Why should one be a Catholic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lookaround
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lookaround

Guest
hey everyone
Its been about a month since I attended a RCC or identified myself as Catholic.
Outside of questioning why I ever became Catholic this has been an easy change.

I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?

(please understand this is not a bait thread but something I have actually been thinking about)

From what I understand, under current Catholic theology whether or not one is a Catholic doesn’t really matter (unless you feel God calling you to be/remain Catholic)

thank you in advance
 
lookaround said:
hey everyone
Its been about a month since I attended a RCC or identified myself as Catholic.
Outside of questioning why I ever became Catholic this has been an easy change.

I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?

(please understand this is not a bait thread but something I have actually been thinking about)

From what I understand, under current Catholic theology whether or not one is a Catholic doesn’t really matter (unless you feel God calling you to be/remain Catholic)

thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Hello lookaround.

Sorry, but your current understanding of theology is wrong. It matters very much whether you’re Catholic or not. Try reading CH 1, article 9 of the Catechismscborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm, ‘I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church.’

Possibly you’ve been listening to somebody who dislikes the Church and/or is trying to mislead you?
 
lookaround said:
hey everyone
Its been about a month since I attended a RCC or identified myself as Catholic.
Outside of questioning why I ever became Catholic this has been an easy change.

I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?

(please understand this is not a bait thread but something I have actually been thinking about)

From what I understand, under current Catholic theology whether or not one is a Catholic doesn’t really matter (unless you feel God calling you to be/remain Catholic)

thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Under current Catholic theology God calls EVERYONE to become/remain Catholic. This is so whether or not you feel that call - feelings are the most unreliable of guides.

Invincible ignorance may excuse some of those who never become Catholic - if this is truly through no fault of their own. Even that is doubtful in this day and age when accurate information is more readily available than any other.

It cannot (very extreme circumstances aside) excuse those who have become Catholic and then leave - such are very likely either not ignorant, or if they are it is through their own fault for not troubling to learn about their faith as they should.
 
lookaround said:
hey everyone
Its been about a month since I attended a RCC or identified myself as Catholic.
Outside of questioning why I ever became Catholic this has been an easy change.

I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?

(please understand this is not a bait thread but something I have actually been thinking about)

From what I understand, under current Catholic theology whether or not one is a Catholic doesn’t really matter (unless you feel God calling you to be/remain Catholic)

thank you in advance
Click to expand...
I think the reason one should be a Catholic is summed up in one word…fullness. But that rationale does no good unless one recognizes that the Church is indeed the fullness of Christ. The precursor to that understanding is the acknowledgment of the fact that Christ built only one Church, not many. As Dr. Kreeft says, when Christ returns to marry His Bride, He’s not going to be a polygamist. While there is a spiritual (invisible) nature to the Church, just like all living things with body and soul, there is also a physical nature to it…it follows that the Church He built was to be visible, else why bother to build it if none can recognize it? Add to that the promise He made that He would be with Her until the end of the age, and the logical conclusion is that the visible, authentic Church is still alive and kicking on earth today since its construction by Christ 2000 years ago. The Catholic Church is the only one that meets that credential, and to me, that should atleast kickstart someone into an honest exploration of Her, wherein they will find that fullness.

Once one sees these things, it becomes clear that it does matter that one become and remain Catholic. Until one sees it, and even when they do and accept it, what matters most is that one keeps seeking Christ all the days of their life. If they do that with deep and true humility and sincerity, that is more important than official membership in His Church. But I don’t really see how this deep humility and seeking of Christ cannot lead to membership in His Church…although C.S. Lewis does come to mind.

Blessings.
 
lookaround said:
I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?
Click to expand...
There is only ONE possible answer to that question: Because the Catholic Church is the “one true Church established by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ’” (what other religion could even *attempt *to make this claim? (the list is small) What other religion even *does *make this claim? (the list is smaller) What other religion can *prove *this claim (the list goes to zero) ).

BTW, there is really no such thing as “current Catholic theology.” Catholic theology does not change with the times. It is eternal and unchanging (though our limited understanding of its concepts may grow - but not change - over time).
 
lookaround said:
hey everyone
Its been about a month since I attended a RCC or identified myself as Catholic.
Outside of questioning why I ever became Catholic this has been an easy change.

I still sometimes think about the Catholic faith and have been wondering according to current Catholic theology, why exactly should one be a Catholic?

(please understand this is not a bait thread but something I have actually been thinking about)

From what I understand, under current Catholic theology whether or not one is a Catholic doesn’t really matter (unless you feel God calling you to be/remain Catholic)

thank you in advance
Click to expand...
I have to ask. Where did you get your information on “current Catholic theology”?
 
Let me rephrase your question: Why should one be open to receiving all the revelation and guidance and grace that God has made available to us on earth?

Because that’s what the Catholic Church is.
 
LilyM said:
Under current Catholic theology God calls EVERYONE to become/remain Catholic. This is so whether or not you feel that call - feelings are the most unreliable of guides.

Invincible ignorance may excuse some of those who never become Catholic - if this is truly through no fault of their own. Even that is doubtful in this day and age when accurate information is more readily available than any other.

