Posted by John Theobald on October 29, 19100 at 01:49:39:
In Reply to: Re: A best religion question posted by Philip St. Romain on September 28, 19100 at 07:24:57:
: 1. It can refer to the intensity and quality of Christ's presence manifest in his Mystical Body, the Church.
: 2. It can refer to the abundance of gifts, helps, wisdom, etc. in the Church.
: 3. It can refer to the manner in which our humanity is transformed in Christ.
: 4. It can refer to the correctness of its understanding of divine revelation as expressed in its doctrines and worship.
: . . . and I'm sure there are other considerations.
: Point #3 is especially important, I believe, and it relates to the rest. While it is true that an abiding union between the human and divine (salvation) can be developed in any tradition, this doesn't fully address the issue of what kind of union, how human nature is transformed in that union, etc. Does this union develop humanity, or, in some cases, occur at the expense of its development?
It would seem to me that the only way the efficiency (in terms of the above points) of a religion could be measured, according to Christ's standards, would be in the degree of eliminating suffering and loving their neighbor. By their fruits they will be known. It must be possible to measure this, to a not perfect, but reasonable degree. If there were no difference then I would question if one way was producing more fruits of the Holy Spirit.
: You see, the goal of the Christian life is the divinization of humanity and, indeed, all of creation. Christ alone, we believe, most perfectly incarnates and integrates the human and divine, and the Church is his Mystical Body now in space and time. What the Catholic Church is saying is that the highest development of this divinization process can be found in Catholicism--at least, that's the spiritual/mystical sense of it, rather than the doctrinal/theological, which is not totally separate.
: I hope this makes sense. The Church is trying to speak to an age of relativism and political correctness, which views religions with suspicion and considers all to be making claims that are entirely subjective, at best, and self-serving, at worst. It's trying to say something about why it's important for Catholics to stay in their Tradition, and why others should consider becoming Catholics. Unfortunately, the message is being heard through the filter of political correctness, and the Church's past triumphalistic tendencies don't help matters much.
: Thanks for your questions.
: Phil