What's the point of being Catholic?

[safa92]

I love being Catholic and I’m never converting. It is the full truth. My problem comes when talking about salvation. If “there is no salvation outside the Catholic church”, why have I heard so many sources say “it depends”? I do side on the first position even though it seems heartless. The idea of “if you have never heard the gospel…” seems to hold no water considering the internet is a thing. So then I hear an updated version saying “depending on the state of the persons conscience when they hear it…”.
*Bishop Barron talking to Ben Shapiro on salvation:

So you can be atheist and get into heaven? Sorry, I don’t buy that. How can you reject Gods love on earth and still go to heaven? …and now we come back to my original question: What’s the point in being Catholic?

 

[Lou2U]

As per Catholic Church teaching, no-one knows who goes to heaven and it is better not to make assumptions about the matter.

Your argument basically boils down to “if I play by the rules all my life and go to heaven, and someone does not and goes to heaven, what’s the point in playing by the rules?”. The point is because you believe them to be true.

 

[Fauken]

The idea of “if you have never heard the gospel…” seems to hold no water considering the internet is a thing.

You do realize that not everyone has access to the Internet, right?

 

[TheLittleLady]

If “there is no salvation outside the Catholic church”,

Sit down and read the entire article in the Catechism that addresses this, it is:

PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO
THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

ARTICLE 9
“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”

Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 1 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 3 ARTICLE 9 PARAGRAPH 3 (you may need to use the "

Here are a couple of paragraphs:

"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

[848] "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

 

[powerless]

What’s the point in being Catholic?

That’s a question each of us has to answer for ourselves…but it part of our answer is that we are seen as greater in the eyes of God than non-Catholics, believers or not, we might want to work on the Christ-like virtue of humility in ourselves before casting judgment or even wondering about others.

 

[TheLittleLady]

As you know, this sort if thinking is so common to us that Christ addressed it at least twice that I can recall, the parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the man who hired late workers in the vineyard. This feeling has a name in some circles, it is “elder brother syndrome”.

 

[TheLittleLady]

You do realize that not everyone has access to the Internet, right?

And on top of that Christ did not command us to "make sure the Gospel is printed in book and later available on the internet so people can come to Salvation.

Christ commanded his Apostles to “go into the world and preach the Gospel”. St Paul further clarified that in the body of Christ some are Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and some Teachers.

Back to Christ’s own words, he said “let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify my Father in heaven” and “By this will all men know you are my disciples that you love one another”. He commanded us to take in the stranger, to love our enemies, to visit the prisoner, to comfort the brokenhearted, to give food and drink and clothes.

Honestly, heartbreakingly, there are Christians who sit back and expect people to bootstrap their own salvation. They go even farther by exhibiting to the world unkindness, hate, snobbery, cruelty, stinginess, how will people see those works and then want to follow that person?

 

[safa92]

I’m talking about the developed world. If someone has access to Catholic teaching, and they still reject it, how can that be? People who actively choose to live a life of sin. I feel society had a feeling of “If I’m a good person, I’ll get to heaven.”. How can we make a case for Catholicism if they don’t care?

 

[safa92]

Basically, yes. However, that’s not my perspective. When it comes to talking about it to others, does it not seem that that would be theirs?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

So you can be atheist and get into heaven? Sorry, I don’t buy that.

It’s not your call to make. If God wants to save an atheist, He will do so through His mercy and by His own methods. It’s neither your business nor your concern, unless you choose to pray for the atheist with the hope of helping him get to Heaven one way or another.

What’s the point in being Catholic?

To build a loving, ongoing relationship with our God through the best vehicle possible, the Catholic Church, and in so doing to lay the groundwork for getting to be with God forever via the easiest path possible if we do it right.

If your goal was to get to the top of a mountain, and there was one path that was easier and had lots of helps along the way, would you take that path, or would you take one of the six more difficult paths that didn’t have all the helps and had more dangers and pitfalls and were less likely to result in you achieving your goal?

 

[PennyinCanada]

I feel society had a feeling of “If I’m a good person, I’ll get to heaven.”. How can we make a case for Catholicism if they don’t care?

This is the question you want answered, isn’t it?

 

[TheLittleLady]

By how we lead our lives.

Every day when I wake up, I pray “Dear God, give me the strength to represent You in every encounter this day, in every action, in every word.” WE are the advertising agents for Christianity, not a book, not a writing, not a website, you and I are it.

