Hi Naiv,
I believe God has no boundaries, God has true believers in Jesus Christ, in every church that preaches the true word of God. That means, the Catholic Church, Lutheran church, and other Christian denominations , you’ll find true believers in Christ. The word of God is powerful, so wherever it’s being preached, it’s going to have an impact on those people who are spiritually hungry. Why do I say the word is powerful? Well how did God create heaven and earth? With his voice, his word.
To Catholics and Christians, do you believe you have true brothers and sisters in other churches besides your own?
I agree 100% that God has no boundaries and that there are true believers in all Christian churches. The thing though that reinforces (and also reflects) existing divisions rather than healing them, are the official positions of the various Christian communions in regards to ‘the others’. The Catholic Church has made it very clear in his official teachings that non-Catholic Christians ARE Christians and that it takes responsibility for a portion of the blame for our disunity:
817 In fact, “in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable.** But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church—for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame.” **The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ’s Body—here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism—do not occur without human sin:
Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.
**
818 “However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers… **All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ;
they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.”
819 “Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth” are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: “the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.”** Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation,** whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to “Catholic unity.”
You also mention the Lutheran church. As far as I know, Lutheranism has never made a corresponding admission in regards to it’s share of the responsibility for our separation. Rather than being conciliatory, towards Catholics, the official teachings of Lutheranism, meaning the Lutheran Confessions, are divisive and offensive to Catholics. Unfortunately, modern Lutheran statements have done little to repair the damage done.
Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong wrote about this issue almost 10 years ago. After quoting some of the offensive language (to Catholics) from the Smalcald Articles and the Augsburg Confession, Armstrong comments:
“…… **if anti-Catholicism is entrenched in both the founding confessional documents and the founders of a religious point of view, then it will continue on, because it was in the roots from the beginning. **How Lutherans square the realities of these aspects of the Book of Concord, I don’t know,but
it creates an internal contradiction if one says that they follow the Lutheran confessions, yet dissent on the nature of the Mass and so forth, and are not themselves anti-Catholic.” Dave Armstrong, “Is Lutheranism Officially Anti-Catholic (The Book of Concord and the Catholic Mass)?” April 26, 2005
socrates58.blogspot.com/2005/04/is-lutheranism-officially-anti.html
It must be pointed out that **Lutherans here at CA do not reflect here the anti-Catholic nature of their Confessions. ** It should also be noted that Lutheran Pastors, at their ordination, must confess that they are in agreement with the Lutheran Confessions, which contain some language that is very anti-Catholic and offensive. In this way the anti-Catholicism of early Lutheranism is promulgated and reinforced. It seems to me that that language in the Confessions needs to be eliminated if there is ever to be any kind of real unity.
God Bless You Naiv, Topper
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