What should I do? All welcome?

Question

Ok, so I've recently come to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is the true church(don't answer yet).

Well, I was on a Catholic forum and I asked, out of pure ignorance, if a certain LDS belief was also a Catholic Faith because I didn't know.

I got a reply from a lady who gave me a link, to a Catholic website, that showed pure hate for the LDS faith...now I'm confused on whether or not I was right about the Church...

I see it as "If the Catholic Church is supposed to model Jesus' teachings and Jesus taught nothing by tolerance for other faiths, then why did they write this?"

So...what should I do? I know I should pray...but what do you think of the situation?

http://www.catholic.com/library/Problems_with_the_Book_of_Mormon.asp is the link in question.

It made me angry reading this. It's just a mockery of their religion. I don't believe what the LDS faith does, but I still hold them in a place of respect.

Answer 1

*sigh*

You'll find haters in every faith.

The Protestants hate the Catholics

The Muslims hate Christians

The Atheists hate anyone who does have a faith.

etc... etc... etc... I'm not saying EVERYONE in these faiths hates all others. There are a lot though. Just be true to yourself. As long as you follow your own heart you cannot go wrong.

God bless,
=)

p.s. if you want, send me your LDS belief question and I'll try to give you a non-biased Catholic answer.

Answer 2

*Is Catholic*

You greatly misunderstand Jesus' teachings if you think he taught tolerance for other faiths. This He did not do. He specifically taught that He is the only way to the Father and through Him and ONLY Him can we do the Father's will, life a righteous life, and be saved. That is pretty cut and dry and not tolerant of other faiths.

Now the LDS do not have a good relationship with the Catholic Church. They have a hostility towards the Church of Christ. The Catholic Church views the LDS as what it is, a pagan religion that is not Christian.

Truth is necessarily hostile to untruth. There is a lot of untruth in the LDS if you look at how it was created. Thus in any activity of truth presenting itself to untruth, LDS or otherwise, it will come across as hostile because it is hostile. Darkness flees before the Light, you cannot keep the two together in "toleration".

Now if you believe that the Catholic Church is the true Church, then you have already taken a stand that is hostile to the LDS and any other group that tries to set itself up as the true path.

Right now I want you to go and read some things on the nature of the Church

DOMINUS IESUS by Ratzinger.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html

Now go and read this
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/printDettaglio.jsp?id=154889&eng=y

That is what it means to understand that the Catholic Church is the true Church.

Answer 3

Face it: there are goobers in every sect. Prejudice runs deep, and religion cannot take it out of some people.

You said this was a Catholic web site, but I sincerely doubt that it is an official web site of the Roman Catholic Church. Don't accept this as the teaching of the RCC unless it can be proven.

To the best of my knowledge, the RCC's official stance on the LDS (and all other Christian sects) is that they are "strayed" sheep who are seeking the truth. Although some dislike this wording, the meaning intended by this is that all Christian sects are seeking the same thing - it's just that the RCC believes that they are closer to the truth than any other sect.

My best advice: look on an official (vatican) RC web site and find out what they *really* believe *today* about the LDS.

Here's a site that describes RC misgivings about LDS beliefs: http://www.catholic.com/library/Distinctive_Beliefs_of_Mormon.asp

Here's an example of pope JP2 working with Mormons: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1992/january/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19920130_pornography_en.html

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 4

The Catholic Church was founded some of Christ's Apostles. All was well until Constantine, who was responsible for the structuring of the modern Bible and Church. Since then, several offshoots of this Church have sprung up based on the respective Founder's interpretation of the Life of Christ, and what Christ's teachings actually are. They all teach pretty much the same thing, including that their interpretation is the only correct one.
To my mind, this is the reason Faith is necessary. Religion is an intangible concept subject to a myriad interpretations.
Look at it this way; You get fifteen people together i the same room. Could you get them to agree on even the correct time? The correct answer is the one that is in your heart, and you are the only one that can unlock it. I'm sorry this doesn't seem like much of an answer, but its the best I can figure after many years of soul searching for my answer.

Answer 5

There are a lot of things that the people of the Church do badly, even the priests. People make mistakes and sometimes are misguided. But that is not new (look at the old testament and a lot of folks turned away from God). That does not take away from the fact that Jesus gave the Church to Peter, and that became the Catholic church. Pray and God will guide you. Good luck.

Answer 6

Oh honey I am so sorry that you ran across these people-this is NOT the spirit of our faith. The Roman Catholic church that I know and love is well respected for it's compassion and patience with people of other faiths.

