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Dear Joel,
In addition to what John has just said I what to add
that those who KNOW the Catholic Church to be the true
Church yet refuse to join her, cannot be saved. All mankind
is bound to form and develop their conscience on a regular
basis with the ultimate goal being the unification of
Christianity into the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC
Church, Matt 16:13-20, 1 Tim 3:15.
Here is the simplified version of this doctrine:
(all three are
important in explaining this specific Church Teaching
correctly.)
- those who through no fault of their own don't know
the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but seek Him and
His Church with a sincere heart can [not will]
be saved.
- those who know the Church to be the True Church,
yet refuse to enter it, cannot be saved.
- All people are obligated to form their conscience
and grow in knowledge of their own faith AND grow in
knowledge of the historical nature of their church
and faith. In doing so, they confirm they belong to
the one Church Jesus established on St. Peter and His
successors.
MANY times, Catholic faith-sharers, apologists and even
teachers, will leave one of these three of these out
of their explanation of this doctrine of
the Church. When they do, they confuse, not only Catholics,
but sincere seeking Protestants who want to know more
about what Catholics believe.
[I can personally attest to the last portion of this
statement by the number of Protestants, all across America,
who have been asking for FREE
Catechisms.]
We owe them the full
truth on any of the Church's teachings.
You said:
That is a mistranslation of the Latin,
which refers to "Extra
Ecclesio." "Outside the Church" would
be rendered "Ultra Ecclesio."
I checked with a priest-friend of mine who is fluent
in Latin and he said:
I think "extra" has always been accepted as
meaning "outside."
Finally note.
You said:
This is the work of the Church, and it is precisely the
work of the Church without which there is no salvation.
My question: What is the work of the Church Joel? To
sit back and state,
"There is no salvation outside the
Church"
and unless you become a Catholic you are not
..."going to make it".
No! The work of the Church is to EVANGELIZE
ACROSS AMERICA and give good, holy reasons to become
a Catholic.
The sad days of "Just-believe-it-and-don't-ask-questions",
are OVER!
The Catholic Church and practicing Catholic
evangelists and apologists have
answers to anyone's questions.
If we don't know the answer to your question, we use
our Catholic support groups to assist us.
We are not
an exclusive country club. We welcome everyone on the
face of the earth to become
a Catholic. That is God's will for everyone.
Your brother in prayer, your brother in Christ,
Mike Humphrey
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