Joe,
<<Chris,
I'm Catholic. Here's how I've been taught to look at it.
It's important to communicate it correctly otherwise you
will just scare people away and offend them, etc....
First off, when Jesus went around 'spreading the word',
he did so in a very caring, loving way. He offered the
truth as an invitation to be accepted. He did not
go around stamping his foot about everything. He spent
most of his time trying to allieviate pain and suffering
to show people that he loves mankind, and that GOD
loves mankind. This is a very difficult concept for
some people to accept, because they are not used to
receiving unconditional love, much less from God himself.
Anyway, my interpretation of the scripture passage you
quoted, which is consistent with the Catholic Church's
views, is thus:
>> Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.<<
The ULTIMATE TRUTH is God himself. Jesus is God
himself (in the Trinity). He came down and revealed
himself to humans that he is God.
Jesus is not necessarily painting things as black or white.
He views other religions as possibly having many, many,
good qualities (and maybe bad qualities, or lacking in
full truth). The important point is that Jesus's
truth is the ultimate one - the final one. Other
religions are a subset of the truth of which Jesus
describes.
What God does with somebody else's life or how he judges
other people is not for any man to figure out. It's not
our job, plain and simple.
If somebody is of another faith, we don't know for
sure what God's plans are for that person. To make
a long story short, God's mercy is infinite, and
is beyond mankind's understanding. God's Will will
prevail in the end.
If a person has been blessed with the grace of God to
see Truth through Jesus, then he has an obligation
to try to bring the same truth to other people. He
has an obligation to invite, in a loving way,
non-threatening way, somebody to connect with Jesus.
It is up to God himself, to convert somebody's heart.
I or you can't convert somebody.
So, just live the best example you can and try not
to make people scared of finding the truth, in whatever
fashion or plan God has for them.>>
Great post,
Thanks,
Mark |
