The Catholic Church and the Kingdom of God?

Question

Why is it so difficult for some non-Catholics to realize that the advanced theology, doctrines, and practices of the Catholic church are indeed based on the teachings of Christ and the apostles, found both in oral and written form, and they simply reflect the practical application of those principles, to the the fullest extent possible, this side of heaven?

And isn't it time protestants stopped merely studying the bible and started to put much, much more of the what's in it to work in the world, building up the authentic Kingdom of God, always and everywhere, instead of remaining stuck in the past, in a state of denial, that depends more on denying facts, attempting to rewrite history, and railing against the Catholic church, than anything else?

It would also be nice if mainline protestantism could begin to work towards developing some type of standard, complete theology, to minimize the confusion that's reigning over so much of Christiandom, today.

What do you think?

For Lakely - There;s nothing in Paul's work that's incompatible with mainline Christianity. Paul would have never been accepted by Peter and the others if that was the case, and the church would never have included his work in the bible, in that case, either. You're being taken in by the teachings of modern, liberal critics who couldn't recognize authentic Christianity if it landed on their head.

For GARY R - Your rant just proved my point. You have no idea of the awesome significance of Mary's position in the whole scheme of things ... solely because she is indeed the mother of Jesus Christ, and so the queen mother of the royal house of David, the queen mother of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the queen mother of all mankind. All those titles that you claim are blasphemous merely reflect the fact that Mary is now the most powerful creature in the universe, courtesy of her divine son, Jesus. And in spite of all that God-given power, she remains humble and infinitely inferior to God. Jesus is on record promising that all who overcome the world, through cooperation with his grace, will rule and reign with him. Mary was the first to successfully and flawlessly do so. Do you think he was telling a lie?

For sterling - You obviously have a different bible than anyone I know, because what you claim to be a fact is merely a false tradition of a very limited number of rabidly anti-Catholic protestants, that's based on nothing but wishful thinking.

For GaryR again - Gabriel said this to Mary, regarding her son, Jesus: Luke 1:32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. Luk 1:33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luk 1:35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.From this, anyone with any cognitive ability can instantly determine that if Jesus is all these things, than Mary, his mother is rightly the authentic queen mother of the Royal House of David, and of Heaven and earth. Perhaps we can have Gabriel visit you and explain it, personally.

For sterling again - You seem to enjoy calling the Catholic church different names of your own choosing, and you also seem to enjoy assigning various characteristics to the church, as well. I prefer to think of it as the only church that Jesus ever personally founded and eternally guaranteed, for the purpose of our salvation. I'm sure God thinks of it that way too, because Jesus remains the head of the Catholic church to this day, and he never founded ANY OTHER church.

For Bruce - The Kingdom of God exists anywhere and any time the Holy Spirit accepts the invitation to indwell a human soul, and that invitation is typically extended through the sacrament of baptism ... a sacrament that the Catholic church had administered for 1500 years before the first protestant ever thumped a bible, and continues to adminster today. It is the church that remains as the universal sacrament of salvation and it is the church which remains the primary distributor of all God's grace. Without the church, few would have ever heard the gospel, and even if they somehow did, they wouldn't know what to do about it.

For St Preachy - If God promised to bind in heaven anything you bound on earth, and to loose in heaven anything you loosed on earth, you would indeed be infallible, since God's word is always true. The church alone has this power. It is embodied by the papal office itself ... and it is also given to the bishops, when in union with the pope, as it was first practically demonstrated at the Council of Jerusalem, and at every council of the church thereafter. I can't help it if you don't know the way these things work. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

For Edge - It doesn't really matter if YOU believe the Catholic church is the church Jesus founded ... or not ... because it is an established fact of history. There was only one church in existence for the first 1500 years of Christianity, and that church was indeed known as Catholic, since Ignatius of Antioch ... a disciple of St. John the apostle ... wrote of it by that name, as early as 107 AD. The bible is a product of Catholic church tradition, and all the protestant denominations have their roots in Catholicism, as well.

Answer 1

The Catholic Church belongs to the kingdom of God, but it could not itself by the kingdom, because Jesus explained that the kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:21).

In other words, whenever anyone recognizes that Christ is king and begins to obey him as Lord, that person joins God's kingdom.

The problem with Protestants is that they reject the Church's authority to proclaim the Gospel. Jesus organized the Church and gave them the authority to bind and loose in matters of biblical interpretation (see Matt 16:18 and Matt 18:18). He spent three years giving detailed instructions to the disciples who would lead the Church, revealing many interpretive ideas not included in the text of the Bible (see John 21:25).

