what if there isn't a "one true church"?

[PattyPryor]

I have been delt with a lot in my 27 years of life. I grew up catholic was mormon 2 times met the Duggar Family (with 17 children) and am a Catholic again

I was thinking in church tonight. How if there isn’t a “one true church”

even growing up I never felt like Catholics were the only ones favored or loved more by God. I know the Catholic Church says they are the “one true church” which is so since it traces itself back to peter “the rock”

I keep searching for this true church and I jut don’t think it exists anymore. This is personal because I will forever remain a Catholic but so many say that thier church is true.

I guess I see God as someone who regarless of my religious background will welcome me home when I die…

 

[sterryfamily]

The bottom line is that Christ told us he came to establish his Church. We know he reigns over his kingdom in heaven and on earth. That kingdom IS his church.

In heaven we call it the Church Triumphant.
Those in purgatory are called the Church Suffering.
We on earth are the Church Militant - we are still fighting the good fight.

But, Christ promised that HE would be the head of his Church. He also promised to send the Spirit to guide his earthly Church leadership “into all truth” and that he would be with his Church “even to the end of time”.

This is why we can trust his Church to never lead us into doctrinal error. And he gave us the Church and her sacraments as the normative means to salvation. Is salvation possible outside the Church? Yes and no. God can save anyone he wants to for any reason he elects. The Catechism teaches that salvation may be available to those who “through no fault of their own” don’t know or fully understand the Gospel. But those whom God saves will still become members of his Church and it is through that Church that the grace of salvation issues. In other words, someone who is not a Catholic in this life but is still saved, wil be a Catholic in eternity.

The trick for us is that God went through a lot of trouble to come down here and suffer on the cross in order to establish his Church as the means for our salvation. The sure way to salvation, therefore, is to follow what God expects of us and what he has provided for us - the Church. Can one who lives in this life outside the Church be saved? Yes. But that will only be known by God. The safe way to salvation is to stick with what God has provided us.

 

[MarysRoses]

… so many say that thier church is true.

I guess I see God as someone who regarless of my religious background will welcome me home when I die…

I know that feeling patty.

I was Baptist as a child. I had Seventh-day Adventist relatives and attended a Catholic parochial school. I wanted to be catholic, but this was dismissed by my family as a childish whim. Later, I forgot about that, mostly, and wanted to be a missionary and really dug into the Baptist faith and teen mission activities. My family ended up joining the SDA church, so I switched gears. Later, studying theology at an SDA college, I got fed up with the SDA church and looked around and ended up Catholic. I have never stopped being interested in all religions of all kinds.

I have had my share of doubts and frustrations. It seems that when you’ve had different perspectives on issues, you can ‘see’ the different sides, and honestly, some things, even very important things, in the Bible are not explicit and not clearly explained. (it was never meant to be a handbook of doctrines). Thats one reason I ended up deciding it had to be Catholic or Orthodox. EVERYONE, admittedly or not, accepts some kind of authority, even if its just that of a respected Christian friend. I wanted a connection with the teaching of the apostles that I could trust.

Very few, (I’d actually say none, as no one can know ALL there is to know about history and language and theology) of us are equipped to sift through all the issues of language, history, theology, etc to make a truly informed decision. The most accomplished scholars frequently come to different conclusions even though they studied the same materials. Those who teach that guidance and interpretation should be left to the Holy Spirit, cannot agree among themselves and have to trust that they were guided correctly regardless of others reaching wildly different conclusions.

When you look at it that way, it makes sense that God did not intend for us to ‘study’ our way to him without trustworthy guidance. So for 20 years I was Catholic.

For many reasons, too many to go into them all, I was in a really spiritually dry patch of life, and tired of all the suffering and pointlessness I saw in life, and ended up for a time practicing Buddhism. After a few years, God called me home. I’m still amazed that it happened, I wasn’t looking for that, wasn’t even (I thought) interested. So here I am. I am incredibly fortunate that my defection didn’t seem to leave many scars, my husband also returned to the Church. My children were just young enough to accept the change without too much disruption, and have both been confirmed and made their first communions.

There are still days I feel as it seems you do. I work with volunteer groups from many different denominations and even some non-religious community groups as part of my job as director of a non-profit organization. I see many good and sincere people from all different backgrounds. I will never forget the kindness and support of the Buddhist community, both as a practicing Buddhist, and as a person making the transition back to being an active Catholic.

I resolve it in my mind this way:

The Church teaches that the fullness of truth resides in the Catholic Church.

thats “fullness”, not “total sum” or “exclusive ownership”. There are other communities with some truth in them. Many of those people, even former catholics who may have been hurt or badly catechised, are doing the best they know. There is even the possibility that some who do not call themselves Christian because of ignorance or hurts, practice what truth they know and are acceptable to God. That is up to HIM. The Church has never said any specific person is in Hell.

from the Catechism:

To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood.334

“Outside the Church there is no salvation”

846
How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

      Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

847
This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

      Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience—those too may achieve eternal salvation.337

To believe that we have the fullness of truth does not condemn everyone who is not Catholic. Only God knows their hearts. A Catholic who leaves the Church places their soul in grave danger, but still, God is their judge and knows their reasons and motivation.

