Pope's letter to non-believers in Italian paper La Repubblica

Vatican Radio ^ | September 11, 2013

[NYer]

(Vatican Radio) Does God forgive non-believers? Does absolute truth exist? And is God merely a creation of the human mind?
In a lengthy letter to the former editor of the Italian daily ‘La Repubblica’, Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis shares reflections on these three questions and urges all non-believers to engage with Christians in an open and sincere conversation.

Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report:

In the letter published on Wednesday, the Pope laments the impasse that has grown up over the centuries with those who see Christianity as ‘dark and superstitious,’ in opposition to the ‘light of reason’.
Quoting from the recent encyclical ‘Lumen Fidei’, the Pope stresses that, on the contrary, faith must never be intransigent or arrogant, but rather humble and able to grow in relationship with others.


Responding to the three questions posed by the Italian journalist and writer, the Pope says the key issue for non-believers is that of “obeying their consciences” when faced with choices of good or evil. God’s mercy, he stresses, “has no limits” for those who seek him with a sincere and contrite heart.


Reflecting on the question of absolute truth, Pope Francis says he prefers to describe the truth in terms of a dynamic relationship between each Christian and Jesus, who said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’. The truth of God’s love, the Pope insists, is not subjective, but it is only experienced and expressed as a journey, a living relationship with each one of us, in our different social and cultural contexts.


Thirdly, Pope Francis considers the question of God as a creation of the human mind, who will thus disappear when human beings cease to exist on earth. In my experience, he says - and in that of so many other Christians past and present – God is not merely an idea but is a “Reality” of infinite goodness and mercy, revealed to us through his son, Jesus of Nazareth.


Reflecting on the originality of the Christian faith in relations to other religions, the Pope stresses the role of Jesus who renders us all sons and daughters of God, therefore also brothers and sisters to each other. Our arduous task, he says, is that of communicating God’s love to all, not in a superior way, but rather through service to all people especially those on the margins of our societies.


Finally the Pope spoke of his deep respect and friendship for people of Jewish faith – especially those with whom he worked so closely in his native Argentina. Reflecting on the terrible experience of the Shoah, he said, we can never be grateful enough to the Jews who maintained their faith in God, thus teaching us too to remain always open to his infinite love.

[.45 Long Colt]

You have been deceived, FRiend.

I challenge you to listen to the links I provided above with an open mind. I am sure my claims are hurtful to you, but I promise I take no joy in making them. Much of my own family is still caught in Satan’s snare known as Roman Catholicism and my heart breaks for them. They are just like those Israelites described by Paul in Romans 10, they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Eternity is a really long time and hell is real. Surely you should take a bit of time to at least investigate why I believe as I do. Wouldn’t it be awful to find out after it’s too late that I was right? Can you imagine being haunted for eternity that you had the truth at hand yet you were so hard-hearted you failed to even consider it?

The Testimony of a Former Catholic Priest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvID3lRyYIc&feature=relmfu

[svcw]

ah, What part of ask Jesus do yo not understand.
Its sometimes called a death bed confession or conversion.
WAS is the optimum word in your question.

[.45 Long Colt]

Rubbish! You are perhaps the most deceived FReeper I have encountered. I pray for you often because I so fear for you.

[svcw]

Oh, yea forgot. What is a good thief?

[Tainan]

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16


...there it is.

[wonkowasright]

Oh, yea forgot. What is a good thief?

One who robs the IRS. :-)

[Salvation]

Do you have Luke in your Bible? Might want to re-read this passage!

Lk 6:20-26 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man....... Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

[svcw]

hahahah

[svcw]

I presume you mean Catholic.
Then why does the pope say you don’t have to be believer to go to heaven?

[.45 Long Colt]

Lady, I don’t hate you. I am scared for you. I pity you!

Almost every day I see you heap more condemnation upon yourself by spreading propaganda for the ultimate false religion. I know from experience you refuse to even consider you might be woefully wrong. You refuse to consider that your soul is in grave danger. But it’s your life and your soul. All I can do is point the way. In the end I don’t expect to impact you or any of the other diehard Catholic FReepers, but as has been pointed out only today, we don’t know who might be lurking that will heed the warnings and respond to the truth.

I’m not anti-Catholic crusader. I’ve got much better things to do with my time. I would never utter a word about Catholicism on this site if it weren’t for all the Roman Catholic propagandists, of whom you are one of the most prolific. It simply must be countered because it’s deadly poison. And it has enough of the truth in it to fool the unsuspecting and unwise. I’ve got no agenda other than to spread the good news of Christ and His gospel of free grace, the only gospel that saves human souls.

Upon what specifically do you base your expectation of salvation?

[Religion Moderator]

Don't make this thread 'about' individual Freepers. That is also a form of "making it personal."

Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.

[saradippity]

I have read what the Pope said and did not see where he said that his statement applied to those people with a complete conception of God and still chose to ignore Him.

I believe he was referring to people who for various and sundry reasons were “invincibly ignorant”. And those who are invincibly ignorant have always been thought to be able to get to heaven. In a nutshell they lived Christlike lives and so could be considered to have arrived in heaven or journeyed back to the Father through Christ unaware.

