Catholic Answers Forums

I have been posting on Catholic Answers Forums (CAF) a little bit and I thought I’d put some of the issues I follow there on my blog here. CAF is a Catholic chat website.

We’ve been having an interesting time talking with people from various faiths. Buddhists and Hindus among others have had input on our board. I’ve been in a discussion that’s been going on for a while that is called “3000 gods but only yours exists.” Apparently someone had an atheist friend say that to them in a sarcastic way and the person asked for ideas of what to answer back. The thread is still going after 16 pages of 15 comments each but the original poster is probably long gone by now.

One issue brought up was whether you have to be a Christian to go to heaven (at least our idea of it). This is a contentious issue even among Christians. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium addresses this. However, this document was a source of confusion and even today we have liberals and conservatives arguing over it. It mentions Jews and Muslims as being related to the people of God. And yet it warns us that in the end:

But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every creature", the Church fosters the missions with care and attention (Sec. 16).

Concerning the confusion, in 1999 Josef Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote a Declaration called Dominus Iesus. He states:

As a remedy for this relativistic mentality, which is becoming ever more common, it is necessary above all to reassert the definitive and complete character of the revelation of Jesus Christ. In fact, it must be firmly believed that, in the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), the full revelation of divine truth is given: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Mt 11:27); “No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed him” (Jn 1:18); “For in Christ the whole fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9-10) (Sec. 5).

It is our obligation as Christians to proceed under the understanding that Christ is absolutely necessary for our entrance into heaven. How He will judge others of different faiths is His business. Our job is to witness to Christ in every way possible, including the effects of His presence, along with the Father and Holy Spirit, in our lives.