When Catholics go to Judgment, after having properly received the Sacraments, they go to Heaven. There may be some painful purification in Purgatory. But, since He said “If you obey My commands, you are My friends.”, we will, if our obedience has been sufficient, get to spend eternity in utter joy.
What happens when Protestants go to Judgment?
Many Protestants do not even know they are in denominations and subsequent schisms begun by people who’d left the Catholic Church. Amazingly, many Protestants think that they, as Protestants, came to America to escape Catholic persecution. One Protestant minister complained on these pages that The Roman Catholic Church had forced the Pilgrims to come to America. Many under-educated Protestants readily believe every such silly statement about The Church.
Can a Protestant soul trapped within a mind so devoid of knowledge that it sincerely believes such inanities as the Anglican faith was Catholic, and not know that it’s founder was an anti-Catholic, priest-killing ax-murderer, be sent to hell?
One may reasonably believe that God will have mercy in saving quantities on such poor, benighted souls, sending them to a suitable place where wallowing in self-righteous ignorance does not bring the agonizing pain one might reasonably expect.
But, what of those Protestants who know better? Smarter Protestants are held accountable for denominational decisions. They take one of two paths. A Protestant who knows that Jesus said: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.” and that He also said, “If you obey My commands, you are My friends.” sees that the most intelligent thing to do is all that’s necessary to receive His actual Body and Blood as speedily as possible.
Those happy souls understand that Transubstantiation can only take place at the hands of a Catholic priest in a living link with those ordained by Christ, Himself. That happy soul will say, “I want to be as fully obedient as possible to Jesus. Therefore, I will become Catholic, receive His Body and Blood, along with the other Sacraments, and, by obeying His commands, be His friend, with life in me. Forever!”
What of a Protestant who does the opposite? “I want to get to Heaven, but I am certainly not about to be bothered with a lot of Catholic mumbo-jumbo. Besides, I have a lot of friends in my church. I would rather be friends with them than take everything Jesus said too seriously.” That misplaced priority is compounded if the denomination has become tolerant of birth control chemicals and devices that cause the deaths of the tiniest babies, divorce, abortion and takes other positions offensive to God. Supporting such a schism pushes immortal souls into even greater pain.
Those who make the wrong denominational decisions are described by Jesus. They are the improperly dressed person at the wedding feast who is thrown out, into the darkness, where there is much “gnashing of teeth”.
