[quote:1ybibwy0]Of course, there are a long list of things God does that I am unable to explain.[/quote:1ybibwy0]

Yes, you are right, John. There are a lot of things that God can do that we can never understand.

With this knowledge that God can do amazing things beyond on our comprehension, how can any Christian say that they know for sure that another person is going to hell? I mean, you do not know what was on that other person’s heart or what God knows about that person. I know this may sound ridiculous, but there [i:1ybibwy0]is[/i:1ybibwy0] the possibilty that Adolf Hitler is in heaven. I mean, it is probably a very, very small probability, but my point is that God is the one who is in charge and has much more power than us. I think for us to try and limit God’s saving power is ridiculous. We can’t make the rules about God, we can only try to understand him.

That’s what I do not understand about people who subscribe to the Bible-alone beliefs. I mean, not only is it not biblical, but who are we to limit God to a set of books? God is not found only in the pages of Scripture, but in people and creation.

God is limitless as is his power. God can choose to save anyone he wants as well as reveal himself in ways other than paper and ink.

Hi Luke Fan, welcome to the website. ” title=”Very Happy” />

I know that during Vatican II the definition of “church” was expanded to mean everyone in the Christian body even those non-Catholic. So when we say the phrase “there is no salvation outside the Church” we mean there is no salvation without Jesus which other Christian groups do have in one way or another.

Now there are exceptions of course because there are people on this earth who never will have a chance to know Jesus and therefore God will not hold that against them.

The best I can find in the Catechism on a quick look is paragraph 161.

I will look later as well, but I think the documents of Vatican II would be a better resource than the Catechism.

nordskoven, I find what you write to be fascinating and very insightful though I have to read it more carefully than most of the posts.

I think one part of our faith is the [b:2jy3ef66]Act of Perfect Contrition[/b:2jy3ef66] (not perfect act of contrition). This is where you are wholly sorry and repentant of your sin because you have offended God and because you love him above everything else (not just because you’re scared of hell). You admit your sin, your sorrow, your resolve to do penance and avoid sin.

According to the Church (and I may be wrong on this one) your mortal sins will not be held against you, provided that you seek reconciliation with the Church (a.k.a. Sacrament of Confession).

I heard that if a person makes a [i:2jy3ef66]genuine[/i:2jy3ef66] Act of Perfect Contrition right before or near their death and isn’t baptized, their mortal sins will not be held against them.

Of course this doesn’t allow for people to say a prayer every night while continuing to reject God’s saving Grace through the Sacraments either.

Does anyone agree or does anyone have any corrections in what I think is true?

I don’t think Any faith has it right yet… that includes Catholics!

God wants our time. The biggest threat today is not having enough time for God and to practise his desire in man – meaning being faithfull, loving,caring, rightous, kind, forgiving etc. (2Peter). We put worldly desire above our faith. God wants us to spend time with him, and each other, for God is within man, and the Kingdom of God is within us all (luke).

What does Baptism mean to catholics?
To christians everywhere baptism means wholly giving your life to God. To me in my faith it means taking responsibilty for my own soul, when a child is baptised, it means the Parents take responsibilty for the child and the childs soul until the child can be responsible for himself.. and in baptising the child we ask that God grants His protection over that child.

We are supposed to Serve him in spirit and in truth – I’ll quote the verse if you like – none of the earthly things matter to Him, not even this rediculous theory of contraception. If you beleive that there is a such a thing as a spirit, then surely you must all realise that if you do not posses the spiritual Truth in this life, you will search for it when you are dead.
I’m not saying it’s ok to break the commandments, but there is more to the Bible than a natural story/history. The bible is infact mainly a spiritual guide as far as I’m concerned.

Read the Book of John, 1John, and ephesians.
It says exactly what GOD requires of us, not what man made rules in churches require from us.

Think about it. All we can do is try our best. Don’t complicate Faith!!!!!!

Many of you will disagree with me on all of this. This is my opinion.

Are you all searching for Truth? OR are you content being lead by your noses not really knowing the truth?

Hi Pamela,

Thanks for the welcome, I appreciate it.

I totally respect your point of view, and wish you all the best. You do seem comfortable with what you perceive as the truth in your life. That is good, because it means you have an understanding of your faith.

