Posted on 01/29/2006 5:25:55 AM PST by NYer
Those are both good points. The only Scriptural picture we have of the Final Judgment is Matthew 25, and it portrays EVERYBODY, both the saved and the damned, as being surprised: "LOrd, when did we see you hungry?"
A little odd, but there it is...
And your other point is interesting, in terms of a definition of the Church. We Catholics believe that the true and original and only Church founded by Jesus Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church. But that term "subsists in" is maybe (sigh) a little subtle? (And this is a notoriously hair-splitting Church, one that knows what "is" is!)
Bottom line, as our esteemed Orthodox brethren put it, "We know where the Church is; but we don't know where the Church is not."
That's one reason why the Church will formally canonize, but never formally "demonize." We know for sure that some people are in heaven because of their Catholic Faith, their life of heroic virtue, and confirmed by 2 miracles (these are the formal requirements for canonization.) But we daren't say for sure that anybody by name is damned. We just don't have God's perfect knowledge of the inner person, nor God's perfect justice, nor God's perfect will to save.
I like your FReepname, UseYourHead.
Christ is the Head of His Mystical Body, the Church. We are saved by Christ through His Church which He founded as the ordinary means of salvation for everybody. St. Paul in 1 Tim. 3:15 calls the Church "the pillar and ground of the truth." He also wrote to Timothy that it is God's will that all men should be saved, "come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:3-4).
Now if people are saved by the truth, and the Church is the ground and pillar of the truth, the Church is necessary for salvation.
BTW, Catholic who pray the Rosary pray regularly and confidently for the salvation of people who are not pew-sitting, dues-paying members of the visible Catholic Church. We know that God has His own brilliant ways of saving people (Savior is His middle name. He's the expert. It's what He does, y'know?)
O my Jesus,
save us from rthe fires of hell
Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those who are in most need
of thy mercy.
(Prayer of the Angel at Fatima)
Please explain to me how you KNOW that as fact. I haven't heard any claim from Christianity like Islam, that says that an angel gave God's Word directly to Mohemmed. So why do you believe the Christian Bible is God's Word, but not the Koran?
Regards
Nothing but the blood of Christ is necessary to salvation.
Perhaps he will also bring up the mystery of Christ and the church being a marriage.
Where'd you get your copy of Deus Caritas Est? I know I can get it from USCCB but would rather send my money elsewhere :-P
Sure we do.
jo kus: Please explain to me how you KNOW that as fact.
To people who are not indwelled by the Spirit, the Scriptures are merely text on paper. Thus, Truth is hidden in plain view.
Those are excellent points. Thank you!!
I don't comment too much on Catholic posts unless you folks reach the outer limits. This is one of those cases.
Jesus prayed that God would keep his Church in His, (the Father's) name. Church of God
Never in scripture is the Church referred to as "Catholic". The Apostles referred to themselves as "The Church of God". Only once is the Church referred to as "The Church of Christ", [Romans 16:16].....but Christ is the head of the Church, [Colossians 1:18]....and Christ is also God, [John 1:1].
The name Christian is used only 3 times in scripture, [Acts 11:26], [Acts 26:28] and [1 Peter 4:16].
Well into the writings of the Early Church Fathers they were still referring to themselves as "The Church of God". You can wish and hope as much as you want....but the term "Catholic" is a "Johnny Come Lately".
Sounds like a good read. I recently read some of Brother Lawrence's writings. Wonderful insight on the love of God. He was a simple monk externally, and a mystic internally.
The most profound revelations are the simplest. Be blessed!
True.. the "letter" of the word kills(spiritually) but the Spirit gives life(spiritual life)... Without the Spirit scripture generates questions not answers.. Pure genius by the progenitor of scripture...
Which brings for a pregnant "fact", if the bible(scripture) generates questions within you and not answers you are in contact with the WRONG spirit.. Because the right Spirit will show you can't know everything all at once.. if ever..
Scripture breeds humility and gratitude; spiritually discerned.. If not spiritually discerned, it breeds arrogance and a haughty disregard for it and its proponents..
At least in my experience..
Oh, I am thrilled you are reading this, Alamo-Girl! I just read it yesterday, and it is amazingly, extraordinarily beautiful. I suspect it sets the "theme" for this Pope's papacy, which is Love.
The first of two parts is "speculative": This Pope is a world-class philosopher as well as world-class theologian. As philosopher, he has strong resonances to Neo-platonism. As theologian, his thought has been profoundly influenced by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, and St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscan friar -- both Saints and Doctors of the Church. (Turns out, he is also a great admirer of Karl Barth.) So in this first part, he speaks of caritas in all its forms in the abstract; e.g., eros, philia, agape.
The second part is "more concrete," dealing with the exercise of the commandment of love of neighbor. An excerpt:
Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of changing the world ideologically, and it is not in the service of worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philososphy. People of the present are sacrified to the moloch of the future -- a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now.... The Christian's programme -- the programme of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus -- is "a heart which sees." This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly....[Just couldn't resist adding the boldface!!!]Love is free; it is not practised as a way of achieving other ends.... Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practice charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and let love alone speak. He knows that God is love and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love. He knows ... that disdain for love is disdain for God and man alike; it is an attempt to do without God. Consequently, the best defense of God and man consists precisely in love....
There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: "The love of Christ urges us on" (2 Cor 5:14).
The real parousia, the Presence of Christ, is made evident and effective in the world in personal acts of Christian love. Such acts are a means of God's redemptive action in the world.
The Encyclical concludes with a poem/prayer to the Blessed Mother -- the Mother of the Church because the Mother of our Lord -- so profound, so perfect, that it might make you weep for joy. (It did me.) It may provide non-Catholics with some insight into why Mary is indispensable and essential to Catholic theology.
Needless to say, I highly recommend Christians of all confessions to read this sublime document on Christian love. Gloria in excelsus Deo!
Thank you so much, dear sister, for writing!
The Holy Spiirt is not given to us if we are Catholics.
I think that is your position
Someone has to decide. Scripture tells us to have the Church settle it.
Back in the day, y'all weren't around :)
Indeed, that is a very hard saying; yet it is an article of Christian faith. And yet....
Right now I'm reading The Thought of Benedict XVI by Aiden Nichols, OP, a marvelous work. In it, the Dominican Fr. Nichols does remind us, however, that "...though universalism, the salvation of everyman, is not part of Christian faith, it is assuredly part of Christian hope."
May the Lord's will be done in all things, on earth and in heaven.
Thank you so much for posting this fine article, NYer!
Pope Benedict is all that you say - a profound philosopher and theologian. And I do agree and pray that love is the theme of his papacy. God is love.
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