would have to get back to her so I figured I would just gather as much info as I can (but not so much as to overwhelm her) to give her a good glimpse and hopefully raise some more questions and interest.
 
No, I agree with the other posters here. But it is interesting to me how some religions have a lot of truth in them. Today I had a chance to talk to a Sikh about his religion. A lot of truths in it. Has its weaknesses of course, such as lack of revelation from the gospels and sacred scripture and apostolic authority, etc. But I could understand its appeal, especially to those who wish to limit themselves to self-evident truths.
 
Rachel84 said:
My friend isnt really any religion but she does believe in God. I tried to explain to her how through the life and death of Jesus came the Catholic Church but I dont think I explained it right. What she was trying to tell me is that shes not against the Catholic Church (a conversation we got into because both her boyfriend and I are Catholic and we were asking her if it would be something she might be interested in) she’s just doesnt see how all the other christian religions can be wrong and the Catholic Church can be the only right one.

Thanks you all for all the good help, I really appreciate it!
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There are two topics here, not one. The first one is her comment that “God is too big for one religion” and secondly, that in the Christian faith, “the other churches can’t all be wrong.”

So to handle this one you’re going to need a pretty good understanding of two areas.

One thing I will say is that we can learn from other religions eg. the Eastern religions like Buddhism have a strong handle on meditation, the Moslems are more than willing to die for their faith, the Hindus are generally peaceful and fairly tolerant, Judaism offers insights into the Jewish basis of Christianity, animism sees life in nature etc.

However there also comes the question of truth viz. God has revealed Himself most fully to Abraham and his descendants, and came Himself in the form of Christ. If God literally took on human form in Jesus Christ, then clearly there can only be one “final religion”.

If you can get her to see that, then you’ll have to go into why you think the Catholic Church is THE Church.
 
Rachel84 said:
Today my friend made the statement that she believes God is too big for one religion. I’m a Catholic and dont agree with this but dont know how to explain. Any any ideas on how to expain things to her with scripture evidence?
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Is a big brick to big for Jesus to move,You friend is tryting to limit God and is very ignorant of what she is saying and is a insult to God
 
There is so much misinformation and ignorance about Catholicism out there that it’s mind-bending! It’s really hard to debate or discuss religion with born-again evangelicals or non-denom folks who haven’t a clue about the early councils of the Church or the fact that Church came before the Bible or how apostolic succession was a must for validity until the Reformation turned that upside down. These folks don’t realize the belief in Christ’s real, literal, true presence in the Eucharist was a no-brainer for 1,500 plus years before the Protestant stirred up that pot. There’s a libertine side of Protestantism that doesn’t want to hear it all. They just want to stay status quo and not be challenged.
Rachel84 said:
Oh yeah, that much we agreed on, but from there I was trying to explain that it was through the life and death and of Jesus himself that the Catholic religion was founded and that the farther you get from the Catholic Church is the farther that you get from God and the truth but I dont think that she quite understood that so I was hoping to get some good ideas of explaining this to her in a better way.
I’m not trying to convert her, I know all too well that you cant force someone into a religion because she will just grow to resent me and the Catholic Church itself for having tried to push it on her. I just want her to see how I as a Catholic sees things. Unfortunatly this conversation accured at a friends house where I was unable to have any reference materials to support my beliefs. I told her I would have to get back to her so I figured I would just gather as much info as I can (but not so much as to overwhelm her) to give her a good glimpse and hopefully raise some more questions and interest.
Click to expand...
 
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