Split: Mother Theresa Didn't Preach the Gospel

[4given]

I knew coming home to the Catholic Church was the best decision because of the heights of sanctity it brings to so many, albeit relatively few of us. There are many holy Protestant people, but they pale in comparison to a Mother Teresa, St. John of the Cross, an apostle or any of the martyrs of the Church. Oh there may be a Protestant here or there who dies for his faith, but not many.

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness. If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods? Don’t try to convince me that Protestants that go to the world and preach the gospel of Christ as it’s revealed in Scripture pales in comparison to a woman who told dying people to pray to their false gods. And there are plenty of Protestants who died for their faith during the inquisitions. And plenty of missionaries that have lost their lives, I’m sure, to take the gospel to the world. I’m sorry but that’s how I see it.

 

[Michael_Francis]

Split from another thread where it was off topic.

 

[Redbandito]

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness. If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods? Don’t try to convince me that Protestants that go to the world and preach the gospel of Christ as it’s revealed in Scripture pales in comparison to a woman who told dying people to pray to their false gods. And there are plenty of Protestants who died for their faith during the inquisitions. And plenty of missionaries that have lost their lives, I’m sure, to take the gospel to the world. I’m sorry but that’s how I see it.

You’re going to have to be more specific and provide links. Just throwing an accusation out there that is unsubstantiated does not do any good.

 

[Maria3m]

If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods?

Because of ONE quote you are saying she didn’t speak of Jesus to those who were dying?

You (nor I) have any idea what she said actually.

She LIVED the gospel. She is a perfect example of how to treat people who are poor, sick, dying…

Listen to tapes of her…the gospel is always in her message.
Jesus is always on her lips to anyone who will listen.

I honestly think it’s sad when someone tries to put such a good person down. Pitiful!

 

[Image_of_God]

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness. If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods? Don’t try to convince me that Protestants that go to the world and preach the gospel of Christ as it’s revealed in Scripture pales in comparison to a woman who told dying people to pray to their false gods. And there are plenty of Protestants who died for their faith during the inquisitions. And plenty of missionaries that have lost their lives, I’m sure, to take the gospel to the world. I’m sorry but that’s how I see it.

This is an insult to Mother Teresa and the Catholic Church. It reminds me of when St. Francis of Assisi said although not word for word, “There is no use walking and preaching, unless our walking is preaching.”
There was one story I heard, when Mother Teresa and the sisters were taking care of an old man. He constanly was disruptive and continued to tell them to get away. Yet, Mother Teresa, constanly came to the aid of the man who was close to death. And at the hour of his death, the man said the wanted to become Catholic because of the constant kind acts of Mother Teresa. There is a nicer way to address a question especially when you are referring to a person who has been beatified. She spread the gospel through her kind acts. Evangelization does not require words.

Mother Angelica
“The essense of evangelization, is to tell people Jesus loves you”
And that is what Mother Teresa did. Through her actions, she showed people that Jesus loved them. I think it is silly how you lower Mother Teresa’s efforts to evangelization, by comparing the to Protestant martyrdoms. I think it is unfair too. Mother Teresa and Protestant martyrdoms were equally as effective in spreading the gospel, to a certain extent. I suggest you reword your OP.

 

[LilyM]

4given:

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness. If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods? Don’t try to convince me that Protestants that go to the world and preach the gospel of Christ as it’s revealed in Scripture pales in comparison to a woman who told dying people to pray to their false gods. And there are plenty of Protestants who died for their faith during the inquisitions. And plenty of missionaries that have lost their lives, I’m sure, to take the gospel to the world. I’m sorry but that’s how I see it.

I would point you to the Epistle of James - specifically 1:26-27:

‘If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to are for orphans and widows in their affliction’

and more tellingly 2:14-19

"If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed, someone might say, “You have faith and I have works”.** Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.**"

When you have works of your own to show that are comparable in any way to Mother Teresa’s then you can say you have faith like hers.

 

[Eireann]

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness.

I always cringe when I see posts without links, basically a waste of time.

 

[4given]

Feel free not to respond then.

The following is from an interview with a Catholic nun, “Sister” Ann, who worked in Kathman-du, Nepal, with “Mother” Teresa’s organization Missionaries of Charity. The interview was conducted 11/23/84 at the Pashupati Temple:

Q: Do you believe if they die believing in Shiva or in Ram [Hindu gods] they will go to heaven?
A: Yes, that is their faith. My own faith will lead me to God, … So if they have believed in their god very strongly, if they have faith, surely they will be saved.