Protestants are like sheep without the shepherds Jesus arranged for them. It is no wonder they so often go wrong.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 2

I think your theology is more an ultra-complex web of contradictions than it is an "advanced theology", and it is clear that certain Roman Catholic doctrines were indeed not taught by the apostles. A good example of that would be papal infallibility. In fact, there wasn't even a singular bishopric in Rome until the middle of the second century, and the bishop of Rome wasn't even called the universal bishop over the whole church until the sixth or early seventh century. Can't have an infallible pope, if you don't know about the pope can you? So there you have at least one (there are many others) doctrine that the RCC holds as infallibly true, that was quite obviously not held to by the early Christians.

Answer 3

I think you have touched upon something very profound and true.

All non-Catholic Christian services I have attended (yes, ALL. I do not take that word lightly) are very self-serving. The pastor talks about faith and scripture as if it they were part of a New Age Philosophy ("Do this, believe that, and you will be more successful, healtier, happier, etc.").

Contrast that with Catholic Mass, where we praise God, ask for forgiveness, read Scripture, consider how we can serve God, profess what we believe, and we approach the Eucharistic table as Jesus commanded us. There just is no comparison.

It is only the Catholic Church that strives to be One, for which Jesus prayed so fervently.

Answer 4

It would be nice to see a more complete standard and theology in mainline Protestantism, but I’m afraid that will never be the case. It just isn’t built into the Protestant “engine”, if you will. Their belief in individualism in all aspects of faith and rejection of a central, ruling authority means there will always be someone who decides to do their own thing, resulting in the myriad thousands of denominations we have today, which will continue to grow as long as this ignorance (or flat-out rejection) of Church history and belief remains.

Answer 5

The reason non-Catholics don't realize that the Catholic Church teachings are based on the teachings of Christ is because they aren't Catholic.

Also, it is by faith that you believe in the Catholic Church. Don't fool yourself in believing that you are logical and that you can just see things clearly. The simple answer is that faith is a gift and you can't reason someone to see something when reason really only supports your beliefs. You can have everything straight, but still need the gift of faith. Be at peace.

Answer 6

Maybe it is time that Catholics start to work with the rest of Christianity rather than telling us we are not part of the true church.

I truly do not believe the RCC is the church Jesus founded. Nor do I believe many of the traditions of the RCC are apostolic in origin. This is not to say I do not believe that Catholics are Christians, because I do. However I do not think the RCC is the church that has everything right. In fact I do not think any church has everything right.

You are correct about confusion in the ranks of many protestant churches. However is this any different from the ignorance of many Catholics? Refusing to put God first and study His word is a problem in every church, whether it is protestant or catholic. It depresses me the number of people who claim to be a Christian and yet know little to nothing about the Bible.

Answer 7

Gary R, you're getting a lot of mileage from your "Marian prayer" cut and paste tonight, but exactly how does this answer the question?

Doug, all you have to do is check out the answers to any recent question about "can we lose our salvation?", for example, and see the confusing and conflicting responses ... from non-Catholic Christians, whether they call themselves Protestant or nondenominational or anything else. If just the groups represented by these respondents sat down and tried to hammer out a theology they agreed upon, it would likely be a fruitless endeavor. When a single congregation can split apart -- literally and physically -- over interpretation of one verse of Scripture, the odds are against them ever developing a complete theology upon which all agree.

Our Lord's prayer in the garden was that we would be one. And so I know that we will be, one day. But in this age, it's difficult to see how.

Answer 8

The Catholics have a lot to answer for? So its like slavery, I didn't do it but I still have to deal with the effects of what 'white' men did who werent even my ancestors most likely?

And ppl are leaving the church in droves? Um no, sorry, more people are converting to Catholicism than ever.

I agree with your statements.

Answer 9

During the visitations at Medjugorie by the blessed Virgin Mother,she exclaimed to stop bickering with other beliefs,that believed in Jesus Christ her son,and to be content that other religions at least recognized Jesus as our Saviour.Now that being said,I dont condemn other Christians beliefs, but I do not take any crap from them either.Most dont realize that they are offshoots of Catholicism,Lutherens,Protestants etc etc.I believe its what works for them,and thats OK until they knock Catholicism. Then I hit them with the fact that their religion was created because they didnt want to,or chose to not follow the rules of the Catholic Church.(Descended straight from Peter,the Apostle)

Answer 10

You know, I'm beginning to think they are becoming gnostics,




Where the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of Antioch, 1st c. A.D