This song always makes me consider my life:

 

[edtaylor51]

Just a hunch, but if you make it to heaven, you will be wholly unconcerned with how others made it there with you - you will be in a full state of grace in the presence of God and happy others are too.

 

[Tarsier]

So you can be atheist and get into heaven? Sorry, I don’t buy that. How can you reject Gods love on earth and still go to heaven?

This is begging the question. Why would we suppose that every atheist “rejects” God’s love?

 

[safa92]

It is definitely a part of it. I’m not asking this question from a feeling of unfairness. I’m saying, if the Catholic church has a position that seems lenient on the path to heaven, how can we have any credibility when we say the path is to heaven is narrow?

 

[safa92]

I suppose that part of the question is coming from personal experience. My roommate (who says she likes buddha but she doesn’t practice anything) was having a a discussion with me a bit ago. She lives a promiscuous lifestyle to say the least. She’s also very pro-choice and she asked me if I thought she was going to hell. From her perspective, her actions are fine because our definition of morality is different. I know I can’t judge her heart, but how can I answer that?

 

[LeahPaz]

I have a question. Is the church essentially saying, in regards to the salvation of those outside the Catholic Church, that don’t know Christ, through no fault of their own, : “we don’t know, it’s up to God.”

This is what I understand, although I may be simplifying it too much… but I pretty much already had begun to believe this (that it’s not right for me to judge or condemn others) I also think it’s wrong to make a judgement and say “so and so is going to hell because ______”… because we are not God.

Truly salvation is in the hands of the Lord, not in man’s hands. If God is just, good, pure, righteous, etc. which He is. The Bible says that He does not want that any should perish. The attributes of God and His goodness are actually beyond human understanding. Even the Bible declares that the love of Christ surpasses all knowledge.

Also if a person truly loves God, I think they would still evangelize and want to be used as a vessel of mercy to others, a vessel for God’s grace and his goodness.

By the way, there is a recording of the famous Billy Graham saying something like this, like what the Catholic church teaches about salvation. I can find it for whoever is interested.

 

[neophyte]

I know I can’t judge her heart, but how can I answer that?

In addition to the catechism passages referenced above, I suggest careful study of and meditation on the Church’s teaching on moral culpability.

 

[Fauken]

I know I can’t judge her heart, but how can I answer that?

I’d like to think I’d say, “That’s not my call, but I hope you don’t end up in Hell.” It would be the height of hatred to wish Hell on someone.

 

[therese1998]

You do you. Let someone else be themselves. It’s really not your business how, when or under what conditions someone else gets into Heaven.

As per Catholic Church teaching, no-one knows who goes to heaven and it is better not to make assumptions about the matter.

This.

You do realize that not everyone has access to the Internet, right?

This is rapidly becoming a very rare occurrence, particularly in America where, virtually, all libraries have computers and internet access. If those on welfare can have phones and internet access, so can pretty much anyone. In areas without Internet access, globally, the Catholic Church (and the Protestant Church) is virtually everywhere and gives copies of the gospel for free. It is unlikely, though not impossible, for anyone to say they have not been exposed to the Gospel.

You should be Catholic because it is the Church that God established on Earth for us men and for our salvation. If you love Him, you choose what He gave you, you don’t try to love Him in the way that seems easiest or "coolest"to you. Having said that, consider this. I want to go from my recliner (birth) to the refrigerator where my lunch (reward!) is waiting for me. I can get out of my recliner, walk the 10 feet to the kitchen and open my refrigerator. I have my reward! (I equate this to the RCC). I could also get out of my recliner, do a few chores around the house, then make my way to the kitchen and my lunch (I equate this to other religions that have much of the Truth found in Catholicism, but not the fullness of that Truth). I could also get out of my recliner, start and finish my day including a different lunch and figure on getting my reward lunch tomorrow (I equate this to other religions that may have some Truth, but are far from the teachings of Christ as revealed in their fullness in the RCC). I could get out of my recliner, drive to the airport, fly to the most distant country I can find, sample all of the lunches that I possibly can and in the last days and moments of my life, fly back to that home and to that lunch in the refrigerator that my loving father has kept safe for my return all this time (I equate this to someone who rejects God all of their life and then make a deathbed conversion). All choices ultimately resulted in getting my reward, but which one gave the best chance of receiving your reward? You can be Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, New Age, etc and still get to Heaven, but the distractions along the way, as well as the lack of signposts (i.e. sacraments) are as likely to keep you OUT of Heaven than get you into it.