That does not mean we will agree with them but we have understanding and compassion. Even if you see the word Hostile in my friend Liet's answer here he means that in the theological sense, not hostility like people with baseball bats or cross burnings.

Answer 7

You should not put your faith in a church, a person, or any particular congregation. You should put your faith in Jesus and the Bible. Find a church that will help you grow spiritually. Since everyone is at a different level of growth, you may or may not change churches as you grow. You don't have to believe everything a church teaches in order to learn and grow.

Answer 8

I recommend:
1) If you are going to be a Christian, then be one.
2) Christianity was not started by whoever that lady was.
3) Jesus never said that you had to be Roman Catholic.
4) Jesus showed lot's of intolerance for other religions. He called those who were trying to please God other than the way He said we needed to, "Thieves and robbers." He also told a woman, " You Samaritans don't really know who it is you worship." ( John 4)
5)Christians are Christians because they believe in Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Read what He said and ask God to help you understand.


I would also recommend that you seek guidance on what it means to be a Christian.

And since " Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" then listen to the word of God.

I can recommend this for new Christians:
http://www.thruthebible.org/site/c.hvKSLdMYIsG/b.403411/k.826F/Welcome_to_Thru_the_Bible_RadioThe_Bible_Study_Program_Taught_by_Dr_J_Vernon_McGee.htm
http://www.twft.com/?page=SundayMorning

You can e-mail me if you have any questions.

Answer 9

Here is an article from the Catholic Exchange website:



July 30, 2007
"I guess Catholics just think they're better than anybody else." The Catholic woman was quoting a non-Catholic friend's reaction to the new Vatican document affirming the uniqueness of the Catholic Church. Clearly, she sympathized with her friend's sarcastic comment.
Many Catholics — to say nothing of non-Catholics — were rattled by "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church" (or, more likely, by secular media coverage of it). Yet nobody should really be surprised by this document, which was issued in early July by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
To begin with, "Responses" covers the same ground, in much the same way, as Dominus Iesus (The Lord Jesus), a widely discussed document published in 2000 by the same Vatican agency, which then was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. You were expecting him to change his mind?
Dominus Iesus was said to have been prompted by speculations of some Asian theologians that seemed to place Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism on a par with Christianity. But the issues treated there and in the new CDF document undoubtedly exist in Europe and North America as well.
Practically speaking, the root of the problem is that too many Catholics naively take for granted the truth of the misinformation about the Catholic Church and ecumenism that they've been fed for many years. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) embraced ecumenism, didn't it? So how can we claim Catholics have a lock on truth?
The confusion here is profound. In trying to untangle it, let's begin with a statement by Vatican II in its dogmatic constitution on the Church, no. 8: "This Church [i.e., the Church of Christ], constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church."
People have been arguing for four decades about those words "subsists in." Years ago, chatting with a prominent theologian, I hazarded the opinion that subsists in means to be fully present in. The theologian hemmed and hawed, then gave me to understand I was missing the point. Now it seems I was right.
Here's what the doctrinal congregation says: "'Subsistence' means...perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church, in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth."
This doesn't say Catholics are better than other Christians. That is a claim we simply can't make if "better" means more pleasing to God. And about that, who knows? God reads hearts, we don't.
Nor is it a putdown of other religious bodies. The CDF document, repeating Vatican II, readily acknowledges that "numerous elements of sanctification and of truth" exist in these.
No, the point of it is this: Jesus bestowed many gifts — theological and moral truths, sacraments, graces, charisms, offices — on the community he established. He willed that these gifts remain intact until he comes again. If Jesus' intention has come to naught — if what he gave his followers has been dissipated and lost — his great enterprise has turned out a failure. But faith rejects that possibility. Rather, the Catholic Church, by no merit of its members, remains the repository of Jesus' gifts in their fullness because it is the community in which, as we now say, Christ's Church subsists.
The starting-point of useful ecumenical dialogue is for dialogue partners to say honestly and accurately what they believe. The Vatican's new document performs an important service to ecumenism by reaffirming what the Catholic Church believes about itself.

Answer 10

Ah, but the church (all the churches) are made up of human beings, who will to a greater or lesser degree fail to match up to their ideals. As do we all. LDS, Catholic or atheist.

Best Christian T-shirt slogan I've seen:
"Please be patient, God hasn't finished with me yet."

So yes, Christians can show anger, and hatred. And some even feel it justified. We get some atheist ranters here too.
All sides get embarrassed by some of their notional "allies".

Decisions on truth shouldn't be made on the behaviour of particular individuals or even websites.