Catholics: How do you deal with Christians who think they have the right to condemn others to hell?

Question

I keep running into this crazy fundy online and he keeps posting that Roman Catholics, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists as well as anybody with a different religion other than his version of 'Christianity' will burn in hell on the day of judgement.

I argue with him and tell him that you can't simply judge the goodness in a person just because of his/her religion.

All he responded was with this verse:
Romans 3:12 'there are none that doeth good; no not one'
(Personally, I suspect this verse has been taken out of context)

How do you deal with people like this? He keeps going everywhere and posting up things that are so discriminating against other people, thinking it will 'turn them to Jesus'.

Answer 1

Expose them. That's what I do.

Fundamentalism is defined as “the practice of asserting the absolute truth of your own beliefs and practices to the deliberate exclusion of the possibility of truth in the beliefs and practices of others.” It is nothing but bigotry.

Fundamentalists have this "holier than thou" attitude, which gets in your nerves. They always presume to know more about your religion and what is good for you.

Are they our modern day Pharisees?

How can I bring myself to love them? They resort to black propaganda and lies. Some examples of their lies and propaganda.

+ The Pope is the Anti-Christ (they have been saying this since Martin Luther made the accusation).

+ The Church is the Whore of Babylon in the book of Revelation

+ The Church is the Mother of all harlots.

+ Catholics worship Satan

+ The Church started Islam

And to add insult to injury they justify these allegations by saying “we don't want you to go to hell,” which is just ridiculous. Do they really expect us to fall for that line?

To my fundamentalist brothers & sisters: “Judge not that you be not judged for the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” – Jesus Christ.

Answer 2

I am not Catholic, I am not "fundie," but I think I MIGHT shed some light on the "issues" that some "fundies" have with the Roman Catholic church. Let me say, however, that it is a shame that they don't try to explain things better but instead head for the "going to hell" line right off the bat.

There's a great website called "gotquestions.org" which goes into great detail, but I will quote the beginning of the "article" I've cited below. Here:

"The most crucial problem with the Roman Catholic Church is its belief that faith alone in Christ is not sufficient for salvation. The Bible clearly and consistently states that receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, by grace through faith, grants salvation (John 1:12; 3:16,18,36; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10,13; Ephesians 2:8-9). The Roman Catholic Church rejects this. The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that a person must believe in Jesus Christ AND be baptized AND receive the Eucharist along with the other sacraments AND obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic Church AND perform meritorious works AND not die with any mortal sins AND etc., etc., etc. Catholic divergence from the Bible on this most crucial of issues, salvation, means that yes, Catholicism is a false religion. If a person believes what the Catholic Church officially teaches, he/she will not be saved. Any claim that works or rituals must be added to faith in order for salvation to be achieved is a claim that Jesus’ death was not sufficient to fully purchase our salvation."

See? To tell the truth, it is the SAME argument that Martin Luther (the ORIGINAL one!) had 600+years ago, which caused the major schism in the Catholic church. Luther, however, felt that the Catholic Church was "veering off course" so to speak, and wanted them to "reform" their doctrine back to the "Faith alone" basis. Luther was a Catholic monk. He didn't want to break away from the church, he wanted to give it a "course correction."

Now... as for dealing with "people like this," you cannot stop him from posting discriminating things. You can only control your own actions. Just as you have to deal with him, others will deal with his questions and posting on their own.

Yeah, it's a real bother, and his approach so totally turns people OFF... so needlessly. Anyway... I hope this helps clarify what he may have been trying to say, albeit unsuccessfully so.


Have a blessed day.

Answer 3

All men are sinners and none can be justified by the works of the law, but only by the grace of Christ.



"There is not any man just"... By virtue either of the law of nature, or of the law of Moses; but only by faith and grace.


Christ never said to His Apostles, "Go and write Bibles and distribute them, and let everyone judge for himself." That injunction was reserved for the Sixteenth Century, and we have seen the result of it. Ever since the Sixteenth Century there have been springing up religion upon religion, and churches upon churches, all fighting and quarreling with one another, and all because of the private interpretation of the Bible.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if you directed your questions only to Catholics.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:16-18.

So it is the word of God which condemns those who do not believe in Jesus.

However, the responsibility of us Christians remains the same. Tha is to treat all with love and respect. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35.

Answer 5

Generally, I ignore them as much as possible. Some hardcore Fundamentalists don't seem to realize that behaving like a judgmental bigot is no way to win people to Christianity. No human is qualified to condemn another to hell. But there are some people, and your correspondent is probably one of them, who won't listen to anything outside of their own narrow theological view. They just have to be left to run their own course. I've encountered plenty of people like that, and you simply can't reason with them. Ignoring them, if possible, is the best strategy. Nothing you say will make them change their mind. Wish them the peace of Christ, and move on.

Answer 6

A true Christian knows that our judgement will be left to the Father and his Son, Christ Jesus and therefore no human can condemn any other.

Ignore him, but pray for him and all those like him. If you argue with him, it will rile him up even more.

Answer 7

I continue to be baffled by that way of thinking. I don't know why they expect people to flock to their way of thinking immediately upon us how much we suck!

There is absolutely nothing we can say that will stop them from judging others unfairly, even when we can furnish Bible verse after Bible verse proving Catholic beliefs reasonable.

The only constructive advice/criticism we can offer such zealous fundamentalists is that they will Catch more flies with honey than they will with vinegar.

Answer 8

Well he is showing you Romans 3:12 which says “They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one."

He is trying to tell you that no one gets to heaven by the goodness of their heart. We are all sinners, so really in God’s eye there is no goodness in any human’s heart, only through Christ can God look at us and see goodness. No one will get to heaven by their goodness; only through Christ can someone get to heaven.

I don't know why so many Catholics hate the Truth of the bible Jesus is the one who said: John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.”

Yet Catholics hate it when you show them this Truth.

Answer 9

There is not much you can do to argue with a person with a closed mind, particularly online. Whatever you do, be respectful. You can also pray for them.

Answer 10

Never argue with him in terms of religious beliefs. Just ignore him and if he doesn't stop tell him frankly that he is no help to anybody and it is always better for him to just shut up.