What if the church wasn’t built on the profession of faith but on the truth of the profession? Jesus said, “I am the truth,” and Peter said, “You are the Christ.” I’ve never taken the Rock to be Peter’s confession, but what was confessed. That Christ is true. And that wouldn’t make it a failure or take Christ out of the picture.
But then Christ’s promise was that the truth would endure. Again, there can be no gap between Calvary and the Church. Any Church not founded in 33 AD in the Upper Room, by the Holy Spirit descending on Mary and the Apostles (Acts 2), does not have the full truth.
Scripture teaches that one’s final salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. As Jesus himself tells us, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13; cf. 25:31–46). One who dies in the state of friendship with God (the state of grace) will go to heaven. The one who dies in a state of enmity and rebellion against God (the state of mortal sin) will go to hell.
Assent is required, knowledge is not. You don’t have to understand why Mary is conceived without sin, but you do have to accept it. Now if you reject something that you do know is divinely revealed… that’s not a good idea. (Hebrews 10:26-29)
Never said that. Forget about me. Read the Catechism.
As has been stated, the Immaculate Conception is a dogma that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. If you don’t understand it, that’s not incredulity; but if you do understand and reject it, or decide that you just don’t care and ignore it, that might be a problem.
From what I can tell, you said of two Marian dogmata (the Assumption and Immaculate Conception), that “none of that really matters or impacts my challenges with living a Christ like life.”
@Unique_name , I’ve been considering starting a topic about Protestant attitudes towards Catholicism. Looks like you have seen it all. Some old fashioned “they aren’t even Christians” and some genuinely interested folks. As a convert myself I’m seriously worried about the future of my Protestant friends as the secularism in society just gets worse, but maybe you would be a better person to start such a topic. What do you think?
Me neither.
I’ll see about setting it up when I get a chance, thanks.Maybe I missed it, but why are you thinking of returning ?VeryBlessed:
Surprisingly, many Protestants would burn me at the stake for just how sympathetic I am with Catholics. I’ve had some even go as far as to question whether or not I am even really a Christian because of how much I agree with concerning Catholic teaching. On the other hand, I have friends who have come to me with questions about if something they heard really was what the Catholic Church teaches. (“Does the Catholic Church really teach that works grant us salvation?”)
I guess you could say I’m on the doorstep but not stepping in at this point.
Jesus said, to Peter, that not even the gates of hell will prevail against … ? The Church Jesus builds on Peter and those in complete union with Peter. That is the Catholic Church
Peter and his faith are one. It’s NOT an either/or it’s a both/andAlmaRedemptorisMater:
Okay so what is the answer to the common Protestant argument that it was Peter’s confession (not Peter himself) - “You are the Christ” - that Jesus built his church on?
A number of long explanations, but to condense it down, I had something extremely odd happen recently that opened up many doors at a very coincidental time.
Simple. Keep reading in Gal.Loud-living-dogma:
I do this frequently. To my husband, to my children, to my pastor, to my friends.
It’s one of the reasons I mentioned that fellowship is so important to me, because I rely on that accountability and encouragement in my daily life. My problem isn’t that I don’t take scripture seriously, or pick and choose which I want to follow, but that, as it stands, I’m not 100% convinced that what I see in Scripture is consistent with what the Catholic Church teaches. I’m further along after reading many of these answers and articles that have been shared, but I do have one extra question that popped up. (And to reiterate, I’m not doing this in a spirit of argument or contention, I’m genuinely trying to arrive at a knowledge of the truth and, for me, that involved unraveling everything going on in my brain and sorting it out and having my questions answered.)
So my next question is this -…
if it all more or less rests on whether or not the Church has the authority she claims, then how am I to apply Paul’s words to the Galatians when he says, "But even if I or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one you have received, let him be condemned."
I’m so happy for you! Congratulations in advance.
