Rome And Islam

These are ecumenical verdana, both within the Catholic Church and elsewhere. Everywhere we turn these days, we see deceived or misguided men and women declaring the wondrous "truth" that all men are brothers and that God loves us and will save us in these end verdana. Ignore the teachings of the Holy Bible, they tell us, for God wants everyone to be saved and, because He can, He will spare just about everyone from the fiery lake. It is not even necessary to know Jesus of Scripture, God's Messiah, in order to be saved. Good works and decent behavior are enough. So say those who are peddling a false gospel and a vain hope for eternity. Read again the words the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to set down so that all might know God's truth:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. -- Ephesians 2:8-9

Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. [It is] a faithful saying: For if we be dead with [him], we shall also live with [him]: If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]: if we deny [him], he also will deny us: -- 2 Timothy 2:10-12:

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, -- 1 Thessalonians 5:8,9:

Is Scripture wrong? Can it be that the Magisterium indeed knows what the Holy Spirit really intended to have written? Did Paul make a mistake when he wrote these words? Can our good deeds and our good and decent living save us?

But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. -- Isaiah 64:6

In the new Catechism, we may read:

841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." -- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed., (C) 1994/1997 United States Catho9lic Conference, Inc

Do you reckon this quite official teaching of Catholic doctrine is correct? Well, though the Catechism was promulgated by a former reigning Popentate, and though it certainly does speak to all Roman Catholics on matters of faith and morals, and is an official document of the RCC, maybe it should not be considered infallible. Who knows? Well, the Second Vatican Council surely was a general council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by a standing pope and attended by bishops from just about everywhere in the world, who addressed issues concerning faith and morals. If I understand this week's version of what constitutes a statement of doctrine, the documents and canons issued by this council meet all the criteria. Logion 841 of the Catholic Catechism, quoted above, looks to the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, a product of Vatican II.

16. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God. In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh. On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues; But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. -- The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, Promulgated by Pope Paul VI on Novembeer 21, 1964

It seems clear to me that the Creator referred to here is God, or at least the Roman Catholic version of Him. However, many of "those who have not yet received the Gospel" acknowledge a "creator," though not necessarily the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all Christians. For example, the "creator" worshipped by those who follow the Hindu religion is called Brahma. He has a consort, whose name is Saraswati. Hindu mythology tells us that Brahma was born from a lotus growing out of Vishnu's navel.

The religion of the Australian Aborigines credits ancestral spirits, called Biami for having created tribal lands and everything on them during the Dreamtime. The Aztecs believed that Ometecuhlti and his wife Omecihuatl created all life in the world. The Greeks believed that Gaea sprang from Chaos, the vacant and unfathomable space from which everything arose, and became the mother of all things. And so it goes. Offhand, I would suggest that worshipping a creator is far from being the equivalent of worshipping the Creator.

Paragraph 16 continues:

In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. -- Ibid

Now, while I will admit the possibility that Muslims and Catholics might worship the same god, I cannot accept that their god is the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God worshipped by all true Christians. We already have seen on this board how the second person of the Roman triune godhead cannot be the Jesus Christ of Scripture being, as he seems to be, dependent upon his mother for help in accomplishing his redemptive duties and submissive to her will in matters pertaining to her ministries to the Catholic faithful. And we also have seen here how the one god of Islam cannot be the God of Scripture, Who exists eternally as a Triune Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as these verses from the Qu'ran, holy book of Islam, manifest.

Pagans indeed are those who say that GOD is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah himself said, "O Children of Israel, you shall worship GOD; my Lord* and your Lord." Anyone who sets up any idol beside GOD, GOD has forbidden Paradise for him, and his destiny is Hell. The wicked have no helpers. -- Qu'ran, Sura 5, Verse 72

Pagans indeed are those who say that GOD is a third of a trinity. There is no god except the one god. Unless they refrain from saying this, those who disbelieve among them will incur a painful retribution. -- Qu'ran, Sura 5, Verse 73

The Jews said, "Ezra is the son of GOD," while the Christians said, "Jesus is the son of GOD!" These are blasphemies uttered by their mouths. They thus match the blasphemies of those who have disbelieved in the past. GOD condemns them. They have surely deviated. -- Qu'ran, Sura 9, Verse 30

How interesting that Rome claims to worship the same god as does Islam, knowing that the god of Islam denies the divinity of the Jesus of Scripture and condemns as blasphemers those who believe in the Triune God of Scripture. I say interesting, because in every Catholic Mass, the officiating priest and all the laity intone the Profession of Faith, in which they affirm the deity of Jesus. It goes like this:

A: I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father God from God, Light from Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men, and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, AND WAS MADE MAN (Here bow). For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. -- The Novus Ordo Missal
[Note: Compare the Novus Ordo Missal side-by-side with the Tridentine Missal at this site. The current official version of the Mass of Paul VI (Novus Ordo) is the year 2000 revised revision of the 1975 Missal. Nothing changes like the community with the motto "Always the Same."]

Just another example of Roman Catholic hypocrisy?

Though her core stand on spiritual issues has not changed, nor will it, as been shown on this board, the Roman church puts on a "party face" and opens her arms to those lost souls wandering in darkness. She promises them brotherhood and dangles a carrot of salvation. Thing is, the carrot is made of Styrofoam and has no value.

Look to Scripture. God does not change and His promises are pure gold which will last for all eternity.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. -- John 3:16-21

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. -- Isaiah 45:20-22

Home | More Odds & Ends | Catholic Stuff | PTG Forum