It cannot (very extreme circumstances aside) excuse those who have become Catholic and then leave - such are very likely either not ignorant, or if they are it is through their own fault for not troubling to learn about their faith as they should.
Click to expand...
if I may ask you a question regarding your theology
Do you believe that anyone who has heard someone say “the Catholic Church is the One True Church” is no longer ignorant?
 
paul_c said:
I have to ask. Where did you get your information on “current Catholic theology”?
Click to expand...
other Catholics and I think your catechism teaches the same thing…
and if you don’t mind me asking
do you believe their is salvation for non-RC?
 
There is a huge difference between the Catechism/Church teaching that nonCatholics, and indeed non-Christians MAY be saved, and the relativistic idea that therefore it doesn’t really matter if one is Catholic or not since one ‘may’ be saved if non-Catholic anyway.

And while a person who heard (once) the statement, “the Catholic Church is the one true church”, and never heard anything more is certainly ignorant of what exactly the Church is, very few people hear ONLY this one statement (and nothing more). Most hear the statement, and are offered the opportunity to go on line to check out the catechism, check out the Vatican web site, check out sites like Catholic answers, go to your local parish, talk to your local priest, etc. The idea isn’t that you go to ONE web site or talk to ONE Catholic and, hey, if THEY say, "no worries, you needn’t bother as we’re all brothers and sisters no matter what our faith’, you say, “Well, the CATHOLICS SAY I need not become Catholic.”

I mean, you wouldn’t expect somebody to go to say one of Dr. Phil’s books and then pass themselves as now knowing everything Dr. Phil knows. . .or even, knowing everything that all DOCTORS know because heck, you read Dr. Phil’s book and he’s a doctor, therefore ALL doctors must say X and it MUST be true. . .
 
btw
I am sorry if saying “current Catholic theology” is offensive
that was not my intent.

would it be less offensive to say post-Vatican II understanding?
 
Not exactly. You see, the Church never changed its ‘position’ so to speak. The Church 'post Vatican 2" is the same as the Church 'pre Vatican 2". Vatican 2 was called not to ‘change the teachings’ but rather to deepen and explore those teachings in light of the many changes that were being made by mostly Protestant Christians.

You see, until 1930 all Christian churches–Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant–taught that contraception was a grave evil. In 1930 the ANglican Church at its Lambeth conference declared that contraception ‘might’ not be evil under ‘grave necessity’. . .less than 30 years later, virtually all protestant churches quietly signed onto the contraception, divorce, and abortion-permitting ‘train’. And the Church was addressing not only this huge societal change by Protestant Christians, but other societal changes as well. . .some which stayed and some which passed. At the time of Vatican 2, the last ‘boomers’ were being born; the schools had been filled almost to bursting–but then as they aged and before the boomlet, school enrollments plummeted. At the start of Vatican 2 most middle-class and upper class mothers were married and SAHM (stay at home mothers); a decade or two later and the majority of them worked outside the home at least part-time. Wars had decimated the world twice in the 20th century on a global scale and locally were intense. The media was booming, people were able to get almost instant and almost 24/7 news --only a couple of decades later came the Internet. . .leisure time has increased in some ways and shrunk in others, etc. etc.

So don’t be thinking that post Vatican 2 means a change in doctrine/dogma. Deepening understanding, yes. Change. . .no way.
 
meigui98 said:
I guess cause that will make you a real person
Click to expand...
Catholics don’t have any exclusive claim to being “real persons”
40.png
meigui98:
and live a happy life.
Click to expand...
hmm…joyful, perhaps. but happy? quite possibly no. Picking up our crosses and following Him leads always to spiritual joy, but infrequently to worldly happiness.

Unless by “happy” you meant spiritual joy?
 
lookaround said:
other Catholics and I think your catechism teaches the same thing…
and if you don’t mind me asking
do you believe their is salvation for non-RC?
Click to expand...
No th catechism doesn’t teach that there is no advantage to being a Catholic. It in fact says that all who get to heaven do so through the Catholic Church. As for other Catholics saying that there is no advantage to being a Catholic, they are poorly catechized.

Can there be salvation for a non Catholic. Sure. If they are baptized legitimately and stay in the state of Grace from that point forward, they can be saved. But that is very difficult to do without sacramental grace, particularly from the eucharist and reconciliation.

There are two fundamental advantages to being Catholic. The first is access to the life givng sacraments, the Second is access to the full teaching on Christ and salvation. You can get those no where else.
 
paul_c said:
There are two fundamental advantages to being Catholic. The first is access to the life givng sacraments, the Second is access to the full teaching on Christ and salvation. You can get those no where else.
Click to expand...
If the first is sacraments
What is the full teachings on Christ and salvation that I am missing?
 
lookaround said:
If the first is sacraments
What is the full teachings on Christ and salvation that I am missing?
Click to expand...
The Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth as passed down by the Apostles, Where your views vary from that, is where you are varying from the truth.
 
lookaround said:
weird I thought it was by grace…
Click to expand...
Yes, it is Grace, but Jesus transmits that Grace through the sacraments administered by his Church, hence the statement that if you are saved, it is through the Church.
 
paul_c said:
The Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth as passed down by the Apostles, Where your views vary from that, is where you are varying from the truth.
Click to expand...
that really doesn’t answer my question
it just kinda makes a circle…

edit- I understand your position but what you said is only an answer you can give to other Catholics who believe the same thing you do. Its not apologetics.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top