Conclusion
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Truth is simply the expression of or correspondence to reality, and God is reality itself. Everything that exists at all, everything that is real, has its origin and sustenance in God.
If anyone is shown the truth and recognizes it as such, and still chooses to reject or defy it, choosing instead to “make his own truth,” he is in fact rejecting God who is the source and summit of all truth. If a person persists in such rejection at the moment of his death, he cannot be saved.
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Of the four major religious systems I’ve been discussing, three of them are based upon some book or books. Modern Jews base their religion on the Torah (a.k.a. the Pentateuch), other books of [what Christians call] the Old Testament, or the Talmud (or some combination of these). Muslims base their religion on the Qur’ân (Koran) and other writings about the life and teachings of Muhammad. Protestants base their religion on sola scriptura (the Bible Alone). But none of these “religions of the Book” have a generally recognized living authority that can provide a final interpretation of “the Book” for all its adherents in case disputes arise (which inevitably happens). No written text is capable of interpreting itself or applying its message to the situations and circumstances of everyday life.
Ultimately these all rely on what is essentially a private (or personal) interpretation of a written text, as in “well, the way I read [the text] is this …” or “I disagree with your view; I don’t think you understand [the text] properly …” The adherents of these religions have no living voice to which they can appeal that can say with finality, “I’m sorry, but that particular interpretation of the text [or of our tradition] is invalid, and here’s why …” or “Wait a minute—you have no right to do that, and here’s why …” Their opinions and arguments just go round and round without coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Consequently, every other faction in the group is forced to allow, tolerate or look the other way from every “wacko” interpretation that comes along (so long as it has at least a veneer of plausibility) even if it flatly contradicts other more plausible (and consequently more widely held) interpretations. No one has the authority to stand up and say, “No, you can’t hold that position and still be a faithful member of this group because we don’t believe that.” While such various positions may be fiercely debated, none are ever excluded, and confusion among the faithful (or eventual division) must inevitably result.
The Catholic religion, on the other hand, is NOT based on the Bible (or any other written text)—so that particular accusation made by many Protestants is absolutely true. Rather, the Catholic Church wrote the Bible (certainly the New Testament, but one could say the Old Testament as well if one includes the Patriarchs and Prophets as part of the Church established by God, which the Catholic Church does). The Church is not based on the Bible; rather, the Bible is based on the Church. (It was in fact synods and councils of the Catholic Church that established the canon of Scripture (the Bible’s “Table of Contents”) back in the late 4th and early 5th Centuries.)
Only the Catholic Church has a built-in mechanism for interpreting its own sacred writings. We call it the Magisterium and it is exercised in its fullness by the college of bishops in communion with the current pope at any moment in history. Every Catholic bishop in the world within his own diocese (and every square inch of the world—be it land, water or ice—falls within the jurisdiction of some bishop) shares in this magisterial office for the people entrusted to his care (his flock), and he exercises its fullness with and in communion with the pope. Thus the Church remains One in its profession of faith throughout the world. (Individual bishops have the fullness of this teaching office, but a limited jurisdiction, whereas the pope (a bishop himself) has by definition, in virtue of his unique office (called the Petrine office after St. Peter), universal jurisdiction, and therefore jurisdiction even over other bishops.)
This living teaching office, this Magisterium, is the final authority (the final “court of appeal”) for judging whatever ideas and activities are compatible with the faith or not, or for adjudicating the disputes which inevitably arise over time. Such a single, living authoritative voice is essential for any organization to survive. Every institution needs some kind of “pope,” whether it calls him the CEO, Chairman, Prime Minister, Supreme Potentate or Grand Poo-bah. History bears out this truth. Agreeing to “decide by committee” never works in the long run. Fallen human nature precludes this option. Factions inevitably form even within “the committee” and if their differences aren’t finally worked out the group eventually breaks apart as a result. Nor is “agreeing to disagree” any way to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, but is instead a mutual concession to petty human pride and a tacit admission that truth is relatively unimportant. Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, understood this fact of human nature absolutely, and so said, “Thou art Peter (Kepha), and upon this rock (kepha) I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).
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OK, now let’s try a different tack.
Whenever anyone sins (be he Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, pagan or agnostic), he is doing the work of the devil. Everyone is a sinner—even the pope—and so everyone does the devil’s work on occasion. The pivotal question, however, is does he recognize this fact and repent of his wrongdoing, or does he glory in it? Does he turn away from his sin or does he make a career of it?
