The Warning Second Coming Forums – God the Father, Jesus christ, Virgin Mary » Blog Archive » During The Warning, all those who have redeemed themselves in My Eyes will not suffer the pain of Purgatory.
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The Warning Second Coming Forums – God the Father, Jesus christ, Virgin
Mary » Blog Archive » During The Warning, all those who have redeemed
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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4 comments:
The man in the video starts out by making the "definitive claim" which ends with "because of its (the Catholic Church) divine origin it is superior to every other religious system in the world."
I noticed that he used the word 'superior'. Not the 'one and only'. Am I being too anal with semantics or was that something deliberate?
To say its superior implies that it has something others do not (in this case, the divine origin) yet it also implies that other, 'inferior' religious systems are not completely wrong, but just lacking.
Am I right in this interpretation of his claim or am I thinking too much?
Didn't think about it until you pointed it out. The presenter's position is in line with the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate:
...Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.(4)
Thanks for the clarification.
I rather like that Declaration. I always wondered how the Catholic Church views other denominations.
One other thing, a lot is said about origins in general when trying to find the true church or even just the superior one.
I think--I may be wrong--that Eastern Orthodox Christianity claims that their church was the first and that out of it came the Catholic Church. Even the LDS church, in a rather original way, claims that their church, through revelation, is Christianity restored and therefore the first and true Church.
But does a divine origin necessarily insure divinity..into the present day? Or can the divinity be lost or moved to another church?
Am I making sense?
Basically how does a divine origin mean anything in the present day? Things are not always the same as when they started.
Greetings David:
Your question is a good one and because it is a good one, a fair answer would be a long one, so my answer will be very unfair, because it has to be necessarily short.
The LDS Church and other "restorationist" churches - like the Jehovah Witnesses. for example - seek to reinvent the Church from scratch. Their claims can be compared to those of the primitive Church and found wanting across the board, in terms of history, theology, philosophy, biblical exegesis, etc. etc. There's an objective body of knowledge against which can compare their claims. Their claims do not measure up, ergo, their to divine origin, inspiration, and exclusivity fall on their faces.
The Orthodox Church is a special case - and I've written about this dear Church extensively in this blog. Her claims cannot be as easily dismissed because what we have in common is so much that we must pay attention to what they are saying.
Having said that, the question is where Peter still shepherds the Church, not as a local bishop, but as a universal pastor. We humbly say, despite the lights and shadows of our history, that where Peter is, Christ is, and where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.
When it comes to the Holy Father, Benedict XVI is not the successor of John Paul II and he of John Paul I and he of Paul VI etc. except chronologically. Pope Benedict is the immediate successor of Peter; Peter yesterday and Benedict today. The space of time is really nothing, the Church of Pentecost gathered about Mary and presided by Peter is the same one today, just as the mustard seed of yesterday is the vast tree today.
Hence, the Church of Pentecost subsists and is present in the Church presided by Peter today in the person of Benedict and with him the promise of divine origin, means, and ends, continue along with the everlasting presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Theo
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