Is Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church the only way to salvation?

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jmcrae said:
This makes it sound like there could be more than one choice of path. There is only one path to Heaven; it is the Catholic Church.

People are more or less joined to the Catholic Church according to how much of the truth they believe, and how sincere they are in seeking Christ as best they can. Every human being on earth is at least somewhat joined with the Catholic Church. Protestants even more so because they are baptized and they participate in Scripture study.
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Truly spoken from a Catholic’s perspective. I suspect most Protestants would either howl in outrage or just plain chuckle at your comment.

The one path is through Christ, not the Catholic Church or any other denomination for that matter. The Church (or any church), IMO, serves as a way to focus our worship of God, but it doesn’t dictate the path. This has been done through the Scriptures, which all Christian groups follow. Sure, there are some interpretation differences, but all try to follow Christ’s teachings to the best of their ability.
 
mikew262 said:
Truly spoken from a Catholic’s perspective. I suspect most Protestants would either howl in outrage or just plain chuckle at your comment.

The one path is through Christ, not the Catholic Church or any other denomination for that matter. The Church (or any church), IMO, serves as a way to focus our worship of God, but it doesn’t dictate the path. This has been done through the Scriptures, which all Christian groups follow. Sure, there are some interpretation differences, but all try to follow Christ’s teachings to the best of their ability.
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The Scriptures come from the Catholic Church; it is by the infallible declaration (“I declare and define …”) of a Catholic Pope (Pope Innocent I, 405 AD) that we know which books are to be included in the Bible.

What this means is that you can’t have the Bible without assenting (at least unconsciously) to the infallibility of the Pope and the authority of the Catholic Church.
 
jmcrae said:
The Scriptures come from the Catholic Church; it is by the infallible declaration (“I declare and define …”) of a Catholic Pope (Pope Innocent I, 405 AD) that we know which books are to be included in the Bible.

What this means is that you can’t have the Bible without assenting (at least unconsciously) to the infallibility of the Pope and the authority of the Catholic Church.
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Are you saying that the supposed infallilbity of the pope was necessary for the Bible?
 
justasking4 said:
Are you saying that the supposed infallilbity of the pope was necessary for the Bible?
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In order to know infallibly that we have a Bible, yes, we need an infallible Pope, to tell us that we have it. Otherwise we have no way of knowing this - the Bible could exist without us knowing about it, of course, but it wouldn’t do us much good, in that case.
 
jmcrae said:
In order to know infallibly that we have a Bible, yes, we need an infallible Pope, to tell us that we have it. Otherwise we have no way of knowing this - the Bible could exist without us knowing about it, of course, but it wouldn’t do us much good, in that case.
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Did the Jews who lived 75 years before Christ believe that the OT was infallible-inspired-inerrant?
 
mikew262 said:
I really have no problem with what you said till the last sentence.

Is it really rejecting or taking a path they feel is more correct and puts them closer to God?
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How can it bring them closer to the Truth and to God when it leads them AWAY from the Church which Christ founded??

But you reveal an interesting test of thumb: Is it really rejecting or taking a path THEY FEEL is more correct and puts them ‘closer’ to God? (Why, because they may FEEL they are closer to God??) God is not a feeling, and if you study the lives of the saints you realize that feelings about God are shallow and superficial. And again, it’s what THEY want, not what is desired by our Lord. To stay in the Church takes guts and inner strength; that is what builds up humility and our spirituality and opens the heart…not looking for an easy way out.
 
justasking4 said:
Did the Jews who lived 75 years before Christ believe that the OT was infallible-inspired-inerrant?
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Not that I am aware of. The idea that human beings could be infallible at certain times or under certain conditions - for example, while writing Scripture - was completely unheard of in pre-Christian times.
 
peary said:
How can it bring them closer to the Truth and to God when it leads them AWAY from the Church which Christ founded??

