saw the movie last night! touchy! thanks abc! the life of the pope is truly remarkable!i wish we could all be like him! what a wonderful place this world would be! it will be like paradise while living on earth! material values really means nothing! humility and kindness makes this world a better place to live!peace to all. amen.
shareQuestion: "Is Catholicism a false religion? Are Catholics saved?"
Answer: In comparing Roman Catholicism with the Word of God, there are many differences and contradictions. The Roman Catholic church teaches many doctrines that are in disagreement with what the Bible says. These include worship of saints or Mary, prayer to saints or Mary, the pope / papacy, justification by faith plus works, infant baptism, transubstantiation, and purgatory. While Catholics claim Scriptural support for these concepts, none of these teachings have any foundation in the clear teaching of Scripture. In fact, they all clearly contradict what the Bible declares. The most crucial of these is the Roman Catholic belief that faith in Christ alone is not enough to save a person. The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that a person must believe in Jesus Christ AND be baptized AND receive Catholic communion AND obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic Church AND etc., etc., etc. Catholic divergence from the Bible on this most crucial of issues means that yes, Catholicism is a false religion. If a person believes what the Catholic Church officially teaches, he/she will not be saved.
At the same time, there are believers who attend Roman Catholic Churches. There are many Roman Catholics who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Catholic Christians remain in the Catholic church out of ignorance of what the Catholic church truly stands for, out of family tradition, or out of a desire to reach Catholics for Christ. However, these Catholic Christians are believers despite what the Catholic Church teaches, not because of what it teaches. To varying degrees, the Catholic church teaches the Bible and points people to Jesus Christ as the Savior. As a result, people are sometimes saved in Catholic churches (Isaiah 55:11). At the same time, the Catholic church also leads many people away from a genuine faith relationship with Christ. The Roman Catholic Church is not the church that Jesus Christ established. It is not a church that is based on the teachings of the Apostles.
Recommended Resource: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics by Ron Rhodes.
regardless of religion..if everyone's has moral values like pope john paul II, i believe, we can all be saved! when i say great mentor...i meant what is truly in one's heart. purity, humility, kindness, faith, hope and love. anyone can be saved, that is if our hearts are pure.
sharei would like to agree...i mean all that is good and all...but if you are a strict follower of the bible (which i wouldnt say that i am) then its still one step away. I do agree he had good intentions...
sharepunkboiryan:
It would seem that the teachings of the Catholic Church that faith alone is not sufficient for salvation makes sense when you consider that Christ himself said that you would know his followers by their acts. He also said that some people would cry "Lord," to him, but that he would not know them. I took that to mean that he would not accept them simply because they believed in him if they did not follow his commandments. I will try to look for the exact quotes, but if anyone else on this board can find them, please post them. I, for one, have met too many Protestants (and Catholics), who claim that they believe in Christ, but just take the attitude that whatever they do, it does not matter, because as long as they believe in Christ, they will have eternal life.
As for the Virgin Mary, Catholics do not worship her, they give her respect as the mother of Jesus. The reason Catholics pray to her is to ask her to intercede with her son on their behalf.
As for the establishment of the Catholic Church, Jesus said about Peter that "upon this rock (a word play on the name for Peter), I will build my church," and Peter was the first Pope. He also told Peter that what he decreed on earth would be done in Heaven, an extremely radical statement when you think about it. Besides, if he did not intend Peter to have successors, why did he give him so much power. I do not believe that Jesus was going to tell Peter "you will be my representative on earth, but when you are gone, I will have no one to represent me."
LOL,
Veronica
"In the end, when it is all over, all that matters is what you've done."- Alexander (2004)