Is it possible to KNOW which religion is the most true

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No religion can be proven true or false. Believing in a religion requires faith. But the Trinity is a convincing sign that the Bible is in fact of divine origin. No human being would invent the idea of the Trinity because it is incomprehensible; the human mind cannot fully understand it. This suggests that the idea is of divine rather than human origin. But venturing into subjective territory, I love the Catholic faith. I love it because it is not just a set of rules, it is a life centered around the Eucharist. The idea that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, who died for our sins; and that this Paschal Mystery is repeated and represented at every Mass, is just so beautiful to me. That is something no other religion has to offer.
 
Faith + reason.

Way too much has been made of faith faith faith since the so-called reformation. Of course faith is necessary, but reason cannot - must not - be divorced from belief. Remove one, or the other, and you fall into false religion; a religion - or belief system if you will - which negates individual human dignity and value.

Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist communism is reason without faith. Conversely, a religion which teaches and promotes “martyrdom” by murder is faith without reason. Note that both justify murder.

Who wants to believe in an unreasonable religion?
 
Yes. Reason can purify faith from errors and superstitions; faith can purify reason from idolatry and false absolutes (Paraphasing Pope St. John Paul II, he was talking about science and religion but I think his point still applies ).
 
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If a person needs tangible evidence/proof that Christianity/Catholicism is true then there are many documented Eucharistic miracles. The blood type is always the same. There is also other physical evidence such as Juan Diego’s tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
 
rosejmj said:
Is it possible to know for sure on Earth which religion contains the fullness of truth? Or is it just accepting something is true by faith?
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The manner in which you refer to and say “faith”
suggests that you may view “faith” as ‘secondary’; even blind

FAITH in praxis is the very opposite.

It opens the DOOR to God

Seek the FAITH which Jesus often Refers to…

_
 
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rosejmj said:
If God really wanted us to follow the correct religion why did he make it unclear which one was most true and make religion somewhat cultural?
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Because if God infused faith by force it would not be the virtue of faith.
Faith is not simply knowing a set of truths. Faith asks for human response to God’s grace and truth. Faith has to be tested, developed, and become a virtue in the person.

Again, faith is not certitude over a set of facts, it is person to person relationship. Human being with God. So relationship elements like trust, acceptance, docility to others, are all required to develop faith.
 
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goout said:
Again, faith is not certitude over a set of facts, it is person to person relationship. Human being with God. So relationship elements like trust, acceptance, docility to others, are all required to develop faith.
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YEP …

And that Understanding

remains unrealized by any who have not any of the FAITH which Jesus speaks of.
 
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The problem with the trilemma is that it avoids other options - the possibility of Jesus as we conceptualize him today being the product of legend. Also a possibility of Jesus’ claim to divinity being meant more in the guru sense; that he is God like in the conceptualization of pantheism. Then there is the question of whether Jesus was simply mistaken in his conclusions by making good-faith mistakes in his reasoning.

I’m not saying I agree with any of these postulations, simply that Lewis’s trilemma is artificially limited.
 
nafatyuk said:
the possibility of Jesus as we conceptualize him today being the product of legend.
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Jesus was an historical character, and the Gospels are historical texts, actually the best preserved ancient texts ever.
nafatyuk said:
Also a possibility of Jesus’ claim to divinity being meant more in the guru sense; that he is God like in the conceptualization of pantheism.
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Incompatible with Christian doctrine and its Jewish background.
nafatyuk said:
Then there is the question of whether Jesus was simply mistaken in his conclusions by making good-faith mistakes in his reasoning.
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Could anyone who is an excellent teacher for basically everything else err in good faith about… being the Almighty God? Highly unlikely.
 
By definition, ’knowledge’ is a justified, true belief. We are able to KNOW which religion is true but we can never achieve full certainty that leaves no room for doubt. If something I believe is well justified and also true, I am to be regarded as having knowledge even though there isn’t full certainty. Full certainty is impossible for man because to be fully certain, a man should know all things and to know all things would make one God. And we know man isn’t God and doesn’t know everything and cannot have full certainty. But we can KNOW things by having justified belief in something that is factually true, regardless of whether we are certain it is true or not (of which the latter being the case for all humans).

