When do you know too much?

[sadie2723]

This should be a fun one. Looking at our Protestant brothers and sisters, the Catholic Church has long maintained that they too may enter the kingdom of Heaven. The basis for this appears to be rooted in the idea that they are followers of Christ who have never been exposed to the fullness of the One Holy Catholic Church. So, here is my question.

As we have a lot of Protestant brothers and sisters here on the forum, when have they been exposed to such a degree that they need the fullness of the church? Or is this a personal matter?

Just a thought.

 

[Jeanette_L]

Is it just exposure to the truth of Catholicism, or is it being convinced of the truth of it and then rejecting that truth? It seems I have heard it presented that way by either Fr. Corapi or Fr. Groeschel that it is the convinced person who rejects it that is in peril.

What do you think?

 

[sadie2723]

Jeanette L:

Is it just exposure to the truth of Catholicism, or is it being convinced of the truth of it and then rejecting that truth? It seems I have heard it presented that way by either Fr. Corapi or Fr. Groeschel that it is the convinced person who rejects it that is in peril.

What do you think?

Thanks for the clarification. I am going to look into it myself. That is really interesting. I feel better! Thanks.

 

[Batjacboy]

sadie2723:

This should be a fun one. Looking at our Protestant brothers and sisters, the Catholic Church has long maintained that they too may enter the kingdom of Heaven. The basis for this appears to be rooted in the idea that they are followers of Christ who have never been exposed to the fullness of the One Holy Catholic Church. So, here is my question.

As we have a lot of Protestant brothers and sisters here on the forum, when have they been exposed to such a degree that they need the fullness of the church? Or is this a personal matter?

Just a thought.

Good one, Brad.

As you and Jeanette have indicated, the question is: at what point does one go from being *invincibly * ignorant (unavoidable/not responsible) to *vincibly * ignorant (responsible)?

God knows exactly when that transition occurs. So, in the long run, it ends up being between the individual and God.

 

[Jeanette_L]

And then there are those who at one time knew the truth and then become deceived and later reject what they once knew. What about them? It can get complicated.

 

[Batjacboy]

Here’s a great article on the topic, by our very own Jimmy Akin.

 

[LilyM]

Jeanette L:

Is it just exposure to the truth of Catholicism, or is it being convinced of the truth of it and then rejecting that truth? It seems I have heard it presented that way by either Fr. Corapi or Fr. Groeschel that it is the convinced person who rejects it that is in peril.

What do you think?

It seems odd to me that you’d think a religion was true and not follow it (or at least not bother to convert, even if you don’t follow it completely perfectly)

 

[Jeanette_L]

LilyM:

It seems odd to me that you’d think a religion was true and not follow it (or at least not bother to convert, even if you don’t follow it completely perfectly)

This is where the will comes into play. Some people have the conviction of truth but are unwilling to submit to it, for any number of reasons. Some because of pride, or fear perhaps. I know when I was confronted with finding Catholicism to be true, I was frightened. It is a completely foreign culture for me. And I also knew that I would experience persecution. Now some may say that the type of persecution I might experience is minimal because it is basically only rejection from my family and fellow Christians, and not life threatening, but it is enough that I was hesitant in committing myself to what I knew in my heart was true.

But, grace allowed me to make the choice for truth. Some people just walk away because the price is too high for them. Like the parable of the rich man who was told to sell everything and he walked away very sad. He knew Christ was the truth, but he didn’t want to pay the price of following.

 

[LilyM]

Jeanette L:

This is where the will comes into play. Some people have the conviction of truth but are unwilling to submit to it, for any number of reasons. Some because of pride, or fear perhaps. I know when I was confronted with finding Catholicism to be true, I was frightened. It is a completely foreign culture for me. And I also knew that I would experience persecution. Now some may say that the type of persecution I might experience is minimal because it is basically only rejection from my family and fellow Christians, and not life threatening, but it is enough that I was hesitant in committing myself to what I knew in my heart was true.

But, grace allowed me to make the choice for truth. Some people just walk away because the price is too high for them. Like the parable of the rich man who was told to sell everything and he walked away very sad. He knew Christ was the truth, but he didn’t want to pay the price of following.

Fair enough - I guess I’ve been blessed to be brought up in a Catholic family and never thought about how hard it could be for someone coming into the Faith from outside. Hats off to you :tiphat:

One only hopes that the rich young man, like yourself, at some point did find the courage to choose Christ in spite of the initial reluctance and difficulties.