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The Pope says "all religions lead to God"

Enlightenedtruth said:
I had to look up the word apostasy.....I don't understand how that fits?
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I tend to agree with you if one looks at things from an R.C. prospective there does not seem to be a contradiction between church doctrine and what the Pope said.


apostasy: The renunciation of a belief or set of beliefs.

Question for CHATagt...
What is the roman cathelic position on salvation via other religions?
Answer:
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is possible outside the formal boundaries of the Church, but it emphasizes that Christ is the unique and necessary source of salvation. This position has evolved over time, particularly with the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which clarified the Church's stance on non-Christian religions.

Key Points on Salvation in Other Religions:​

  1. Christ as the Only Savior: The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation. However, the grace of Christ can operate outside of the visible Church.
  2. Non-Christians Can Be Saved: In Lumen Gentium, a key document from the Second Vatican Council, the Church acknowledges that people who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ or His Church can still be saved. This applies to those who, in good conscience, follow God as they understand Him and live according to moral principles. The Church refers to these as "anonymous Christians," meaning they are unknowingly following Christ by living good lives in accordance with God's will.
    1. "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus" (Outside the Church There is No Salvation): This traditional teaching has been nuanced. The Church maintains that it is through Christ and His Church that salvation is made available to all. However, it also teaches that those who are ignorant of the Church's necessity but seek truth and goodness can be saved.
    2. Other Religions: The Catholic Church holds that other religions may contain elements of truth and goodness that can prepare people for salvation. These religions are seen as participating, in some way, in the divine truth. In the document Nostra Aetate, the Church expresses respect for other religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, acknowledging that they can reflect aspects of the truth, but full salvation comes through Christ.
    3. Baptism of Desire: The Church also teaches the concept of baptism of desire, where those who, without explicit knowledge of Christ, seek God sincerely and strive to do His will, can be united to the Church and saved.

Summary:​

While the Catholic Church holds that salvation ultimately comes through Christ and the Church, it recognizes that God's grace is not limited by formal membership. Those of other religions, or none at all, can be saved if they sincerely seek the truth and live in accordance with their understanding of God’s will.


So, according to R.C. theology, one doesn't need to have heard of Christ to be saved. KEWL, another way.

Got to wonder which way is more efficient: thru "faith in Christ" or "sincerely seek the truth and live in accordance with their understanding of God’s will".
 
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Enlightenedtruth said:
I had to look up the word apostasy.....I don't understand how that fits?
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He is leaving the beliefs of historic, orthodox Christianity. According to Catholics themselves:

‘Pope Francis on Friday wrapped up a three-day visit to Singapore by declaring that “all religions are a path to God”.

“They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all,” the Pope said, who had set aside his prepared text and spoke largely off the cuff. “Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.”

The Pontiff made his remarks during a interreligious meeting with young people held at a Catholic junior college, just prior to departing Singapore for his return flight to Rome.

Such rhetoric has stirred controversy in the path among Catholics who fear that it calls into question Catholic doctrine on Christ as the only Saviour of the world and also undercuts missionary efforts to bring people to the faith.

When Francis used similar language at an interfaith meeting during a 2022 trip to Kazakhstan, Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana warned that it risked creating a “supermarket of religions”.

Judging by his remarks on Friday, however, the pontiff has not been deterred by such criticisms.

“If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t’, where will that lead us?” he asked aloud. “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].”’

Clearly, he believes salvation can be attained apart from Christ, in direct opposition to what the Bible states.

https://catholicherald.co.uk/all-fa...ing-religious-pluralism-on-final-day-of-tour/
 
Free said:
Clearly, he believes salvation can be attained apart from Christ, in direct opposition to what the Bible states.
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In that context I do understand.....thank you.

But I do wonder if God perhaps gave different cultures, different paths....knowing not everyone would embrace Christianity. The Jews reject Christ, but according to the Christian Bible they have a serious role to play in the End Times.

Free said:
“If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t’, where will that lead us?”
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That is a good point...and history shows that differences in religion have lead to war over and over again.....as the Catholic Churches campaigns against the "pagan" religions as a prime example.
 
Enlightenedtruth said:
In that context I do understand.....thank you.

But I do wonder if God perhaps gave different cultures, different paths....knowing not everyone would embrace Christianity. The Jews reject Christ, but according to the Christian Bible they have a serious role to play in the End Times.


That is a good point...and history shows that differences in religion have lead to war over and over again.....as the Catholic Churches campaigns against the "pagan" religions as a prime example.
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How can one fall away from lies?
 
LeviR said:
The RCC started on lies and continue in them. They fall away from nothing.
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But if the Roman Church started with the Holy Bible....how can you say it started on lies?

I believe the OP was more about the current Pope leading the people away from what has been the Catholic doctrine for centuries.....and if that is right or wrong. My first inclination is to say....let God be the Judge of that.

My personal belief is there is a lot of truth in that Holy Bible.....but it does not contain all of the truth; and it does contain things that are contradictory, misleading and downright confusing. Who can say what God is doing with the non-Christians. You have to remember God made man; all that we are and are capable of is God's Will. Which to me would include the ability to choose different religions, right or wrong.
 
We dont have and right to declare who is a valid pope or not!

If he teaches contrary to the faith we do not follow him!

1 cor 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
 
Fastfredy0 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1834519918907150455
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If a person truly desires to know God, He will "draw near."

James 4:8
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you...

Jeremiah 29:13-14
13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD...

(See also: Isaiah 55:6-7; Romans 1:19-20; John 3:16-20).

Though the second Bible quotation above is spoken through the prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel, it communicates a general attitude in God, I think, toward us. God is not keen to keep Himself mysterious, confusing and hidden. He walked in Eden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve; He approached Abram, making awesome promises to him, though Abram was not looking for such a thing from God; He spoke to Moses after attracting his attention with a burning bush that was not consumed, appointing Moses His representative to Pharaoh in Egypt; He took on flesh in the Person of Christ and called the Twelve as disciples; He knocked Paul on his behind, blinding him and turning him from persecutor of Christians to defender of, and martyr for, the faith. And so on. Again and again, God has moved toward His creatures, taking the initiative in revealing Himself to them, making it crystal clear that He wants to be known by them. And so, He has acted to carefully clarify His nature and purposes - as far as we can understand them - through Nature, our conscience, the revelation of Scripture and in the Incarnation.

Why in the world, then, would the Pope, who should know better, declare that God has revealed Himself in false ways, through false, pagan and demonic "gods," and through entirely erroneous conceptions of what is "divine" (the universe, rocks, trees, rivers, the sun, humans themselves, etc.)? Such thinking confounds all that God has done to clearly reveal Himself through the things that He has.

What Pope Francis demonstrates in his entirely wrong pronouncement is how human and fallible, and how easily captured by worldly ideas, he is. Worse, his words will, as some have already noted, serve to guide many straight into eternal hell.

Acts 4:11-12
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 Timothy 2:5
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,


 
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