"The Dalai Lama has said that Western Christians and Muslims should embrace the teachings of compassion and peace that can be found in their own religious traditions, rather than convert to Buddhism."
Interesting.
The following question was sent to me in an email. Rather than answer it myself, I thought I’d present it to my readers. I’ll send your responses by email. 🙂
"you seem like a very intelligent man. far more so than i. do you know why we – christians, i mean – succeeded [sic] from the catholic church? please look into this because the catholic doctorine [sic] is about as far from the truth as you can get. i implore you to pray and meditate on the truth and it will be revealed to you. Luke 8:21 John 1:1 John 4:23" – K K
Here are the verses he recommends (taken from the ESV, a Protestant translation).
"But he answered them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’" – Luke 8:21
I assume this is a reference to Mary.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." – John 1:1
When have I ever disputed this?
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."
I guess this implication is that Catholic’s don’t worship in spirit and truth.
So, what say you, gentle readers? How shall I respond to my critic?
Because of comments generated by a recent post, I thought it might be good to resurrect an old post.
After some conversations with knowledgeable folks, it seems there are indeed some differences between Arminian and Catholic soteriologies. Here’s how I’d formulate Catholic teaching (with thanks to Jimmy Akin and Wikipedia). I cannot guarantee it is free of error.
Total Deparavity: God gave man free will so that we might choose freely to love Him. Unfortunately, the Fall impaired our free will. Grace restores our unfallen goodness, if only for a time (i.e until we sin).
Semi-Conditional Election: God has told us through Scripture that there is a guaranteed way to be saved. We must accept Jesus Christ by our own free will and live by His commandments. However, God also saves whomever He wills, and we, as mere mortals, have no right to judge which individuals will and will not receive eternal life. We may only say that certain actions are contrary to God’s law and unpleasing to Him.
Unlimited Atonement With Limited Intent: Jesus Christ died for all mankind, but the saving grace He made available is only guaranteed to be efficacious if we accept Jesus Christ by our own free will and live by His commandments. By opening ourselves to grace through faith, we become members of the elect who shall receive eternal life.
Irresistable Grace: The sacraments of initiation, baptism and confirmation, confer grace unconditionally. That is, one need not already be in a state of grace to receive the grace conferred by these sacraments.
Resistable Grace: Grace is not forced upon us. We open ourselves to grace and by doing so restore the free will we were intended to inherit from our progenitors. Grace is conferred conditionally in the Eucharist and annointing of the sick. We must already be in a state of grace to participate in those sacraments. For instance, if we take the Eucharist unworthily, we eat and drink condemnation upon ourselves.
Uncertain Perseverance: Membership in the elect is not made permanent at initiation. God gives us sustaining grace, spiritual sustenance if you will, if we ask for it and through sacraments. However, there are choices we can make (i.e sins we can commit) that separate us from God and remove us from the company of the elect. Like Paul, we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling and strive to finish the good race. We must also seek sustaining grace through praying, reading scripture, receiving the sacraments, etc. In particular, the sacrament of confession restores us to a state of grace if are truly contrite and repentant. There is no such thing as "once saved, always saved" according to the Church. We were saved by Christ’s salvific act. We are being saved as we grow in faith. We hope to persevere to the end and be saved at the judgement.
Questions? Comments? I’m not sure where to put marriage and holy orders. Any suggestions?
A fellow by the name of Charles recently commented on an old purgatory post of mine that has long since sunken below the horizon. He says:
“Why do Catholics use 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 to prove Purgatory? It couldn’t be plainer in the text that the fire will reveal all works on ‘the Day’. The Day of Christ at judgment. ‘ The Day’ is too obvious but surprisingly overlooked by Catholics.”
My first reaction would be to say that Catholics believe in two judgments, personal and universal. We are faced with personal judgment when we die. The universal comes when Christ returns to Earth to judge all of mankind. On “the Day”, that is the day of our judgment, our works are tested by fire. That fire is not literal, of course, but suffering of some kind is implied. I see no contradiction whatsoever regarding purgation and judgment.
What are your thoughts?
Jimmy Akin recetly wrote a post about homosexuality and the priesthood. An interesting tangential argument ensued in the comments. The basic gist (for those too lazy to read for themselves) is that there was some debate as to whether Protestants are saved or not. I say they are, others disagreed.
Lo and behold, today's column at Catholic News Agency addresses this topic. Continue reading