I heard a man on the radio a while ago, and the things he said greatly disturbed me. He was a Catholic priest and said, matter-of-factly, that only people belonging to the Catholic faith may enter into the Kingdom of God. Many people belonging to different donominations phoned in and asked him to clarify, but he said that no other church is the "true church," and that everyone who is not part of the Catholic church are damned.
One of the reasons he stated was that, because Jesus gave Peter the authority to build his Church, and because the Catholic church claims Peter as their founder, no other church is valid. He also said that Jesus intended only one church, so any one other than the Catholic church is against Christ.
He also said that Christ commanded us to be baptised and take communion, and that since not all non-Catholic churches do these things, people of other denominations cannot be saved.
Is this what every Catholic believes?
I was always under the impression that simply acknowledging Christ as our saviour was enough. I was surprised that works and tradition played such a large part in salvation. I was also surprised that this man put so much emphasis on the Catholic church being the only "true church."
Personally, I've never subscribed to any single denomination. I've moved a lot, so I've been to Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, and Anabaptist churches. Basically, I've never really seen the absolute importance of following the almost legalistic "traditions" of Christianity,
but instead simply look for a place to worship with fellow Bible-believing followers of Christ. In fact, when Jesus mentioned the "Church," I thought he meant the entire Body of Christ; that is, everyone who follows the inspired Word of God and claims Christ as their saviour.
Am I wrong? Is there any "right" denomination? Am I not getting into heaven unless I have my communion wafers and grape juice every Sunday?
