It always surprises me when people are shocked that I tell them I believe Catholicism is the only religion where we can get the fullness of the Truth. Instead of arguing about the validity of the belief that the Catholic Church is true, they are shocked that I would make such a bold statement about one religion and/or that I would do something as “insensitive” as saying other religions are wrong.
This seems like an odd stance for someone to take – the idea that no religion is more true than another- because there is absolute truth. Knowing God is the most important truth we seek.
When you follow a particular religion, you are literally risking your immortal soul. Why would you stake your immortal soul on anything that you don’t believe is the absolute truth? If you do not believe that the religion you are following is at least the closest to the truth that we can get, you are following the wrong religion*.
“But Kate,” you might be saying, “of course I believe that Christianity is true, but I wouldn’t tell someone else that their religion is wrong.”
I think there are two answers to that. I warn you that they may seem harsh, but I hope you will pause and reflect on what I say.
Answer 1: You don’t really believe that Christianity is the truth.
Christ instructed us to make disciples. Our calling as Christians is to encourage others to seek and follow Christ so they can have eternal life. It is a tough mission, and Christ warns us that we may face persecution for doing so, but that does not mean we get a free pass to neglect this responsibility.
If you really, truly, 100% believed that Christianity was true, you would follow ALL that Christ has instructed us either directly or through his Church, especially proclaiming the Good News.
Answer 2: You don’t care enough about the other person.
I want you to think about this: as a Christian, you believe that Jesus died for us so we can gain eternal life. All we have to do is accept that beautiful gift. We do this through things like striving to live like Christ, developing and maintaining a relationship with God, being baptized, and obedience to His commandments.
If you believe that Heaven is available to all who believe and that is the ultimate source of happiness, why wouldn’t you want someone else to go there, too? Why would you let them continue practicing a false religion and put their soul at risk of damnation** when you could at least try to do something?
The problem is that as a society, truth is negotiable or changes. Some even say that moral truth doesn’t exist. As Christians, we need to reject this relativistic attitude and boldly (yet lovingly) proclaim the Truth.
Someone’s soul may depend on it.
***
*I’d actually say that if you aren’t Catholic, you’re following the wrong religion, but I didn’t want this to turn into an apologetics post. If you are struggling with a particular teaching of the Catholic Church, I recommend that you look at this post.
**Please note that I only said at risk. I encourage you to read this post that explains if non-Catholics could still go to Heaven.
