Should the Catholic Church "steal" other Christians?

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mark a:
Should we be encouraging non-Catholics to leave their own church for the Catholic Church?
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Yes. The key word here is “encouraging”, not coercing.

If I thought that kidnapping someone and forcing him to be baptized as a Catholic would keep him from going to hell, I would do it in a second. But of course, such forced “conversion” will never save anyone from hell, and Christ never instructed us to force his church upon the unwilling and the rebellious. We are however, commanded by Christ to preach the gospel to all nations so that every human being can* willingly* come into full membership with the true church.

It is one of the spiritual works of mercy to instruct the ignorant.
 
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Malachi4U:
Telling someone the truth, bringing a lost soul home from the wilderness, bringing a soul into the Chruch Christ founded is NOT stealling. No I would say it is Christian evangelization and following the job Jesus gave His Church. It is a RESCUE mission!

Protestants have some truth and some good points. The problem is that ALL thier sects are incomplete and outside the bobdy of Christ.
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You forgot to add where in the Bible you read this, James5:
19 My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Too bad signatures only have a 200 letter limit!
 
like others have said…

only offer the truth, and the Holy Spirit will direct them
in the way they should go… but, the truth offered in love
and with understanding can do a lot to open the person
to that movement by the Spirit…

if not, nothing you can say will make a difference, it will
only engender anger and resentment…

but, if patient and caring, you might not see fruit this season,
but maybe next year… the tree will bear the fruit you were
hoping for…

🙂
 
mark a:
It’s one thing to defend our beliefs, but actually encouraging someone who has a spiritual home to leave it seems somehow wrong to me.
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Nice work folks. I stand corrected.
 
I think Catholics should encourage other Christians to be Catholic. Why? Because denominations in and of themselves and non demoninational churches are denominations too only one church ones. Are sinful and they divide the body of Christ. (I’m nto saying that we should say it that way.) They cause a valuable lose of resources, competition etc. Christ wanted the church to be one in message. United. So, we need to do what we can to break the barriers down.
 
I’m sorry if I misunderstand you but are you actually suggesting that we not try to help people become members of the one true church? The Church established by Jesus Christ? The Church which out side of it there is no salvation? To keep them separated from the sacraments, especially the Eucharist? Are you suggesting that we leave them in darkness and not help them to come into the light of Truth? And all because you think that they already have a “spiritual home”? Come on now. Being a faithful Catholic means that we should try to bring as many as we can to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church.
 
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Topher:
I’m sorry if I misunderstand you but are you actually suggesting that we not try to help people become members of the one true church? The Church established by Jesus Christ? The Church which out side of it there is no salvation? To keep them separated from the sacraments, especially the Eucharist? Are you suggesting that we leave them in darkness and not help them to come into the light of Truth? And all because you think that they already have a “spiritual home”? Come on now. Being a faithful Catholic means that we should try to bring as many as we can to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church.
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Not exactly.

I was actually thinking how much I dislike argumentive Protestants who quickly damn me to hell because I don’t agree with them and don’t want to join their church, how I have heard the truth in their 15 second spill and have been informed that I now know the truth and can follow them or stay on board the hell express.

I should have worded my question more carefully.
 
I agree. Why would one have a light and put it in a dark spot? I mean, I had fun as an aethiest but, in the end would it have been a good thing? I think not.
But, listen this is not saying go out and as the football coaches say, “Go,GO,GO,”. I have noticed not a lot of people like the hyper aggresive bit, which is sad cause I enjoy fast pased things, But, it is important to get the truth out there and “Let it shine.”
 
Hi Mark, I am not a catholic myself, just a friendly brother in christ. Bottom line is, we all belong to the mystical body of christ. Therefore, if one changes churches because you shared your understanding of scriptural truth, you are not stealing because we all are of the same body – I Cor 12.

If a protestant claims you are stealing people from the body of christ, most likely he does not believe in the universal body of christ. But, instead limits the body of christ to his local church.

As I understand it, Jesus only has one bride which includes both catholics and non-catholics.
 
Daniel Marsh:
Hi Mark, I am not a catholic myself, just a friendly brother in christ. Bottom line is, we all belong to the mystical body of christ. Therefore, if one changes churches because you shared your understanding of scriptural truth, you are not stealing because we all are of the same body – I Cor 12.

If a protestant claims you are stealing people from the body of christ, most likely he does not believe in the universal body of christ. But, instead limits the body of christ to his local church.

As I understand it, Jesus only has one bride which includes both catholics and non-catholics.
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Now that’s a refreshing attitude!!
 
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Topher:
I’m sorry if I misunderstand you but are you actually suggesting that we not try to help people become members of the one true church? The Church established by Jesus Christ? The Church which out side of it there is no salvation? To keep them separated from the sacraments, especially the Eucharist? Are you suggesting that we leave them in darkness and not help them to come into the light of Truth? And all because you think that they already have a “spiritual home”? Come on now. Being a faithful Catholic means that we should try to bring as many as we can to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church.
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Exactly, how is this any different than “stealing” non-believers to become Christians?
 
That word steal is the hitch.

It would be stealing if we forced them…but RCIA the gate in which most converts come into the CC doesn’t force anything. Remember that the CC is the bastion of the concept of Free Will. They freely join the CC. Secondly, people are not things so we cannot steal people. Unless we’re kidnapping them to become catholic which is ubsurd. Lastly, if the CC is not the true church of Christ then it may be stealing. But to expose one to the truth is the inverse of “stealing”, it is liberating.

in XT.
 
mark a:
Not exactly.

I was actually thinking how much I dislike argumentive Protestants who quickly damn me to hell because I don’t agree with them and don’t want to join their church, how I have heard the truth in their 15 second spill and have been informed that I now know the truth and can follow them or stay on board the hell express.

I should have worded my question more carefully.
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I see. Sorry for misunderstanding you. We most certainly should evangelize the protestants and bring them to the truth though.
 
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