I hope this rambling helps

MarysRoses

 

[paarsurrey]

What if there isn’t a “one true church”?

Hi

Then you could of course come to an Ahmadi Mosque, you would be welcome. Here you would find people who love Jesus and Mary, really.

I mean no disrespect to anybody here.

Thanks

 

[dolphinlove]

Hi Patty,
We all go through the phases of not feeling like we belong, we feel alone and empty inside. This can also lead us to feel that the church is not the real faith and you begin to look around for other faiths and experimenting with different things. I know, ive been there and done that.
While i never joined another church, i did look at others, even islam, but found non of them can give me the peace i was looking for inside, i knew deep down no other church can lead me closer to God.
I think you should ask yourself a few questions, why do i feel like this? why do i feel so empty inside? is it the way i think about things, the way i approach things? Do you sometimes, when by yourself, cry and almost yell out ‘please God help me’?
I found i did a lot of this, it took me 33 years to finally feel i was home in the Catholic church, after searching and searching, when the funny thing was, i really was home all this time, but didnt appreciate it.
Ill tell you what happened to me when i did approach 2 other faiths not only outside of Catholicism, but out of Christianity all together…
First one, i was driving outside of Sydney down a highway to get to this buddist temple we have here in Australia, i thought there would be no harm in visiting, i really didnt have any intention to convert at the time, but thinking back, i was really vulnerable and could easily have been lead astray, anyway, as i was driving, we almost got there, and the front tyre of my car just blew out, i was lucky it didnt shatter the windscreen or anything, it was just the front part of the car, the whole side panel blew off, but it stopped me from going there. I was very lucky, all i had to do was change a tyre, and the car was still drivable… this was a miracle, believe me, if you saw the car… anyway, i went straight back home after that and i vowed never to go there.
Second time, i went to a mosque with a friend of mine, the first time i went, she asked me to attend this course with her, so i thought it wouldnt harm me to go, anyway, first week we went, the whole mosque was closed up tight, no way to get in etc, i felt straight away then i was not meant to be there, the feeling was that strong, i cant really explain it, but i knew i was not meant to be there, i know God was saying leave, go back to the church for help. Anyway, we ended up leaving and found out the course started the next week, silly me attended next week with my friend, but this week, i arrived about 15 minutes early and my friend wasnt there, i wasnt going to go in by myself, so i waited out in the car for her, but while i was waiting, 3 guys were approaching from down the street, they didnt quite reach me when a fight broke out, one of them got knocked out by the other 2, i was so scared, i froze, then one of them saw me in the car and approached me, something in me said start the car, start the car NOW, so i did and got out of there fast, i rang my friend and told her what happened, she said to go back and meet her there, i did, but i was so shaken up, i had to go home. You think after all this, i would stay away, but i came the third week, and made it into the course, but i had to leave, the feeling i had inside felt so wrong for being in there, i felt sick almost, and i left. I never went back there again, nor will ever go to a mosque again.
I then begged God for help not long after all this, anyway, the following couple of weeks led me to a church close to my home, not my usual one, but was about 10 min away. I then answered a advert in the local church paper saying they needed volunteers to do scripture for a local public school, so i did, that was when i knew i had made the right decision. About 2 weeks after this, i had to go and pick up some stuff from one of the ladies at another time mass, so i went to meet her, while i was there, there was a girl serving coffee, she approached me and said hello, told me about the youth group and what they did, i was immediately hooked, i have taken a big part in the group with things they do, and i have never been happier and i will never look outside the church ever again!
I hope sharing this with you will give you peace in your journey and help you approach the church with a different attitude. God loves you and doesnt want you to leave.
Always remember in the darkest hours, Jesus love you, and wants you in his church.
God bless you in your journey

 

[rick43235]

I guess I see God as someone who regarless of my religious background will welcome me home when I die…

I believe as you do. I believe that the Catholic Church is but one of the many roads to God. I do not believe that God would turn his back on one of his children simply because they worship him in a different manner.

 

[PattyPryor]

Thanks everyone for your reply.

I am VERY VERY happy to be Catholic. I made the Deans list at Silver Lake College (a catholic college) and well I guess I never thought I was so smart to get As. Not that I didn’t apply myself through all my years in school and such I just had it harder. God surely wants me to go to college to get a degree in Theology. He is helping me with my courses.

I have had a hard time this last few months. I’m in a class called religions in America. Although interesting I was dreading the Mormonism talk.

I have a hard time with the CDS Church. The first missionary I ever had sucked me in with his charm and the others with thier charms.

