Comparing the Pope and Theosophy

[Budge]

Question for all of you.

Does being Christian matter?

I never said there was no such thing as a good person in false religions. God will judge them according to what they have been given. The man in the Amazonian jungle who has never heard the gospel...would be a case of that. The Dalai Lama who surely through his world travels and education has encountered the gospel would NOT even though the Catholic Church more and more seems to see his salvation as a given since he is so "kind" and "good"

The problem is where does this stuff lead...

...."it doesnt matter if you are a Christian or not as long as you are a "good" person"

Being good doesnt save anyone.

Salvation is in Christ.

[Dave]

[quote name='Budge' date='Jan 4 2005, 06:16 PM'] Question for all of you.

Does being Christian matter?



[/quote]
Of course it does. Without the grace of knowing God through His Church and the opportunity to receive the sacraments, it makes it harder for people to be saved. That doesn't mean that non-Christians are definitely, without-a-doubt damned, but not knowing Christ, even if one isn't culpably ignorant, doesn't help. We have to realize, however, that God gives everyone sufficient graces to be saved up until the point of death.

[quote]I never said there was no such thing as a good person in false religions. God will judge them according to what they have been given. The man in the Amazonian jungle who has never heard the gospel...would be a case of that. The Dalai Lama who surely through his world travels and education has encountered the gospel would NOT even though the Catholic Church more and more seems to see his salvation as a given since he is so "kind" and "good"[/quote]

It's not for us to judge whether or not the Dalai Lama has truly encountered the Gospel and would thus go to hell if he died tonight. Only God could know that. And the Catholic Church has never made any kind of judgment on whether the Dalai Lama would be saved or damned. In addition, the Church has never taught that all one needs to do to get to heaven is to be kind and good.

[quote]The problem is where does this stuff lead...

...."it doesnt matter if you are a Christian or not as long as you are a "good" person"

Being good doesnt save anyone.[/quote]

Again, the Church has never taught that it does. Nor does it teach that being a good person is what truly matters.

[quote]Salvation is in Christ.[/quote]

That's exactly what the Catholic Church teaches, Budge. Please read what we say and think about it instead of repeating the same old misconceptions that we've called you on many times before.

[thessalonian]

Budge,

Now were getting somewhere. You did a pretty good job of stating your belief in invincible ignorance. That's Catholic doctrine. hate ta tell ya. .

The fact is the Pope has never said the Dali or anybody else is going to heaven. Neither has he said they are going to heaven. He just takes the position that it is not our place to judge those in ignorance as to whether their ignorance is culpable or not. Do you happen to have a tape recording of what was said to the Dali regarding the Gospel. The exact minute second of the day that he had it preached correctly to him so that he was damned if he rejected it? Do you know full well that he had it preached correctly such that he was damned in rejecting it. I don't. You just assume without knowing. That's judging and it's the type of judging we are commanded not to do.

Yes, being Christian matters alot. We don't believe in OSAS and thus believe that the pagan who is in ignorance, though he may be rigtheous and God fearing, needs the daily grace of God in Christianity, in the sacraments, to assure his path to the kingdom of heaven. Further it is sad to leave someone in ignorance, stuggling with things that are contrary to God's law which do harm to them and those whom they love. Not to mention the peace they have in knowing Christ.

Blessings

Edited January 4, 2005 by thessalonian

[Apotheoun]

The Catholic Church never sees the salvation of any man as a given; rather, salvation is a gift of God, and so anyone who is saved is saved by God's grace alone, which necessarily flows to him from the Catholic Church, even if he is invincibly ignorant of this fact.

As far as interreligious dialogue is concerned, it is focused primarily on promoting the common good of society in a pluralistic age, that is, it is meant to lessen tensions between groups and individuals and promote peace in an imperfect world. Secondarily, it is an attempt to discover those [i]goods[/i] present within the existing religious tradition of a culture, in order to promote that which is compatible with the Gospel, and in the process to use those [i]goods[/i], which are a true [i]preparatio evangelica[/i], in order to bring people to the fullness of truth that is found in Christ's Catholic Church alone. Interreligious dialogue is never to be thought of as a substitute for evangelization, because spreading the good news of Christ is, and always will be, the Church's primary purpose.

As Pope John Paul II has written, "Christ is the one Mediator between God and man and the sole Redeemer of the world." [Apostolic Letter [u]Tertio Millennio Adveniente[/u], no. 38]

God bless,
Todd