Q: Today it does not seem that the Catholic Church is trying to convert anymore. I know that John Paul II is saying now that those of other religions are saved. You do not believe they are lost anyway, right?
A: No, they are not lost. They are saved according to their faith, you know. If they believe whatever they believe, that is their salvation.

This isn’t the gospel revealed in Scripture.

No one would deny that “Mother” Teresa did a marvelous piece of wonderful humanitarian work among the poor and neglected of the world, but what gospel did she preach to them? She definitely did not lead them to the one, true, eternal salvation through the finished sacrifice of Calvary. “Mother” Teresa provided the classic example of compassionate and charitable deeds divorced from truth. She said that her purpose was to bring her patients closer to the “God” in whom they already believe; so that a Hindu becomes a better Hindu, a Buddhist a better Buddhist, etc.1 (Vatican II says those of all religions are somehow saved through the Church.) She told how to witness for Jesus: In an interview with a nun who worked with “Mother” Teresa , dying Hindus were instructed to pray to their own Hindu gods!2 (reported in Christian News):

“These people are waiting to die. What are you telling them to prepare them for death and eternity? She replied candidly, ‘We tell them to pray to their Bhagwan, to their gods.’”

She was instructing these staunch Hindus to pray sincerely to their own Hindu idols and she felt that if they did this, God would certainly not judge them! No matter how plausible from man’s earthly vantage point, when good works are conducted by unregenerate religious people, what is promoted is a cursed false gospel, encouraging the lost heathen to have hope in their false gods, even as they lay upon their death beds. In God’s eyes, therefore, the entire endeavor was a cursed one, and no Christian should have supported, assisted, or praised a work cursed by God!

rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/teresa/general.htm

Make all the excuses you want to, she was wrong.

 

[Zooey]

I always cringe when Catholics hold up Mother Theresa so highly as an example of holiness. If she was so holy, why did she not share the gospel with dying people but instead told them to pray to their own gods? Don’t try to convince me that Protestants that go to the world and preach the gospel of Christ as it’s revealed in Scripture pales in comparison to a woman who told dying people to pray to their false gods. And there are plenty of Protestants who died for their faith during the inquisitions. And plenty of missionaries that have lost their lives, I’m sure, to take the gospel to the world. I’m sorry but that’s how I see it.

With all due respect…But, were you there? Did you follow Mother Theresa around, helping her care for the dying??
Unless you did this, you have:nope: no way of knowing what she did & did not do or say to the people in her care.

The fact that Mother Theresa cared for all who came to her, gave them food, clothing, a place to sleep, & yes, a place to die…Does this make her somehow less a Christian than someone who refuses to feed, clothe, or nurse anyone who does not convert to that person’s faith?? I think not.

I would hope that we would, all of us, Catholic, Protestant, & Orthodox Christians alike spend a little more time re-reading the 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel.
I look back on a childhood among evangelical Protestant Christians. I am myself an evangelical Protestant Christian. If Mother Theresa was not holy, God help us all!! None of us have half a chance at the gates of Heaven, if she were turned away.
Something to think about when :bible1: …
:twocents:

 

[Maria3m]

If Mother Theresa was not holy, God help us all!! None of us have half a chance at the gates of Heaven, if she were turned away.
Something to think about when :bible1: …
:twocents:

 

[4given]

You’re not getting it. People who worked with her are quoting her as saying these unscriptural things. And while, it’s commendable that she met physical needs in caring for the poor, that’s no excuse for what she told those people. Try as you might to get around it.

 

[Sam88]

4given,

You posted an interesting quote. If this quote were accurate, it sounds like Sister Ann may be in error. I of course note that Ann is not Theresa.

More importantly however, your link is hardly to an impartial source but a page clearly designed specifically for the purpose of Mother Theresa bashing. It also provides as a sample of her heresey the fact that she believed in the Real Presence, or to quote the hostile anti-Catholic language of your source “the cracker of the mass is Jesus Christ”. Now you are free to regard this as an error too, but don’t expect to find much sympathy for that view on a Catholic forum since it is completely orthodox.

However, even supposing Mother Theresa was in error about serious matters (which you have certainly not proved), I would be more concerned about the source of your motive for being her detractor. An urge to tell everyone about someone’s errors and sins is but gossip, a subject which Paul condemned emphatically. Perhaps you are living a holier and purer life, more dedicated to faith, hope, and love than Mother Theresa. I hope so, but it isn’t coming through in this thread yet.

 

[4given]

Originally Posted by Zooey
If Mother Theresa was not holy, God help us all!! None of us have half a chance at the gates of Heaven, if she were turned away.
Something to think about when …

If she didn’t accept and believe the gospel as revealed in Scripure, she was turned away. And if she did accept it, how could she have told those people to pray to false gods? How could she say she converts people to be better Muslims, Hindus. etc. and how could she even insinuate they could be saved by continuing their beleif in their false gods? Tha’t’s not the gospel that Jesus’ sent His followers and after them, us, to preach to the world. Somethings very wrong there, like it or not.

