What do you think about the “TREE” of Catholicism?

Question

MANY Catholics:

Will say they are not Christians.

Will say they are not “born of Spirit”, or even know that Jesus spoke about this in John 3.

Will say they have no idea whether they would go to heaven, or not.

Have no concept of what the “Gospel” is.

Believe that they merit justification by their works (though the Catholic Catechism clearly states that justification is by grace alone, and based on the merits of Christ alone – unbeknownst to most Catholics and Protestants, alike)

Will NOT say that they are “saved”, don’t know what being “saved” means, don’t know how one is “saved”, don’t know why they need “saving”, and don’t even know what they are “saved” from.
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How far can we go before we conclude that these are doomed for hell unless brought from the darkness and into the light?

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And more poignantly:

If the FRUIT of a tree makes evident what kind of tree it is…
…then with all this rotten fruit, what does it say about the “tree” of Catholicism?

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yachadhoo says: Hey Pastor Billy,
1) We know it is you who...you don't have to tell us every single time. Thankfully, Yahoo Answers gives each individual poster an "Avatar", and under that "Avatar" is your name. So that every time you post, your Avatar is there...with your name - "Pastor Billy" - under it...to let us know that it is you who is speaking.

2) You don't have to talk about yourself in the third person, like George Constanza did for awhile on Seinfeld, "George is getting upset!"

3) WHO CARES what "Pastor Billys" says. Who cares what Catholicism says. Who cares what your Pope says. I want to know what GOD says. And HE has spoken to us in these last days through His Son, Jesus Christ. And He still speaks to His sheep, who know HIS voice, by the Holy Spirit - even through His Word, the Bible. And YES, He does speak through the church - other believers, who speak as led by the Holy Spirit.

Answer 1

What's up with all these religious Logos ??? I'm a baptist,or catholic,or penecostal,methodist.
Come on people It's not about this !!!
You can be true to your religion and still miss the mark. These poeple hold their religion close to their hearts and deny the real reason for church,Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross.
Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you're Lost ! I don't care what religious label you tack onto It.

Jesus cursed the fig tree that looked fruitfull from afar. Then when He saw that It bore no fruit,He cursed it and It withered away and died.
The tree that bears no fruit should be cut down,starting at the root where It's life originates.
The only way to heaven Is through Jesus Christ.
He's the way,the truth and the life,No one comes unto the Father except by Me.
You must be born again (a spiritual re-birth) to enter Into the kingdom of heaven.
Don't be deceived people. Without repenting of your sins and asking Jesus Christ to come Into your heart and be your Lord & Savior,you're not heaven bound.
So many say that ALL roads lead to God. This Is a lie from satan.
It's about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,not a religion or denomination. These things cause confusion.Don't be deceived by satan.
Repent.Today Is the day of salvation.Tomorrow may be too late.

Answer 2

1. Catholics are Christians and they all know it. If not, they aren't Catholic..
2. Catholics know they were born of spirit when they were baptized.
3.Catholics know you never truly know if you're going to Heaven because we're not God.
4. Catholics know what the Gospel is. They say exactly what it is at every Mass.
5. Catholics do not believe in salvation by works alone because works are but good deeds without faith and faith is dead without good works. Meaning Catholics require BOTH.
6. We don't say we're saved because we were practically born saved because we were baptized as babies. So it's not a big deal for us. Confirmation is the important one.
7. No single group of people can be condemned because they belong to a particular group of people. Jesus himself dined with sinners so who are we to judge.

edit: You want to know what God says and not what the higher ups in the Catholic Church say. Well good. So do I. What God says leads to the Church. Everything the Catholic Church teaches can be supported by the Bible. If it wasn't in the Bible they wouldn't do it. People ask me sometimes if I agree with what the Pope is doing and I'm like "What is he doing?" They never tell me. I honestly don't get it. Unless he is teaching something religious, I don't care. I shouldn't care. Everything else is supposed to be PR.

