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Adrienne Nardone

Mrs. Bouch – Pd. 2

Honors English 11

10 October 2017

Pope Paul VI says, “the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is holy and true in

[non-Catholic] religions” (para. 2). Every church and belief system practices their faith

differently when it comes to tradition in the Church and truth about God. But, Catholics believe

that their Church, also called the Mother Church, contains the fullness of Truth about God. The

Mother Church has a task to promote unity and love among all people, and to draw them together

by pointing out what humans of different religions and Christian denominations have in common

when it comes to the truth about God. Collaboration and dialogue with Catholics and non-

Catholics allows the truth about God necessary for salvation to be spread. Followers of Christ all

have the same goal; to live in the Kingdom of Heaven after death. The promotion of unity allows

more non-Catholics to learn the Truth about God and achieve their heavenly goal. Catholics must

approach other religions by accepting the Truth about God practiced in their belief systems.

Although Catholics believe the Mother Church contains the fullness of Truth about God,

different denominations teach a fraction of the Truth taught in the Catholic Church.

Vatican II documents say that the Truth about God reveals itself in the Church and in the

Kingdom of Heaven. Humans are meant to find the Truth about God on earth from the

Sacraments instituted through the Church. Jesus created the Mother Church and the Sacraments

because recipients of the Sacraments and participants of the Liturgy also receive sanctifying

grace. Sanctifying grace is the only type of grace connecting humans to God. Without

sanctifying grace, it is impossible for humans to reach salvation. Therefore, “whosoever,

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knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or remain

in it, could not be saved” (The Second Vatican Council para. 14). However, humans cannot fully

understand the Truth about God that they learn throughout the Sacraments instituted in the

Church. According to Lumen Gentium, “men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in

their reasoning and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the

Creator” (para. 16). Because of concupiscence from Satan and the imperfections of humans, they

cannot fully understand the fullness of the Truth about God prior to reaching the Kingdom of

Heaven, where no evil is present.

Because Truth is for all humans to learn and accept, Catholics and non-Catholics can

unify by pointing out the Truth about God they have in common. For example, Catholicism is

not the only religion that believes in a Creator. Lumen Gentium says that “the plan of salvation

also includes those who acknowledge the Creator” (para. 16). Therefore, the belief that God is

the Creator is a shared Truth amongst Catholics and non-Catholics. Also, people of different

Christian denominations and belief systems share the belief that God watches over His Creation.

In the Iroquois Constitution, the Eagle represents God, who protects His followers from evil or

danger (para. 2). Another shared practice, especially in the Puritan religion, is to offer one’s

suffering to God. In “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House”, the victim of the fire says “and

when I could no longer look, I blest his grace that gave and took, that laid my goods now in the

dust” (Bradstreet). Despite the poet’s loss of their wealth and home, they still offered their

suffering to God. In addition, God is not exclusive. Catholicism calls for this peace and unity

among all nations so that all men may truly be sons with the Father who is in heaven.

The Native Americans support the idea that God or a Supreme Being reveals Himself to

humanity by creating the earth and its people. Catholics and the Native Americans both believe a
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Creator created the Earth from nothing, first creating the land and the sky. In the first line of

Genesis, “God created the heavens and the earth – and the earth was without form or shape, with

darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters – “(1:2). In the Walam

Olam, “at first, forever, lost in space, everywhere, the great Manito was. He made the extended

land and the sky” (Delaware). God also reveals Himself to humanity in both belief systems by

creating the first humans. In Genesis, “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God

he created them; male and female he created them” (1:27). In the Walam Olam, “He gave the

first mother, the mother of beings” (Delaware). It can be inferred that both Catholics and Native

Americans believe people were created in God’s image and are good because He created the

humans in both Creation stories.

The Puritan beliefs show that God reveals Himself to humanity by not immediately

casting humans into hell. Puritans are Christian and believe in Jesus. In the Puritan religion,

however, humans are seen as extremely weak, wicked, ignorant, and the worst creations. They

do not practice Reconciliation and believe that the sinfulness of humans continues to build

throughout their lives. Therefore, Puritans preach that “humans deserve to be cast into hell; so

that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes the objection against God using his power at

any moment to destroy them” (Edwards 2). Puritans believe that God reveals Himself by not

allowing humans to be swallowed up in destruction and saving converts from the wrath of hell.

The only thing that “keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, [is] but the mere pleasure

of God” (Edwards 4). God creates humans in His image and calls people through grace on Earth

to follow Him. Both Catholics and Puritans believe that non-converts are the only people cast

into hell. However, God has the power to do anything. Without His strong hands deciding to
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restrain all humans from hell, the Puritans believe everyone would fall into the jaws of Satan,

converted or not converted.

Members of the Catholic Church must accept the Truth about God practiced in other

religions that is comparable to the teachings of the Truth in Catholicism. The idea of forming a

relationship with people of different belief systems and Christian denominations is crucial in

allowing non-Catholics to understand the Truth about God taught in the Catholic Church.

Without learning this Truth through the Mother Church, it is impossible to reach salvation.

However, God and His Kingdom of Heaven is not exclusive to Catholics. The Iroquois said,

“Roots have spread out from the Tree of Great Peace, one to the north, one to the south, and one

to the west. The name of these roots is The Great White Roots and their nature is Peace and

Strength” (para. 2). God dispenses grace to all Catholics and non-Catholics. He is calling

humanity to build unity so that everyone can be one with Christ in heaven after death. Spreading

the Truth about to all religions is answering His call for unity among people in all nations.
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Works Cited

Bradstreet, Anne. “Verses upon the Burning of Our House.” Poets.org, Academy of American

Poets, 27 July 2015, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/verses-upon-burning-our-house.

The Delaware. “The Walum Olam”. Internet Sacred Text Archive, John Bruno Hare, 2010.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/index.htm.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Puritanism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 21 Dec. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism.

Edwards, Jonathan. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Christian Classics Etheral Library,

Calvin College, Harry Plantinga. 1993-2015,

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html.

“The Iroquois Constitution.” Great American Documents, edited by Gerald Murphy, Peacock

Data Inc, 2008-2014, http://www.greatamericandocuments.com/iroquois-

constitution.html.

Pope Paul VI. Nostra Aetate. The Vatican, 28 Oct. 1965.

The Second Vatican Council. Lumen Gentium. The Vatican, 12 Nov. 1964.
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