 

[4given]

4given,

You posted an interesting quote. If this quote were accurate, it sounds like Sister Ann may be in error. I of course note that Ann is not Theresa.

More importantly however, your link is hardly to an impartial source but a page clearly designed specifically for the purpose of Mother Theresa bashing. It also provides as a sample of her heresey the fact that she believed in the Real Presence, or to quote the hostile anti-Catholic language of your source “the cracker of the mass is Jesus Christ”. Now you are free to regard this as an error too, but don’t expect to find much sympathy for that view on a Catholic forum since it is completely orthodox.

However, even supposing Mother Theresa was in error about serious matters (which you have certainly not proved), I would be more concerned about the source of your motive for being her detractor. An urge to tell everyone about someone’s errors and sins is but gossip, a subject which Paul condemned emphatically. Perhaps you are living a holier and purer life, more dedicated to faith, hope, and love than Mother Theresa. I hope so, but it isn’t coming through in this thread yet.

No, I do not expect any sympathy or support on a Catholic forum…expect from any other Protestants that may be here.

 

[Church_Militant]

You’re not getting it. People who worked with her are quoting her as saying these unscriptural things. And while, it’s commendable that she met physical needs in caring for the poor, that’s no excuse for what she told those people. Try as you might to get around it.

Do you know whether God will not intervene to bring a soul to saving faith in Christ who does not know Christ through no fault of their own? No… you do not, and you are unwise to judge them since this is the case. Do you suppose that those whom Mother Therese ministered to (regardless of their religion) could look at the nuns that worked so hard for them and NOT know that these holy women were Christians? You, (and those like you) feel that you must “witness” to others, but (in my own experience) neglect the physical needs of those around you, which, (IMHO) makes you about like those who crossed to the other side of the road to pass the man left for dead because he is not the same faith as you. Mother Therese was a good Samaritan every day of her ministry.

St. Francis of Assisi was right. “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary use words.”
Pax tecum,

 

[LilyM]

You are the one who doesn’t appear to understand 4given - James, the Apostle who was taught by Our Lord, the one who was one of the first of His martyrs according to Acts, says that true religion** is** to care for the widow and orphan. And that faith is demonstrated THROUGH such works, not preaching.

Whatever Mother Teresa and her nuns said to those who they cared for, you can bet 99% of em prayed to her God and and theirs instead of a non-Christian one. And that her example drew thousands to Christianity for any one that was possibly driven away - though I don’t believe for a second she would’ve driven ANYONE away from her God who was seeking Him.

Now THAT is the sort of evangelisation James is discussing.
And unless your own efforts can compare, you have no place talking about her.

 

[Maria3m]

**If **she didn’t accept and believe the gospel as revealed in Scripure, she was turned away.

If in other words, even with that quote you don’t know.
One thing that bugs me is how many act like judge…you have no idea if she was turned away. She LIVED the gospel.

I ask this to know, not to fight or debate, but what have you read about Mother Teresa besides this one quote? What have you heard her say? Any study at all on her besides enjoying this quote?

She needs no defending. Have fun slamming her and spreading this idea which most likely has been taken out of context.

 

[Redbandito]

Feel free not to respond then.

This isn’t the gospel revealed in Scripture.

rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/teresa/general.htm

Make all the excuses you want to, she was wrong.

Notice that in the quote you posted it was not MOTHER THERESA, but “a Catholic nun, Sister ANN,” who said that. I can do nothing else but shake my head. Are you so desperate to make your point that you would try to pass some random statement of “Sister Ann’s” off as “Mother Theresa’s”? Talk about contrary to the Gospel. How about, “Thou shalt not bear false witness”?

 

[Redbandito]

If she didn’t accept and believe the gospel as revealed in Scripure, she was turned away. And if she did accept it, how could she have told those people to pray to false gods? How could she say she converts people to be better Muslims, Hindus. etc. and how could she even insinuate they could be saved by continuing their beleif in their false gods? Tha’t’s not the gospel that Jesus’ sent His followers and after them, us, to preach to the world. Somethings very wrong there, like it or not.

So far, you have failed to demonstrate that SHE did. So, what’s the point in speculating about what is likely just a myth?

 

[Della]

rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/teresa/general.htm

Make all the excuses you want to, she was wrong.

Taking quotes from a clearly anti-Catholic site with an agenda is hardly “proof” of anything. The bias on the site is so obvious I wonder you would think anyone thinking person could take it seriously. :whacky: