Asking Questions, Finding Answers
Where can we find reliable answers?
Although I was raised in a Catholic family, went to eight years of Catholic grade school, was an altar boy until I was a sophomore in high school, and regularly attended Mass until I was twenty-eight, and have wonderful memories of it all, I no longer go to a Catholic church and do not consider myself to be Catholic. Leaving the Catholic Church was not something I just suddenly decided to do one day, nor was it something anyone talked me into doing. It was a decision I made based upon much prayer and reading of God’s Word, the Bible, as well as additional evidence before me.
There are very important and serious reasons why I am no longer Catholic. Please understand, I am not condemning anyone who is Catholic. I want only to share with you the reasons I am no longer Catholic and to encourage you to seek Jesus with all your heart regardless of what church you do or do not attend. I hope this book will encourage everyone who reads it to think about what they believe, know why they believe it, and understand the eternal consequences of their beliefs.
If you are involved or interested in the Catholic Church, you probably already have some kind of belief in Jesus. Now the question is, where can we go to find out what the Catholic Church teaches, and where can we go to learn more about Jesus? To learn what the Catholic Church teaches, we can go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Its introduction states that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is given to the Christian faithful so
“...that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine...” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, [Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1994], p. 5).
The introduction is signed by Pope John Paul II. With the Pope’s endorsement, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a reliable source for learning about what the Catholic Church teaches.
And where can we go to learn about Jesus? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
“ ‘And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true’; this is why God’s promises always come true. God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word in all things” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 215).
Since the Bible is God’s Word, and since we can abandon ourselves in full trust of His Word in all things, the Bible is then a trustworthy source for information about Jesus and Christian doctrine. The Catholic Catechism also tells us that
“The Church ‘forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn “the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,” by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” ’ ” (para. 133).
“Forcefully and specifically exhorts” are some pretty strong words related to the importance of learning about Jesus through reading the Bible. The quote above clearly states that if we do not know what the Scriptures say, we do not know Jesus: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” Thus the Bible is a good and trustworthy source, highly recommended by the Catholic Catechism and Pope John Paul II, for learning about Jesus.
How important is it to know God? The Bible tells us that the greatest and first commandment is to
“...love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all our mind” (Matthew 22:37).
To love God, we must know Him. Many people today say they know God or that they know all about God or even that they love Him. But do they really? It can be unsettling and even frightening to learn that Jesus says,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day [the day of judgment], ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’ ” (Matthew 7:21–23)
This passage tells us that in the day of judgment, there will be many the Lord Jesus will not know—even some who did mighty deeds and knew His name. In the day of judgment, some people who think they know Jesus are going to painfully and regretfully find out that Jesus does not know them because they never really knew Him. Those whom Jesus tells to depart from Him will not enter Heaven.
As stated earlier, the Catholic Catechism tells us that if we are ignorant of the Scriptures, we are ignorant of Jesus; that if we do not know what the Bible teaches, we do not know Jesus. The Bible tells us how we can know if we know Jesus:
“The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived” (1 John 2:3–6).
We can be sure we know Jesus if we keep His commandments and keep His Word. And the greatest and first commandment in His Word, the Bible, is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind—in other words, with our entire being (Matthew 22:34–38).
How can we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? To start, we must get to know Him. It is not possible to truly love someone whom we do not truly know. And to get to know God, we must read His Word.
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If you would like a free copy of the book
for yourself or to share with family or
friends, simply e-mail me at:
Joe@TeachingsOfTheCatholicChurch.com
and I will be happy to send one to you.
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