Ignorant?

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Protestants who are ignorant of the Catholic faith can no be held accountable for that which they do not know.
That leads naturally to the question, what is it to be ignorant? Is Charles Colson ignorant? Is Billy Graham ignorant? Just who is included here?
But what is the case when you give that Ignorant person the Catholic position on a giving issue? Are they now accountable? They have been taught the Catholic position on an issue. They are no longer Ignorant of the issue. So are they still not accountable?

What if Charles Colson and Billy Graham may have studied the Catholic Faith and Doctrine of some sort and still reject it. Are they still considered ignorant?
 
Would invincible ignorance apply here and in other cases similar to this?
 
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JoeyWarren:
But what is the case when you give that Ignorant person the Catholic position on a giving issue? Are they now accountable? They have been taught the Catholic position on an issue. They are no longer Ignorant of the issue. So are they still not accountable?
They have received the information, but has it resonated in their mind. They can still be ignorant because what they hear/read does not co-ordinate with that which they already believe. Therefore, their accountability is unable to adapt the new info into their present minset.
What if Charles Colson and Billy Graham may have studied the Catholic Faith and Doctrine of some sort and still reject it. Are they still considered ignorant?
We find that many well known people have studied Catholicism, but do not grasp the indepth understanding as we know it. They are serious in their study and believe they have the information as it pertains to the matter. We read or hear their explainations and find misapplied statements or a lack of the full presentation of a doctrine. They are sincere in what they say, but sincerely mistaken in their final interpetation. Therefore, they reject what the Church teaches.

Kotton 👍
 
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Kotton:
We find that many well known people have studied Catholicism, but do not grasp the indepth understanding as we know it. They are serious in their study and believe they have the information as it pertains to the matter. We read or hear their explainations and find misapplied statements or a lack of the full presentation of a doctrine. They are sincere in what they say, but sincerely mistaken in their final interpetation. Therefore, they reject what the Church teaches.

Kotton 👍
In my view, that doesn’t make them ignorant, but rather stubborn.

I guess there are two things to consider for those outside the Church:
  1. Degrees of ‘ignorance’
  2. Once knowledge is obtained, response and accountibility.
 
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JoeyWarren:
What if Charles Colson and Billy Graham may have studied the Catholic Faith and Doctrine of some sort and still reject it. Are they still considered ignorant?
Are they still considered ignorant by whom? God knows exactly what they were thinking, how much they paid attention, which details they were unable to comprehend, what previous decision is currently influencing their choices, which detail they deliberately closed their eyes to, which facts stumped their reason, what was in their heart, etc. God decides they are still sincerely ignorant or not. I can’t say.

From my perspective, say I am a Catholic friend of theirs. I wouldn’t write them off in any way. I’d still continue to answer their honest questions, nudge them if appropriate, treat them as friends, etc.
 
I think that you may be having problems with the term “ignorant”. Ignorant in this case refers intolerance to the Truth Faith left to us by Christ and by his apostles. Ignorance in this case does not mean that the people which you list are not without intellectual properties. Ignorant in this case refers to the inability for those men to accept the teaching of Christ as was taught to the apostle by Christ. Something in their mind or their background or their upbringing will not allow them to accept the Truth as taught by Christ the head of the Catholic Church.

This Truth has always been protected by the Catholic Church for 2,000 years. The traditions of man such as OSAS and faith alone were started less the 500 years ago. I assume that the men that you mention also believe in these new traditions of man. Can traditions of man be from God? The Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit as promised by Christ since his death.
 
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