BBB:Reply to Alan Schreck on Salvation in Catholicism

   The following is from The Catholic Digest, August 1983, and is
written by Alan Schreck for the purpose of showing Roman Catholics how
to answer a personal worker who asks them if they are saved. This
question, with "Have you been born again?" are the two most
embarrassing questions that Catholics are asked, and they have to have
special, private instructions from the hierarchy on how to DUCK these
questions without actually answering them.

   In our article on "How to Damn Your Church Members," we quoted the
Roman Catholic answer given directly by The Catholic Digest on "Are you
born again?" It amounted to "EVERY BAPTIZED ROMAN CATHOLIC WAS BORN
AGAIN WHEN HE WAS SPRINKLED." (See article.) This means that ADOLPH
HITLER, Fidel Castro, and Benito Mussolini were all "born again."

   "How do we accept God's gift of salvation? The first and most
essential STEP is faith through Jesus Christ. When the Roman Catholic
Church speaks of good works as A MEANS OF SALVATION it is expressing
the belief it finds in these passages of scripture (Rom. 2:6, James
2:14,17). Catholics also believe that God has also revealed the role of
the sacraments, especially Baptism and the Eucharist, IN HIS PLAN OF
SALVATION" (pp. 69-70).

   ARE YOU SAVED?

   Well, nobody is saved YET, including the Catholic writing the
article. He continues: "Baptism then is also a means of salvation...nor
can Christians neglect the Eucharist. Catholicism appears to many
people to be a complicated system of beliefs and religious practices
that are a far cry from the simplicity of the Gospel. Is observance of
these teachings NECESSARY for salvation? FOR A CATHOLIC...rejection of
these doctrines could be a form of rebellion against GOD" (p. 71).

   The Catholic hierarchy is "God"?

   "Faith, good works, sacraments, CHURCH TEACHING...ALL THESE THINGS
PLAY A PART IN OUR SALVATION" (p. 72). Well, are you saved?

   WHEN were you saved? WHERE were you saved?

   Well, the Catholic writer couldn't answer one out of three, but he
still likes to write: "Can Christians know with certainty in this life
that they will spend eternity with God in heaven? THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT WE CANNOT...IT MAINTAINS WE SHOULD NOT PRESUME
AHEAD OF TIME" (pp. 72-73).

   How about if you are PREDESTINATED TO BE CONFORMED TO HIS IMAGE?
(Rom. 8:29).

   How about if you were told nothing could separate you from Him?
(Rom. 8:39)

   How about if all of your Christian teachers knew for certain? (2
Tim. 1:12, 1 Pet. 1:3-4, 1 John 5:10- 15).

   HOW ABOUT IF YOU MADE A LIAR OUT OF GOD IF YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T KNOW
(1 John 5:10-13)?

   "So, in response to the question, `Have you ever been saved?' a
Catholic could really give three answers:

   "(1) Yes, I have been saved...I have a share in God's life, I HAVE A
HOPE OF HEAVEN.

   "(2) I am being saved...accept his gift of salvation MORE FULLY."

   "(3) I HOPE TO BE SAVED...I must persevere in my faith...until the
end of my life" (p. 73).

   And there it is, like last year's bird's nest. Three evasive
"answers" which don't answer anything. In the first answer the Catholic
denied WHAT HE HAD JUST SAID because he finished by saying he only had
a "HOPE" of salvation. A man who is saved and knows it doesn't "hope"
he is going to heaven. HE IS ALREADY SEATED IN HEAVENLY PLACES WITH HIS
RISEN HEAD (Eph. 2:1-5).

   In the second answer, the GIFT wasn't really ACCEPTED. It is being
accepted "MORE FULLY"--which is nonsense. It is called a "FREE GIFT" in
Romans 5:16. It is given unreservedly (Rom. 8:32) to the sinner who
believes on Christ (Rom. 4:1-5) and there is no more "fully" to it: YOU
ACCEPT IT OR YOU REJECT IT FOR "SACRAMENTS," GOOD WORKS AND A CHURCH
(see Romans 16:26, 10:16).

   In the third answer the Catholic finally told the truth.

   No Catholic on this earth who OBEYS THE HIERARCHY can pull out a New
Testament and show you on the authority of God's word WHEN he was
saved, WHERE he was saved, HOW he was saved, WHO saved him, and WHAT he
was saved from. To justify an agnostic "hope of salvation," The
Catholic Digest quotes Philippians 3:11-13 to prove that the "PRIZE OF
THE HIGH CALLING" (an earned REWARD for service) is identical with
ETERNAL LIFE, and therefore can be lost, even by Paul.

   Paul was no more afraid of losing eternal life (see Rom. 8:38-39)
than losing his valve wrenches.

   ARE YOU SAVED?

   Well, you ARE or you are not (1 John 5:10).

   If you are NOT, you know where you are going (John 3:36, Rev. 21:8).

   If you ARE, you know where you are going (1 Peter 1:4,9).

   An agnostic Catholic kept in bondage by a pagan bachelorhood of
agnostic "priests" is the most pitiful thing you ever saw on this earth
outside of a concert by Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson.
