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Up until a few days ago, I did not realize how intolerant some self-proclaimed Christians are, or to what extent they consider it a virtue. Just for the record, anyone who treats Jews or Muslims or any other religious group shamefully because of what either group believes is no friend of mine, even if he does light his crosses with electricity instead of setting them on fire! We Mississippians have learned a lot about the value of tolerance in my lifetime, and that has been a positive thing. We certainly don't need any "carpetbagger" visitors, whatever their motivation, trying to drag us back to the Middle Ages. Can't we all just get along?
I should perhaps warn you at this point that what follows is my explanation of how my Catholic faith differs from that of some other Christians, just in case you are interested. I am explaining, not arguing or debating, because argument or debate requires at least two people, and I'm the only one talking here. (Of course, if you want to argue or debate, you are free to e-mail me, but I don't guarantee that I'll respond.) I'm not condemning, either. Other people's religion and opinions are their business. I certainly don't want to offend anybody, even someone hell bent on being offended. Therefore, if someone thinks an explanation of Catholic belief might offend him, he should stop right here, and God bless him and keep him.
Basically, Catholics differ from most Protestants in that we don't believe that you necessarily have to Take Jesus As Your Savior to be saved or that, having done that, you don't have to do other stuff. We believe that Christians do, of course, because that is the main element of Christianity, but we believe that Jesus died for all human beings, not just Christians We believe that "in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:35) That's why we call ourselves "Catholic." "Catholic" means "for everybody." I go into this in detail elsewhere, so I won't do it here. In addition:
We read and listen to the Bible.
We're opposed to slavery of all kinds.
We believe in being good neighbors.
We believe it is a citizen's duty to support his country's military.
We don't think sex is dirty.
We don't condone abortion under any circumstances, and
We also don't worship Mary.
But we might not be worshipping the same god, either. One Christian visitor explained to me very carefully that she didn't worship the same God that Muslims did, because their God is named "Allah," and hers is named "Yahweh." Now, the word "God" appears in my English translation of the Koran, the scripture of Islam, 2894 times, about 2/3 as many times as in the King James Bible, which is over four times as large. Do the math. The word for "God" in Arabic, the language in which the canonical Koran is written, is "Allah." The word means, quite literally, "The One God." He is called "the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful" 114 times. That's the one Catholics worship, too.
Jews also worship "The One God," whom, out of respect, they choose not to call by name. They can't pronounce it the way it's spelled, anyway, because Hebrew has no vowels. Catholics refer to God in the Hebrew Bible by the letters "YHWH."
"Yahweh" doesn't appear in the King James Bible at all. Others, yes. KJV, no.
Draw your own conclusions.
This lady also assured me that if you don't Take Jesus As Your Savior, the god she worships will throw you into hell. This is a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where He will send you to remain and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever and ever! This seems to me to be the universal Protestant interpretation. Catholic "hell" means "the place of the dead," wherever that is, into which Jesus descended in the Apostles' Creed. We admit the possibility of (but don't necessarily believe in) a "nice" hell (called "limbo" by the nuns who taught me) where the souls of unbaptized infants might reside forever in perfect, but natural, happiness. The idea of limbo closely parallels the description in the Koran of paradise, which is also a place of the (good) dead. Heaven is something else. Current Catholic thinking leans more toward a belief that they are saved ("get to heaven") an a way that we don't know about. It has nothing whatever to do with Taking Jesus As Their Savior, since the babies are too young to be able to do that. Of course, a common Christian belief is that once they get to heaven, they would surely recognize that Jesus Is Their Savior, but that's another subject.
Catholics believe in the other kind of hell, too. Jesus described it as "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," (Matthew 25:41) and "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:48) We note that it is specifically "prepared for the devil and his angels," not necessarily people, but it is definitely Catholic teaching that an adult human being, endowed with free will, can manage, by mortally sinful acts, to get there if he really, really tries. We think it's hard, though. We maintain that God wants him to be saved, and does everything possible, short of taking away his free will, to make that happen.
