A question comes up every time Catholic Fundamentalism says anything that offends someone in the 40,000 schisms: “Isn’t it wrong to criticize others who say they are Christian? Doesn’t it hurt their feelings?” We have a hard time determining: How much truth should Catholics tell Protestants?
Every person in every age must be given an opportunity to save their souls. The Church’s teaching about salvation is clear, but rarely publicized. Many bury the truth beneath polite platitudes.
Few, if any, ordained Catholic clergy tell non-believers that they cannot be saved. One has to look in Church documents to find that, for two thousand years, a consistent thread of thought has been maintained: Those who reject The Only Church Jesus Founded cannot get to Heaven.
No one talks about that. We don’t see bumper stickers reading: “The Only Way You Can Be Saved is to be a Good Catholic.” Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops are frequently in “Interfaith Ecumenical Groups”. Have we heard of any Catholic prelate informing the others, “Your soul can’t help but end up in hell if you don’t straighten up and become Catholic.”
So, the question remains. How much truth should Catholics tell Protestants?
Catholic Fundamentalism some awareness of how God programmed us and all around in enough detail to provide free will for us, His beloved human programs. He carefully wrote and downloaded The Creation Program so that not one human can prove undeniably that He made it all to give us free will. Similarly, no one can prove that God didn’t. We are free to decide.
A few will use their free will to enter The Church. Others use their free will to decide that all there is as an accidental compilation of accidents. Between Catholicism and the Everything is an Accident Theory, there are 40,000 schisms. Some of them recognize God and teach the advisability of obeying at least some of His Commandments. Others are mere social clubs.
The one fact that everyone can know is this: Several hundred prophecies were made, carefully written down, and preserved for over a thousand years. Jesus fulfilled all those predictions, even to the manner of His death. Some people are humble enough to see that Jesus is the Son of God.
A few who reach that level obey even His oddest injunctions: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.” Those few people are sufficiently obedient that they become Catholics so they can receive the Only Communion that is truly holy.
Catholics don’t beat people over the head with the fact that you can’t obey Jesus without actually doing what He says. Jesus was clear: “If you obey My commands you are my friends”. Those who ignore and disobey “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.” do not have life in them because they have kept themselves from being His friends.
Jesus’ words are clear: Those who disobey Him are not His friends, no matter how hard they pretend to be. That’s one answer to: How much truth should Catholics tell Protestants. One would hope that it is sufficient to lead down the straight and narrow path to salvation.