But you reveal an interesting test of thumb: Is it really rejecting or taking a path THEY FEEL is more correct and puts them ‘closer’ to God? (Why, because they may FEEL they are closer to God??) God is not a feeling, and if you study the lives of the saints you realize that feelings about God are shallow and superficial. And again, it’s what THEY want, not what is desired by our Lord. To stay in the Church takes guts and inner strength; that is what builds up humility and our spirituality and opens the heart…not looking for an easy way out.
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Again, spoken from a pure Catholic’s perspective. The “truth” of the Catholic Church is not the truth of a Baptist or a Methodist. They feel we are totally off base, just as many Catholic’s feel they are off base.

Oh BTW, when you have a close relationship with God, you have a feeling, no doubt about it. I hope you have that feeling.
 
peary said:
God is not a feeling, and if you study the lives of the saints you realize that feelings about God are shallow and superficial.
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I don’t know which saints you are reading , but this is absolutly not true. While I agree that decisions should not be based wholly on emotion, one must be mindful that God created us with emotion for a purpose,and commands us to love Him with the whole heart, soul, mind and strength. This is not "shallow and superficial, with the emotions or anything else.
 
mikew262 said:
Again, spoken from a pure Catholic’s perspective. The “truth” of the Catholic Church is not the truth of a Baptist or a Methodist. They feel we are totally off base, just as many Catholic’s feel they are off base.

Oh BTW, when you have a close relationship with God, you have a feeling, no doubt about it. I hope you have that feeling.
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So, then, how many ‘truths’ ARE there? It’s relativistic nonsense, if you ask me. As for the saints, read Mother Teresa’s memoirs. They will give you an idea as to how close she ‘felt’ she was to the Lord.
 
peary said:
So, then, how many ‘truths’ ARE there? It’s relativistic nonsense, if you ask me. As for the saints, read Mother Teresa’s memoirs. They will give you an idea as to how close she ‘felt’ she was to the Lord.
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Have you read some of what she believed and practiced?

In her book, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations, and Prayers, “Mother” Teresa says on pp. 81-82:

“We never try to convert those who receive [aid from Missionaries of Charity] to Christianity but in our work we bear witness to the love of God’s presence and if Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics become for this better men – simply better – we will be satisfied. It matters to the individual what church he belongs to. If that individual thinks and believes that this is the only way to God for her or him, this is the way God comes into their life – his life. If he does not know any other way and if he has no doubt so that he does not need to search then this is his way to salvation.”

Is this is not an example of “relativistic nonsense”?
 
jmcrae said:
Not that I am aware of. The idea that human beings could be infallible at certain times or under certain conditions - for example, while writing Scripture - was completely unheard of in pre-Christian times.
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Would you agree that a Jew in this time period did know what the inspired-inerrant Scriptures were?
 
justasking4 said:
Would you agree that a Jew in this time period did know what the inspired-inerrant Scriptures were?
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He knew what was permitted to be read out at the Synagogue and in the Temple, but the idea of “inspired/inerrant” would not have occurred to him.
 
Is Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church the only way to salvaion? If you are a Roman Catholic, and believe in the Church and the sacraments, Yep!
 
jmcrae said:
He knew what was permitted to be read out at the Synagogue and in the Temple, but the idea of “inspired/inerrant” would not have occurred to him.
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If this is true why in Luke 4:17 is the book of the prophet Isaiah considered Scripture? See verse 21.

How did they know before the church came into being?
 
Salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone and the Christian Religon and not a church. He who believes in me shall have eternal Life.
 
It is written that he who rejects his church, rejects him, and that those individuals are to be treated as heathen.
 
catholiconce said:
Salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone and the Christian Religon and not a church. He who believes in me shall have eternal Life.
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Then you will have to explain why Jesus Himself was a devout Jew who practiced Judaism.
 
jmcrae said:
He knew what was permitted to be read out at the Synagogue and in the Temple, but the idea of “inspired/inerrant” would not have occurred to him.
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Don’t you think he would have believed this was the Word of God?
 
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