If you did read the letter or interview and it stated what you said in your first paragraph,I would like to see it because it would make a considerable difference in my estimation of the Pope. Thank you.

[dragonblustar]

Wow! The pope is an anti Christ!!!

[rusty schucklefurd]

re: “.there have been hundreds of millions of people that have lived on this Earth who hed no conception of what God was....good people, honest people, people who loved each other and their families.....do you really suppose that an all loving God would condemn them to hell”

I know that from our human perspective, we tend to compare ourselves with other humans - because we are human beings. But, the difficulty with that is that we are to compare ourselves to God’s perfect righteousness, not fellow humans.

If we only compare ourselves to other humans, well, we and others might not look that bad.

But, from what the Bible says about God’s judgement (and there is that side of His character), is that we all stand condemned as sinners against God’s perfect Law. All of us have “missed the mark” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, no one is righteous enough to enter God’s heaven on their own merit.

I encourage you to read Romans chapters 1, 2, and 3. I think you’ll see Paul’s argument that man is without excuse as far as knowledge of God. Man turned away from God and He is under no obligation to forgive or “save” any of us from hell.

But, He took the initiative in becoming a man - God in human form. He showed us what God is through how He lived and taught, He provided the way (not “a” way, but “the one and only way”) of salvation/the forgiveness of sins - to restore our fellowship with Him. He paid the price for our disobedience. He took our punishment/judgement on Himself. By His resurrection He destroyed the power of sin and death over us - but, we have to receive His forgiveness. We have to confess our sin and our need of Him and accept His free gift of mercy.

If there was any other way people could enter heaven other than through Christ, then Jesus did NOT need to die on the cross.

If Jesus is really who He said He was, God incarnate, then He is the ONLY one who could pay the price of sin’s judgment upon us.

Jesus said that He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. But, He also said that:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:17-19

The truth is, the one and only way to forgiveness and salvation for mankind is through Jesus Christ. Pope Francis is tragically wrong in his statement. Following one’s conscience does not remove sin. It cannot save. If it could, then Jesus died needlessly.

[Steelfish]

Non-believers may be forgiven if not properly instructed or if they are illiterate and have not either been exposed to true teaching or haven’t had the time to do so because of their station in life -loneliness or have been immersed in false ideas. The current scandal of course is the 35, 000 different brands of the truth that exists when there is only one truth. The Catholic Church.

I can see Peter opening the Gates of Heaven to atheists and agnostics rather than the Jimmy Swaggarts, David Koreshes, Jim (Kool-Aid) Jones; Rev. Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wrights and the Rev. Benny Hinns and prosperity-gospel Joel Osteens of this world.

The atheists and agnostics who adopt the beaten, starving, and orphaned child has a better chance in Paradise that the “Carry the Bible in My Pocket” and quote “Scripture” crowd. Wasn’t this the lesson of the Good Samaritan? If this is what Pope Francis had in mind, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, he is true to the Sermon on the Mount.

[antceecee]

Jesus said... and that is what I believe.

[antceecee]

He is a Jesuit... very liberal...

[WVKayaker]

Get over yourself and realize that your interpretation of scripture is YOURS... and not necessarily acceptable to the rest of humanity.

That statement can be demonstrably wrong in fact. Humanity is a big group of people, of which I am one. I am sure there are others here. As a matter of fact, I know quite a few of them who have the same interpretation of Scripture. Almost daily I see these threads glorifying the Catholic Church, but giving short shrift to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You know, the guy that said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, but by me”.

It is a shame that criticism is considered to be an attack. But, there are so many threads each day trying to drum up business for the Catholic Cult, that there are many of us who are determined that the truth from Scripture is seen just as much. If you check my history, I'm sure you'll see where I use Scripture quite often. After all, it was good enough for Jesus.

So we will not back off. We don't need to buy a clue because we already have the Holy Spirit in our lives, bringing all things to our remembrance. We have the promise made by Jesus that “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. We have the words of Paul throughout the New Testament affirming the liberty in our lives and the source of our salvation. It is not found in a hollow self-declared group, no matter how old they claim to be. You see, God is eternal, and God is a Spirit. He doesn't prance around in fancy garments making hollow promises that if you just do things our group tells you, and believe all the rhetoric that we teach you, that you may be able to at least get to purgatory, even if you're not the best of persons. But God will not be mocked.

Roman Catholics are free to believe in their church offering them salvation, but it is completely against what the word of God has to say. So, no, we will not be backing off from any confrontations with the falsehoods being propagated by the cult of Roman Catholicism.

Our mission is to spread the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ came to earth in order to live a perfect life. No mortal man can complete the task. Jesus Christ was crucified, as a sacrifice so that we may live eternally. He was raised up on the third day as a sign to all of the world that death could not hold him. He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the father.

So, there is no group on earth that can claim to speak for God. God is perfectly able to make it clear through his word, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Graven images of a woman who gave birth to Christ, whom the Roman Catholics have elevated her to a position where she speaks to Christ for us, and graven images of dead men and women who are called saints who allegedly holds some special powers with God, are abomination to God.

Have a nice life on earth, but be sure to know that Peter does not make any decision about our future in eternity. Nor is there any man claiming to speak for him that can separate us from the love of God, according to Scripture. Believe it or not!