Post
by Pumpkin_Man » Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:06 pm
I can't say that I agree with you. Cults can be very dangerous, and use methods that are harmful to people. The practice of shunning, for instance, is commonly used by Jahova's Whitness and other cults. The Catholics would never do that. Neither would the Baptists, Methodists, or most other Christian denominations. In the Jones Town cult, people were actualy publicaly beaten with a rod, and children were lowered down into a dty well where a guy dressed as a devil/monster was there to scare them and torment them. Most religious demonations would NEVER use such tactics to get their belief system across. Is the Catholic Chursh less them "perfect?" Well, I would honestly have to say "yes," but there is a world of difference between a religion like Catholicism and a cult.
Do I think the Catholic Church is the "one true faith?" The teachings on that particular subject are numerous, but in a word, the answer is "yes." I do believe that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ, BUT both the Church and the Bible teaches that anyone who does "what he knows to be right in his heart" is saved. Catholics are BY NO MEANS the only group who enter God's Kingdom, and that is taught to all Catholics. It is our belief, and my belief, that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, and that the first Pope was St. Peter. I don't want to go into a long winded explanation, because the question you posed is a very complicated one. So to make a long story short and to fi nish off, hopefully without offending anyone or starting a flame war, I believe what the Catholic Church teaches. So yes, I do believe that the Catholic Church is the One true faith, but ai also believe, as it is taught, that being a non Catholic does NOT guarentee you a one way ticket to hell, any more then being Catholic guarentees you a one way ticket to Heaven.
Mike