Someone might say (and has said) that this goes against the Catholic Church teachings. But it doesn’t. It is perfectly reasonable and justified to believe in what the Church teaches. It is by far the best justified belief that the Church teaches correctly and I personally believe it. But as I am not able to take the position of God so that I would be omniscient, I also cannot make the claim that my knowledge is absolute knowledge; knowledge that is all-compassing. Rather, I have to admit that as a human being it is only in my power to examine, make conclusions and categorize and NOT to make universal rulings compassing everything in existence that shape objective reality.

The just shall live by faith.
 
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I appreciate this summary as often people who apply skeptical thinking (especially if they aren’t believers) are labeled as closed minded or pig headed or whatever. I think you summed up well how, when applied in reasonable amounts, being skeptical is actually an expression of humbleness and the acknowledgement of one’s own limitations. To claim to know something with 100% certainty is to claim to know 100% of the relevant information and circumstances.
 
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Dan123 said:
when applied in reasonable amounts, being skeptical is actually an expression of humbleness and the acknowledgement of one’s own limitations. To claim to know something with 100% certainty is to claim to know 100% of the relevant information and circumstances.
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Exactly. Humility in the face of uncertainty is also the key for finding answers. When we admit that we can know but not shut out every other possibility, we open ourselves to God’s providence in our truth-seeking. This act gives God the ultimate authority He has and puts us in the place of the recipient instead of the definer. In fact, the first temptation that Satan used on mankind was the temptation to know everything and become God. If we carefully avoid repeating this mistake and submit to God’s omniscience and graceful guidance, we will ultimately reach what we are unable to reach with our own mental capabilities.
 
rosejmj said:
Is it possible to know for sure on Earth which religion contains the fullness of truth?
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I don’t think there is such a thing as the ‘only’ true religion. All religions have some truth in them - some have more truth than others. However, all religions have some misconceptions, superstitions or false beliefs. We will know the truth about all these beliefs only when the Christ returns and tells us which beliefs are true and which are just misconceptions.
rosejmj said:
If God really wanted us to follow the correct religion why did he make it unclear which one was most true and make religion somewhat cultural?
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God does not mind which religion you follow or what you believe. More important are what the Christ mentions regarding the treatment of your fellow human beings, especially the ‘least of these’ as described in Matthew 25 31-46.
 
It is important to understand two possible realities:
  1. natural faith, which can be acquired by reason, experience, formation/upbringing, convincing arguments by influential speakers, logical conclusions, miracles seen or experienced, or perhaps other ways that come by way of natural (name removed by moderator)uts into our lives;
  2. supernatural faith, which is salvific. This is supernatural gift, not attained by human works or natural means - “not your own doing”. This was pointed to by St. Paul when he wrote (under the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Spirit):
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—
Eph 2:9 not because of works, lest any man should boast.
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A good further discussion of this is here - in Homiletic & Pastoral Review on-line:
Natural and Supernatural Faith
 
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Religions having crumbs of truth mixed with a dough of lies still makes them false in general. Even the smallest twist to the truth can cause disasterous misunderstanding. While that is the case, I believe we should nevertheless try to persuade pagan idolaters through finding common ground. This is what Paul did in Greece and what we should also do.

Concerning whether one religion is the only true religion, I have a very deep-seated conviction that the Roman Catholic Church is the only religious teaching authority that teaches truth and nothing but truth about God. This is because they are the only religious teaching authority that has received its authority to teach infallibly from God through His only begotten Son. In Him there is the fullness of God revealed in the flesh to all mankind and His ministerial authority to appoint apostoles is the ultimate authority. There is no authority like His and there won’t be other authority like His nor greater. He is the ultimate King and Ruler of all, the High Priest and the Lord.
 
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