Regarding the teaching of the Catechism about
Muslims worshiping the same god— the language says "Together with us
they adore the one merciful God." So how does that unify with what Jesus
says in John chapter 5 that "Whoever does not honor the son
does not honor the father who sent him"?
Great question, and here's the key: I always like to go to texts like
John 14:6 to clarify on this point, because Jesus also says, in even more
plain terms than the verse you just gave: "I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father except by me."
Right? And so how in the world can anybody be saved
other than those who know Jesus? And of course we believe, as Catholics, that
there's the possibility of salvation for
those who have never rejected Jesus. And why do we say that?
Because if you go to the next chapter in John 15:22,
Jesus says: "If I had not spoken to them
they would have no sin. Now I have spoken to them, their sin remains."
Notice how Jesus there teaches that you're not responsible for what you
did not know—and we would add in our catholic theology, what you could not
have known, what you were not responsible to have
known. And so yes, it is absolutely true that if
you don't honor the Son, you're not honoring the Father. But
what's implied there is that you know it! To knowingly reject
the Son is to reject the Father.
But again, Jesus says "If I had not spoken to them they would have no sin."
In other words, you're not responsible. This is what the
Church understands as invincible ignorance. That is, the—not just ignorance,
and remember, ignorance is never bliss. Ignorance is a
bummer, and it's dangerous! It's invincible ignorance that can mitigate
culpability. If you're ignorant in the sense that
you should have known, then that itself is a sin. In other words,
if you purposely stuck your fingers in your ears when Sister was teaching
at Catholic school so you wouldn't be culpable, guess what? You are culpable,
all right? But that's the key, my brother. That's not
contrary—see the Catechism paragraph 841, which is
quoting Lumen Gentium paragraph 16 and the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church,
is not contradicting Jesus Christ. Jesus' Church is simply elucidating
what Jesus teaches. Does that make sense, Brad?
It does help. Would you then say that, like, those Muslims who
do hear about Christ and reject him, would the Catechism's teaching not apply
to them then? Exactly. But we we need to add a caveat
here: you and i are not the ones that can make
that judgment. Only God can, because just—and this has been a
mistake a lot of Christians make. Just because somebody hears—even if it's
a great saint proclaiming the gospel—does not mean
they they comprehend it, especially with
regard to the great mystery of the Trinity, for example, which requires
supernatural grace to comprehend anyway. We are not the ones that can make
the judgment: "Ah, that guy heard the gospel. Man, he's
cooking because he's still Muslim!" No, that
is in the internal forum where God alone can judge. But in principle,
what you're saying is absolutely correct: the Muslim
who has heard the gospel and in his heart of hearts
said: "Wow, there's something true here, but no, I'm going to reject that because
my whole family—" that's when all those verses of
scripture, you know, "Unless you take up your cross...
if you put father, mother, wife, anything before me, you are
not worthy of me and you will be lost." Because, you know, we
just read on Sunday that great Gospel
from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16:21-27, which comes
right after the promise of the keys of the kingdom, which I love,
right after that promise Jesus says "The Son of Man has to go
to the cross," and Peter says "No way! No way, didn't you get the memo? We're going
to take over the world!" And what does Jesus say? "Get thee behind
me, satan! Thou savorest not the things which
are of God, but the things which are of men." And then after he hammers Peter,
he goes on to say "Unless you take up your cross and follow me, you
cannot be my disciple. If you love your life more
than me, you cannot be my disciple. What does it profit a man,"
verse 26 says, "if he gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?" It's when you have knowledge of who Jesus is that all those
verses kick in place for you, and you must choose to follow Jesus or you
will be lost.