What is the devil’s work? To sew seeds of confusion, division, conflict, dissention, disobedience, deception and strife among human beings. In other words, doing anything and everything to distract people (oneself and/or others) from pursuing their one true destiny, i.e. the love of God and eternal life with Him.
Truth is one, but error is legion. There is only one true answer to 2 + 2. But there are an infinite number of false answers, and if error is your game, any one will do the job.
There is only one Creator and He sent His Only-Begotten Son to redeem the world, and there is no other means by which one can be saved from one’s sins but through Him (cf. Acts 4:12). He established one Church with the mission to preach His salvation and as the chief means to dispense His grace to the whole world. (I say chief means (not the only means) because, being God, He is not bound or limited by whatever He creates—any more than Michelangelo was limited in any way by his sculptures or paintings—and He can provide any extraordinary means he wishes to deal with any particular circumstance. But He did create the Church as the ordinary means of salvation for the world, and He did so with the expectation that it do the work to fulfill the purpose for which He created it.)
If Jesus is the only way (road or path) to the Father (Jn 14:6), all the devil has to do is nudge you off that one true path. And he’s not particular whether you’re off on the right side of the path or on the left, or off by half a mile or a thousand miles, so long as you’re off the path. There are a million (and more) other paths, and any one of them will suit the devil’s purpose—to keep you away from (or to lure you off of) the one true path.
So here’s what happens. The devil tempts us to sin (although we’re frequently also tempted by the world [money, power, the opinions/approval of others, etc.] and the flesh [pleasures, creature comforts, etc.], and if they are enough to get the job done, the devil needn’t be involved at all, so he just sits back and watches with glee—he only intervenes if he feels he has to). Small (venial) sins are enough at first to turn our heads away from our goal, to cause us to stumble just a few feet off the path. “Yeah,” we tell ourselves, “there it is over there; I can still see the path; I can get back on it at any time.” We’re not too far off the path. We’re still going parallel, we’re still headed in the same direction, aren’t we? The danger is that if we stay off the path (remaining in unrepented sin or obstinate error) for very long, we little by little wander farther and farther away until we reach a point when we realize (or it is pointed out to us) we can no longer see the true path. Then suppose we stumble upon another path, one that’s a little wider and a little easier (cf. Matt 7:13), and we mistake it for the true one …
How am I doing so far? Are you getting the picture?
These myriad religious or philosophical pathways frequently cross one another (i.e. they coincide on certain points of doctrine, outlook or praxis) and some have even been known to cross the true path in places. This shouldn’t surprise anyone.
There is no “lazy man’s way” to salvation. Salvation requires being submissive to the truth, and that is hard work. It requires us to practice humility, patience, gratitude and forgiveness. If we lack any of these virtues, we’ll never make it. And these virtues, like all virtues, are gifts we receive only through the grace of God—we can’t do it, or even start it, by our own power. (The “work” I refer to is our cooperation with and reliance on God’s grace, along with the action of our free wills to do the things He asks us to do (it is only by grace that we have the power to do them—grace always comes first) that we might serve as His instruments of salvation for others.)
These pathways, like all roads, are marked with “signs” that identify them and where they claim to lead. It’s up to us to read those signs to see if they are truly pointing us in the right direction, and to judge whether they might not be inauthentic or “forged” signs (i.e. lying—or at least mistaken—about their claims). Everyone has a “gut sense” for truth (it’s called the Natural Law (cf. Rom 2:13-16) and it operates through a well-formed conscience), and if a person values the truth, God has given him enough tools to seek it out and find it, and recognize it when he does.
In the final analysis, the real reason for joining or remaining in any particular religion shouldn’t be “I feel comfortable here” (as I’ve heard Rabbi Daniel Lapin say, “The purpose of religion isn’t to comfort the afflicted. No! It’s to afflict the comfortable!”), or “I enjoy the preaching (or the singing, or the fellowship, or the social events they sponsor),” but rather, “I follow it because it’s true.” As Jesus stood before Pilate, He said, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (Jn 18:37).
I am not a Catholic because it is fun, easy, enjoyable, comfortable, it provides emotional security or the people are easy to get along with.
Let there be no confusion on this point. I am a Catholic because Catholicism is True.
