If they truly “cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience” then there is certainly a reason to hope. As has already been said it is not our place to judge. From your statement it appears that since they are rejecting in good conscience, then they do not believe that the Catholic church is the one true church.If a Orthodox/Evangelical person says that they cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience after examining apologetic material from both the Catholic and the non-Catholic sides, what are their chances of salvation? Will they be lost without doubt or is there good chance he may be saved?
Thanks
I agree with this completely. Although I cannot reconcile in my mind how anyone could know and believe that the Catholic church is the one true church and reject it anyway. If you believed it…why would you do it? Alas, maybe this is just something that is beyond my understanding.If they truly “cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience” then there is certainly a reason to hope. As has already been said it is not our place to judge. From your statement it appears that since they are rejecting in good conscience, then they do not believe that the Catholic church is the one true church.
It’s one thing to be told that the Catholic church is the one church and reject that, but entirely different if they **know and believe **that the Catholic church is the one true church and then reject it.
Only God knows their hearts and minds.
Maybe the problem is having a relationship that is intellectually based. I have not accepted the church as a result of “examining apologetic material”, but I have done so rather through participation in the mass, the sacraments, in addition to private prayer and meditation. (I should say say that nowhere else have I found the same level of discussion and knowledge that is available through Catholic literature.) In a later post you indicate, “I love Jesus with all my heart, soul and strength.” I feel I can say the same thing, but I would add that I do so as part of a community. Worship is not something that happens in isolation from others, obviously since our destiny is the Beatific Vision. Every time one prays, one joins with all of creation that is participating in glorifying God. It sounds like you are already part of His church; i don’t know.If a Orthodox/Evangelical person says that they cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience after examining apologetic material from both the Catholic and the non-Catholic sides, what are their chances of salvation? Will they be lost without doubt or is there good chance he may be saved?
Thanks
Since the purpose of Jesus’ redemption is our salvation, i.e., to set us free from the slavery of sin, which, btw, makes us miserable and unhappy, it is difficult for any non-Catholic to achieve this freedom from slavery to sin. That is because only the Gospel is the source of all saving truth and moral discipline. The Gospel Jesus taught the Apostles is the whole and complete Catholic faith. Jesus commanded the Apostles to preach this Gospel when he ascended to heaven in Mk 16:15-16. If people believed and were baptized they were then saved by being set free from their sins, or at least the process of being set free was initiated. As Jesus said, if they did not believe the Gospel, the oral word of God preached by the Apostles, they condemned themselves.If a Orthodox/Evangelical person says that they cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience after examining apologetic material from both the Catholic and the non-Catholic sides, what are their chances of salvation? Will they be lost without doubt or is there good chance he may be saved?
Thanks
Rejection of communion with the Catholic Church is grave matter. Like any grave matter it rises to the level of mortal sin if coupled with a level of consent and knowledge sufficient to make it a truly personal act. Invincible ignorance seems to efface the knowledge part so it would excuse culpability for the sin of unbelief, but a person who has devoured apologetical material is not ignorant. If you’re not ignorant, you’re not invincibly ignorant.If a Orthodox/Evangelical person says that they cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience after examining apologetic material from both the Catholic and the non-Catholic sides, what are their chances of salvation? Will they be lost without doubt or is there good chance he may be saved?
Thanks
If this person (ie, you) have received valid Christian Baptism (and all Orthodox and Evangelical protestants practice valid Baptism), and if this person (ie, you) have avoided mortal sin, then this person (ie, you) is absolutely assured of salvation.If a Orthodox/Evangelical person says that they cannot accept the Catholic church in good conscience after examining apologetic material from both the Catholic and the non-Catholic sides, what are their chances of salvation? Will they be lost without doubt or is there good chance he may be saved?
Because the first guy knows. He can therefore be held accountable for mortal sin. For any sin to be mortal, the person must have full knowledge and perfect consent (the sin must also be of a serious nature). A person might be a flaimin’ heretic, shouting his heresy from the sidewalks and rooftops, but be completely untouched by mortal sin because he was simply misinformed (and his misguided rantings might even be credited to him as righteousness).How is the heretic who knows enough about the church to know he is a heretic and thus limits his participation in the church to proper automatic excommunion status different from the man who has the same heretical belief, but who does not know he is heretical and with blissful ignorance carries out a life otherwise in full communion with the church?