I’m lonely a lot. I’m 27 and wish so baddly to be married. I see families around me. I try not to want it but it still is hard.

I have friends in the Mormon church and it is so hard to talk to them about religion. I pray my friend Holly will find the Catholic Church.

I was volurable and the mormon church took me under its wing, The sad thing is I went to mass tonight and felt horrible because my other LDS friend invited me to church tomorrow and I said yes.

I want to back out. The Mormon church is boring and is so false. It scares me to be there because I am there for the friendships.

I pray to God all the time and I just feel like the Holy spirirt is telling me not to go

I dont know what to do

I know I’m a confusing person but the mormon church hurt me because I never felt I could truly be Catholic again… I keep trying though

 

[dolphinlove]

Your friend is just trying to rope you in, dont go.
Its simple, pick up the phone, call them and tell them you have decided not to go since you are catholic, and dont feel comfortable going to another church.

As for your desire to get married, have you really thought about the reasons you want to get married? Rushing in and getting married is not a good thing. Take your time and ensure your with the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Im 35 and not married, and i dont feel the urge to rush down the isle. I have Jesus, and im happy and content with that.
Patty, please talk to a priest, he will be able to help you out a lot.

 

[jttierney1]

I have been delt with a lot in my 27 years of life. I grew up catholic was mormon 2 times met the Duggar Family (with 17 children) and am a Catholic again

I was thinking in church tonight. How if there isn’t a “one true church”

even growing up I never felt like Catholics were the only ones favored or loved more by God. I know the Catholic Church says they are the “one true church” which is so since it traces itself back to peter “the rock”

I keep searching for this true church and I jut don’t think it exists anymore. This is personal because I will forever remain a Catholic but so many say that thier church is true.

I guess I see God as someone who regarless of my religious background will welcome me home when I die…

I’ve been there man! But the more I studied scripture and the early church the more I realized how wrong I was.

1. The Church doesn’t teach that.
   As Catholics, we don’t teach or say that we are “the only ones favored or loved more by God.” God loves each and every one of us, be it Jew or Muslim, Catholic or Protestant, Hindu or Buddist. what the Church teaches is that this is the way Jesus Christ set it up. We are not “better” than the person down the street. However, there are graces that can be received through the church that help us along the way.
2. The early church was Catholic.
3. The early church was organized with bishops, elders/priests, and deacons.
4. The Church is one. John 17:20-21
   4a) The Church is apostolic. 1Tim4:14
   4b) the Church is Truth. 1Tim 3:15
   4c) The Church is undivided 1Cor1:10

 

[paarsurrey]

1. The Church doesn’t teach that.
   As Catholics, we don’t teach or say that we are “the only ones favored or loved more by God.” God loves each and every one of us, be it Jew or Muslim, Catholic or Protestant, Hindu or Buddist. what the Church teaches is that this is the way Jesus Christ set it up. We are not “better” than the person down the street.

Hi

I appreciate and like the above approach, this way harmony and respect among religions could be established.

Thanks

 

[PattyPryor]

Your friend is just trying to rope you in, dont go.
Its simple, pick up the phone, call them and tell them you have decided not to go since you are catholic, and dont feel comfortable going to another church.

As for your desire to get married, have you really thought about the reasons you want to get married? Rushing in and getting married is not a good thing. Take your time and ensure your with the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Im 35 and not married, and i dont feel the urge to rush down the isle. I have Jesus, and im happy and content with that.
Patty, please talk to a priest, he will be able to help you out a lot.

I have talked to a Priest a lot. My desire to get married is rooted inside of me. I am a natureal mother I will continue to go to my prist thank you for advice:thumbsup:

 

[puzzleannie]

if there is no one true Church, then Jesus lied, and it does not matter in the least. If what Jesus said and did in establishing his Church is true, and his insistence on unity is true, then logically there can be only one true Church, and the Catholic Church is the only one who can claim to be so.

 

[RebeccaJ]

You sound like you are on top of things. And I think it is ok to be proud of your accomplishments.

There are times during my 22 years of marriage that I have felt incredibly lonely. It is a human emotion that no one is immune to.

I understand wanting to keep your friends, no matter what religion they are. It is also important to be true to yourself. And continue to trust God.

Rebecca

 

[richardwy]

Anyone can find out what happened during the first 400 years of Christianity.

After that is done, all else falls in place.

First things first.

 

[Charlie_Zeaiter]

… I guess I see God as someone who regarless of my religious background will welcome me home when I die…

Ahhh… but that’s the beauty and confidence of our faith; You don’t have to wait until you die to be welcomed home by God.

I’ve seen it somewhere in these forums… “Rome, sweet home”.

For me, it’s all about the valid priesthood; To have a priest who can say “This is my body” (in the Eucharist) and who can say “I absolve you of your sins” (in Confession). I don’t think there is any other church who has the confidence to say this. And if they did, they wouldn’t have the apostolic succession which I think is important for a valid priesthood.