"From Nostra Aetate through Assisi to Pachamama"
(With apologies to Goethe)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, he shows the fruit of faith. First, he sets forth the reward for faith. Secondly, the penalty for unbelief (v 36b).
547 The reward for faith is beyond our comprehension, because it is eternal life. Hence he says, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. And this is shown from what has already been said. For if the Father has given everything he has to the Son, and the Father has eternal life, then he has given to the Son to be eternal life: “Just as the Father possesses life in himself, so he has given it to the Son to have life in himself” (below 5:26): and this belongs to Christ insofar as he is the true and natural Son of God. “That you may be in his true Son, Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn 5:20). Whoever believes in the Son has that toward which he tends, that is, the Son, in whom he believes. But the Son is eternal life; therefore, whoever believes in him has eternal life. As it says below (10:27): “My sheep hear my voice... and I give them eternal life.”
548 The penalty for unbelief is unendurable, both as to the punishment of loss and as to the punishment of sense. As to the punishment of loss, because it deprives one of life; hence he says, whoever is unbelieving in the Son will not see life. He does not say, “will not have,” but will not see, because eternal life consists in the vision of the true life: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (below 17:3): and unbelievers will not have this vision and this knowledge: “Let him not see the brooks of honey” (Jb 4:19), that is, the sweetness of eternal life. And he says, will not see, because to see life itself is the proper reward for faith united with love.
The punishment of sense is unendurable because one is severely punished; so he says: the anger of God rests on him. For in the Scriptures anger indicates the pain with which God punishes those who are evil. So when he says, the anger of God, the Father, rests on him, it is the same as saying: They will feel punishment from God the Father.
Although the Father “has given all judgment to the Son,” as we read below (5:22), the Baptist refers this to the Father in order to lead the Jews to believe in the Son. It is written about this judgment: “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). He says, rests on him, because this punishment will never be absent from the unbelieving, and because all who are born into this mortal life are the objects of God’s anger, which was first felt by Adam: “We were by nature,” that is, through birth, “children of anger” (Eph 2:3). And we are freed from this anger only by faith in Christ; and so the anger of God rests on those who do not believe in Christ, the Son of God.
I am not one of those who subscribes to God suddenly pouring out His wrath because of Pachamama. This theory makes God silent on decades of FALSE worship with false religions that propose a variety of opinions on Our Lord Jesus Christ ranging from the most monstrous blasphemy that the Son of God is a heretic boiling in excrement in Hell, to lesser blasphemies that He is but a mere prophet, a guru, a wise man, a rebel, and so on. The common denominator in these evil, false religions is they DENY Jesus Christ came in the Flesh (and to the degree they deny Him, they are EVIL). They are of the Spirit of Antichrist.
Call me intolerant, a bigot, an Islamophobe, or antisemite. No problem at all. I could not care less. Just dare take it up with the Holy Spirit on your Particular Judgment. Tell Him that He was wrong! Tell Him that St. Peter was wrong when he said "there is NO NAME under Heaven by which we are saved, but that of Christ Jesus". Tell him Sts. John and Paul were wrong. Better yet, tell Him that Jesus Christ was wrong - a liar - when He said "NO ONE comes to the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6).
Now let us return to St. Thomas, who knew Catholic doctrine, knew Truth and preached it. And as we do, let us not forget that modern man, including (alas) most Catholics hate doctrine.
As we study St. Thomas, we need to carefully reflect on Nostra Aetata, the various Assisi events, the innumerable false "worship" services engaged in by the Popes and bishops following the Council. Nostra Aetate is the formal cause.
Sadly, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both engaged in and encouraged false "worship" services. As with every liberal and man of the Council, they were and are men of contradiction. They wanted to be both Catholic and draw close (too close) to Modern Man. The actions taken by Pope Francis is but a logical consequence of a long series of steps that began decades ago to pander to Modern Man.
And who is this Modern Man? He is selfish, materialistic, superstitious, arrogant, vicious, pagan etc. In a word: godless. Modern Man may well be drowning in his sin, but if you throw him a line and lean over too closely into the river, he'll pull you in with him. Churchmen getting too close to Modern Man, rather than convert him, became like him. It was not evident 40 years ago, but as time has flowed, the diabolical nature, the treachery, the open evil of many of these churchmen is there to see.
Whilst never formally denying the above passages from St. Thomas, nonetheless, these modern Popes presented a picture that though the Catholic Faith was the best, perhaps even was the fullness of Truth, these false "religions" had good in them. This was the position taken at the Council. Error was downplayed, and occasional truths played up. The occasional truths in the false religions is not the problem, it is the untruths and the errors. Regard the innumerable times that Our Lord Jesus Christ excoriated the Pharisees, though these same men also proclaimed many truths. True religion must be completely true for God contains no error or defect. Nor can His true religion.
When it comes to aeronautical engineering Modern Man is sober, serious and accepts the principles of non-contradiction. In
engineering we can see this: a plane to fly needs all its components
safe and working: one small defective tyre (for example) WILL lead to
disaster. But when it comes to religion? Far too many of us become silly, soft and sentimental. We accept all religions are good, or at least have good intentions. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not have that attitude.
For Modern Man religion (here I speak of the ONE True religion) is nothing but a "social activity". A feel good club. Truth does not enter the picture; Modern Man rejects Truth. So it should come as no surprise, that the Catholic Faith is "unessential". Witness (for example) the recent statements by US Supreme Court Justice, John Roberts on Friday May 29, 2020, or the declarations by Doug Ford's Ontario government on Friday November, 20, 2020.
The Catholic knows that all "religions" that deny Christ's Divinity are objectively EVIL (that is, lacking a due good, e.g. that Jesus Christ is God) without exception. Our Lord and all his Apostles preached this. It permeates every page of the New Testament, and was prophesied in the Old:
"...and now, his full achievement reached, he wins eternal salvation for all those who render obedience to him". (Hebrews 5:9)
"This is the test by which God’s Spirit is to be recognized; every
spirit which acknowledges Jesus Christ as having come to us in human
flesh has God for its author; and no spirit which would disunite Jesus comes from God. This is the power of Antichrist..." (1 John 4: 2,3)
Those in schism and heresy, if validly baptised yet adhering to the great Truth of Christ's Divinity, retain, as persons (not in their sect, but in spite of their sect) an imperfect spiritual link to the Catholic Church, where they are being called by God to full conversion. So-called "religions" to the degree that they oppose, hate, and rage against Jesus Christ and His Church are placed firmly in the camp of Satan. It is very important to stress that I am writing about the "religions", I do NOT write about individual persons who adhere to these evil religions. God pours out His Grace on every man, even the militant atheist. It is a question of each man's response to Grace. Every man in these "religions" is being called - without exception - to conversion and membership in Christ's Mystical Body.
Catholics also know that our Faith is not in man, not in the Pope, not in our bishop, but in Christ ALONE. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1) Further Our Lord warned us of tribulations, and admonished us: "Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13).
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