I know you said it’s a guess, but I’m not sure if you read my post properly.. maybe I explained it too criptic.
I for one, I do not spend just an hour a day in a week in church. I don’t agree with people who think that’s all there is to it. The truth is to make it part of your daily life, and to live your life according to the scriptures, and according to what God requires from us.
Also that baptism in my faith (non-catholic) charges me to be responsible for my own soul, and to give my life to God, in every aspect of my everyday life. It’s not just a ceremony that makes me part of the body of Christ, it’s much more. It won’t get me into heaven either, it’s just the beginning. Not sure about other faiths, but this is what I beleive.

I’m glad to see you’re not led by your nose, and just except things as it is told to you. It is good to question everything, for how else are we supposed to learn?

I will be doing a indepth search and study on catholocism, to see what sets the catholic faith appart from the other religions, and why you prefer it. You mentioned that catholic church was not founded by man. This is strange to me, as it must have been a man that spread the word of God after Christs death, thus there was a founder of the catholic church itself or not?
My faith is very old, and our faith was founded by an apostel of Christ. It is very old, and it is deemed as one of the oldest faiths in the world. I’m not sure, but it could be that we too started out with the catholics. The difference is we don’t advertise as well ” title=”Smile” />

All the best to you ” title=”Smile” />

[quote:1ykl8hfs]You mentioned that catholic church was not founded by man. This is strange to me, as it must have been a man that spread the word of God after Christs death, thus there was a founder of the catholic church itself or not?[/quote:1ykl8hfs]
The Catholic Church was founded by a man, but also God – his name is Jesus. ” title=”Wink” />

[quote:1ykl8hfs]My faith is very old, and our faith was founded by an apostel of Christ. It is very old, and it is deemed as one of the oldest faiths in the world. I’m not sure, but it could be that we too started out with the catholics.[/quote:1ykl8hfs]
Which faith is that? Which apostle?

[quote:k6s74g5q]I have no wish to start a fight with you, and merely wish to express my opinion.[/quote:k6s74g5q]
I apologize. I must have misread your previous statement and I am sorry if I came off as rude.

[quote:k6s74g5q]I’m not questioning your faith, but Jesus did not say start a church, he told his deciples to spread the word. [/quote:k6s74g5q]
Actually, he said both! ” title=”Smile” />

[b:k6s74g5q]Matthew 16:18 -[/b:k6s74g5q]
“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

[b:k6s74g5q]Matthew 28:19-20 -[/b:k6s74g5q]
“Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Jesus did not tell anyone else to start a church – he established it [i:k6s74g5q]himself[/i:k6s74g5q].

[i:k6s74g5q]Church[/i:k6s74g5q] means body of people or assembly. Jesus established a group or body of people to follow him. This group was made up of the Apostles and the rest of his disciples over whom the Apostles had jurisdiction (because they were hand-picked by Jesus to do so). That group eventually got larger and larger as the Apostles went their separate ways and spread the Gospel. Eventually the name Catholic was attached to that group and has continued ever since.

[i:k6s74g5q]Catholic[/i:k6s74g5q] means universal – meaning that this group or body or church was a church for all people, Gentiles and Jews and the whole rest of the world. Jesus came to save all people and to join his universal or catholic church.

A capital “C” for the Catholic Church is used because it is a proper name; it’s just a grammar issue.

[quote:k6s74g5q]The apostles did’nt stick together, they went their seperate ways, and kept in touch with each other by sending letters to their communities. Our Faith was born through those communities by the apostles, so we owe our faith to all the apostles.[/quote:k6s74g5q]
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree and again, I apologize if I came off the wrong way to you. The internet is so limited in how we can communicate.

We do owe our faith the the apostles who received their faith from Jesus to whom we ultimately owe our thanks for the gift of faith.

Peace,
Jon

[color=darkblue:1tty4qjb][u:1tty4qjb]Definition from Fr. John Hardon S.J. in his “Pocket Catholic Dictionary”[/u:1tty4qjb]

“Lack of knowlege, either of fact or law, for which a person is not morally responsible. This may be due to the difficulty of the object of the knowlege, or scarcity of evidence, or insufficient time or talent in the person, or any other factor for which he is not culpable.”

This term seems to get tossed around a lot and I decided that I would go get a good definition. Now…what were we saying about it and how it applied to what?[/color:1tty4qjb]

While it’s great to have a huge library of links, maybe it would be more useful to give out three or four, with explanations about what they’re saying, and then add that you have many more links if anyone wants them.