Answer 3

Yikes, yet another Chick disciple! First, enable us to look at that little bit of biblical verse which you have pulled out to rationalize your bigotry against the main important and oldest denomination of Christianity. Matt 7:17-18 17 So, each and every sound tree bears solid fruit, however the undesirable tree bears evil fruit. 18 a valid tree won't be able to undergo evil fruit, nor can a bad tree undergo solid fruit. The fake prophets of verses 15-20 are to be judged in accordance with Deut 13:one million and 18: 20-22. Does the prophet's word come actual? Does the prophet lead the human beings off beam? the outcomes (or culmination) teach the prophet's character (the tree) Now evaluate the training of Jesus Christ, His Apostles that He chosen related to Commandments and Idolatry, plus the 2000 + years of documented, continuity, and functioning historic past of the Roman Catholic Church. My query to YOU right now. Did Jesus % Judas Iscariot? Does that determination of one of the 12 Apostles condemn our Savior Jesus Christ? NO! Jesus is the way, the actual fact, AND THE existence. examine Matt 18:15-35. once you get the urge to have self assurance the fake prophets of the disciples of Chick, interior the call of our Lord Jesus Christ examine Matthew 7:one million-14. The Roman Catholic Church isn't the fake prophet of your fears. The fake prophet is the fake perception of anti-Catholic bigots. seek for the actual fact interior the call of Jesus the Christ.

Answer 4

It is impossible to give a universal statement on the salvation of all members of any denomination of Christianity. Not ALL Baptists are saved. Not ALL Presbyterians are saved. Not ALL Lutherans are saved. Salvation is determined by personal faith in Jesus alone for salvation, not by titles or denominational identification. Despite the unbiblical beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, there are genuine believers who attend Roman Catholic churches. There are many Roman Catholics who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. However, these Catholic Christians are believers despite what the Catholic Church teaches, not because of what it teaches. To varying degrees, the Catholic Church teaches from the Bible and points people to Jesus Christ as the Savior. As a result, people are sometimes saved in Catholic churches. The Bible has an impact whenever it is proclaimed (Isaiah 55:11). Catholic Christians remain in the Catholic Church out of ignorance of what the Catholic Church truly stands for, out of family tradition and peer pressure, or out of a desire to reach other Catholics for Christ.

Answer 5

Pastor Billy says: we've talked before what is the actual question here??? you seem to be all over the place referring to this Catholic and that Catholic yet you fail to actually express what the teaching authority of Catholicism teaches why is that? I know of many persons from various communities of faith who hold to personal opinions which differ from the authoratitive voice of their group. I've also met numerous Protestant Evangelicals for example who do not agree or provide the same answer regarding certain spiritual questions.

Once again what is your question, what is your point?
Catholicism isn't true because everyone knows what to say or when to say it, it isn't true because everyone claiming membership is always holy, it's true because it was instituted by Jesus Christ and he is it's head.

addendum: yach, can I call you yach? yach go ahead and belittle my writing style all you wish and as far as who cares what Catholicism says well obviously you do or why should you raise a question entitled the TREE of Catholicism?

Truth be told if you are seeking to know God better and his "word" you eventually will be led back to his One Church.

I challenge and encourage you to watch EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) and in particular the Journey Home program

Answer 6

The many Catholics that you're speaking of truly don't care about religion, but still consider themselves catholics. If they truly cared they'd get themselves educated. A lot of Catholics, and Protestants are like that. Here's a star.


Real Church at least they aren't as ignorant as you.

Answer 7

Honestly I think a lot of Catholics are very uneducated Biblically. I think some protestants are as well but not to the extent the Catholics are. I had a friend in college who was Catholic. We were talking about our churches one day and I said we were studying the book of Romans. He had no idea that Romans was a book of the Bible. This was a guy who went on missionary trips with his church and yet he did not know that Romans was a book in the Bible. I couldn't hardly believe it.

Answer 8

My_My_Now says ;-)

This tree shall be hewn down and thrown into the lake of fire, followed closely by the antichrist (pope) and his minions.

Believe it, or don't, but it won't make it any less true.

Answer 9

I'd like to see your sources. And fundies sites do not count.
Especially the one where they say they aren't Christians. I laughed so hard I nearly got coffee all over by keyboard.

Nice religious rant by the way.

Answer 10

MANY protestants:
will say everyone (except them) goes to hell
will say God enjoys killing soldiers
will say blacks and immigrants are sub-human

therefore, protestants much be racist pigs, since they claim to do this in Jesus' name.
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is that a fair comparison? of course not, but it's no more fair than yours. when you figure out why mine isn't fair, you might discover why yours isn't

and for the record, salvation isn't a one time thing. if a ship is sinking, you aren't saved when you get on the life raft, you are saved when you get to shore.
http://www.catholic.com/library/Assurance_of_Salvation.asp

i've never seen a catholic who said he wasn't Christian

nor have i seen one who didn't know what a gospel was.