We don't believe that anybody, even babies, gets saved because they're innocent. We believe that every human beingo inherits the effects of what we call "original sin," so that they don't even have the ability to experience salvation. Salvation is through the merits of Jesus Christ, however it happens. We believe he offers it to everyone, not just Christian adults (or those who claim to be Christian adults). If you don't happen to know about him because you're too young or otherwise, he finds a way. He's a Jew, not a Protestant.
We have a list of names of people we call saints who we believe are at this moment in a place or state called heaven. They have very definitely been saved. There are thousands of them. We don't even know who some of them are! But there is not one human being that the Catholic Church teaches is in hell. Not one! Certainly not all the world's dead Jews and Muslims...and Hindus...and Buddhists...and Easter Islanders...etc.!
How on earth could anybody believe in, much less worship, a god who would create eighty percent of the entire human race to be thrown into a place of "everlasting fire" for devoutly seeking him in the religion taught them by their Muslim or Jewish parents, or for refusing to defend their lives against unjust aggressors as an honor to Buddah? The adjectives "abhorrent," "base," "contemptible," "cowardly," "craven," "dastardly," "despicable.," "detestable," "disgusting," "filthy," "foul," "gutless," "ignoble.," "loathsome," "low," "mean," "nasty," "obnoxious," "odious," "petty," "pusillanimous," "reprehensible," "repugnant," "rotten," "shabby," "sordid," "sorry," "squalid," "vile," and "wretched" come to mind. Certainly not "Most Beneficent" or "Most Merciful!" Nope, Catholics just can't buy it! We wouldn't even willingly associate with a being like that, much less worship him!
What Catholics do believe is contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Basically, we believe that God loves everyone, and desires that everyone be saved, and makes that possible for everyone. Of course, being Catholic Christians, we obviously believe that being a Catholic Christian is by far the best way to cooperate, but we believe that devout Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Taoists, Buddhists and worshippers of nature can be saved through the merits of Jesus Christ. And Protestants too, of course, but only if they do what Jesus commanded (which, incidentally, includes not judging others as well as the Ten Commandments). We don't think reciting a slogan is going to do it, folks, and we have all been warned!
The idea that everyone has to Take Jesus As Your Savior isn't Scriptural. There simply isn't anyplace in the Bible that says that. There are texts in the New Testament (written, surprise, surprise, to and for Christians) that suggest that, but that's interpretation, not Scripture. We interpret Scripture, too, but we've been doing it for over 1900 years and we think we've gotten pretty good at it. Jesus specifically repudiated it in Matthew 7:21. He said we had to do and avoid stuff. Read Matthew 25:31-46 and Matthew 19:17-19 again.
An elegant refutation of the belief that you have to Take Jesus As Your Savior in order to be loved by God is the following "Father's Love Letter" that I found the other day on the Internet. I think it's on a Protestant website. Good for them! The asterisks and comments are my response.
You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1 *Of course, you don't have to believe that. It's a free country, even in hurricane-ravaged Mississippi.
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2 *
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3 *
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31 **
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27 *
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28 **
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28 **
I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5 *
I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12 **
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16 *
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26 **
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 *
I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13 *
And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6 *
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44 **
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16 **
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1 **
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1 **
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11 **
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48 **
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17 **
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33 *
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 *
Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 *
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore Psalm 139:17-18 *
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 *
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40 *
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5 *
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41 *
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3 *
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29 *
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 *
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13 **
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20 **
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 **
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthianss 1:3-4 **
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18 *
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11 *
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4 **
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4 **
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23 **
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26 **
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3 **
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31 **
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthianss 5:18-19 **
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthianss 5:18-19 **
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10 **
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32 **
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23 **
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39 **
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7 **
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15 **
My question is... Will you be my child?. John 1:12-13 ***
I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32 **Love, Your Dad, Almighty God
But we Catholics simply don't agree with you!
God bless you.