are you saved?

Are You Saved?

Conviction of Many Evangelicals

If you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are “saved”Justified by Faith in ChristAssured of Eternal Life

[Those who do not do so are damned]

Expecting a Discussion of that Theme?

Separate but Related Discussions

Salvation Outside the Catholic Church?Addressed This Evening

Faith, Justification, Good Works, Merit, and Salvation:Addressed Nov. 28th: “Faith and Good

Works”

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus

(“There is no Salvation Outside the Church”)

Acknowledgments for this Presentation:Fr. Joseph Murphy, S.J.Dr. Ilaria MoraliFr. Francis Sullivan, S.J.

Affirmations of Vatican II

“Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel” (Lumen Gentium, n. 16).

A Change from Earlier Teaching?

“He cannot have God as a Father who does not have the Church as a mother”

“There is only one house of God, and there can be no salvation for anyone

except in the Church”

--St. Cyprian (d. 258)


“The love of which the Apostle says: ‘The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy

Spirit who is given to us’ (Rom 5:5), is a love which those do not have who are cut off from the communion of the Catholic Church … For

that person does not have the love of God who does not have the unity of the Church, and the Holy Spirit is not received anywhere but in the

Catholic Church”

--St. Augustine (d. 430)


“We believe in our hearts and confess with our lips that there is one Church, not that

of the heretics, but the holy Roman Catholic and apostolic Church, outside of which we believe that no one is saved”

--Fourth Lateran Council (1215)


“We are obliged by our faith to believe that there is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic

Church; indeed we firmly believe and sincerely confess this, and outside of this Church there is neither salvation nor the

remission of sins”

--Pope Boniface VIII (1302)


“…None of those who exist outside of the Catholic Church – neither pagans nor Jews nor heretics nor schismatics – can become sharers of eternal life; rather, they will go into the eternal fire ‘which was prepared for the devil and his angels’ (Mt 25:41)

unless, before the end of their lives, they are joined to the same Church … No one, even if he shed his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain in the bosom and unity of the Catholic

Church”

--Council of Florence (1442)


“Certainly we must hold it as of faith that no one can be saved outside of the

Apostolic Roman Church: that this is the only Ark of salvation, that anyone who

does not enter her will perish in the flood”

--Pius IX (1854)

Interpreting Vatican II

“Hermeneutic of Rupture”?

Pre-Vatican II

Post-

Vatican II


“Hermeneutic of Continuity”?

Twenty Centuries of Unbroken Tradition


“Hermeneutic of Organic Development”

St. Vincent of Lerins (mid 400’s)On Organic Development

“The growth of religion in the soul must be analogous to the growth of the body, which, though in process of years it is developed and attains its full size, yet remains still the same. There is a wide difference between the flower of youth and the maturity of age; yet they who were once young are still the same now that they have become old; even though the stature and outward form of the individual are changed, yet his nature is one and the same, his person is one and the same … In like manner, it behooves Christian doctrine to follow the same laws of progress, so as to be consolidated by years, enlarged by time, refined by age, and yet, through it all, to continue uncorrupt and unadulterated, complete and perfect in all the measurement of its parts, and so to speak, in all its proper members and senses, admitting no change…”

2-Fold Witness of Scripture

1) “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4)

2) “There is one mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim 2:5)

The Witness of Tradition Described by Henri de Lubac as…

“the stream of living thought”

“that great unanimous voice, within the rich variety of its modulations and harmonics”

Our Twofold Task

Listen attentively to Scripture and 2,000 years of Tradition to identify the recurring themes

Understanding the Teachings of Vatican II…as an organic development of this TraditionIn harmony with the chorus of that TraditionAs another milepost in the stream of

Tradition

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus(a brief historical sketch)

1) First 3 Centuries

2) 4th and 5th Centuries

3) Middle Ages

4) Discovery of New World

5) Modern Era

6) Vatican II

(Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)1) In the First 3 Centuries

Sts. Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Origen, Cyprian

An appeal to heretics and schismaticsHeresy – a sin against the unity of FaithSchism – a sin against the bond of Love

Image of Noah’s Ark / House of Rahab One Bride of Christ / One Mother

NOT applied to pagansIndeed, very positive about possibility of salvation for

pagans before Christ

(Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)2) In the 4th and 5th Centuries This principle now extended to pagans and

Jews

Growing conviction that all have now heard the Gospel and had their chance“…The Faith has been spread to all peoples” (St.

Ambrose)“…the call has gone out to all” (St. Gregory of

Nyssa)“For now the name of God is proclaimed to all”

(St. John Chrysostom)

(Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)St. Augustine

If saved, saved by God’s grace; if damned, damned through our own fault:“The saving grace of this religion, the only

true one, through which alone true salvation is truly promised, has never been refused to anyone who was worthy of it, and whoever lacked it was unworthy of it”


Aware that Gospel not yet fully preached:“Here in our own land, that is, in Africa, there

are countless barbarian tribes among whom the gospel has not been preached. We have daily evidence of this from the captives who are brought from there and are now subjected to slave labor by the Romans”


But these and all others outside the Catholic Church are still damned

Explanation?Saving grace denied them as punishment

for their sinsThey deserve damnation because of

Original Sin


Troubling views:Those who have never heard of Christ are

still doomed to Hell (deservedly due to Original Sin)

Even unbaptized babies go to Hell (but just suffer the smallest of pains)

[some passages in later Augustine]: God’s will for “all” to be saved only applies to the elect

(Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)St. Prosper of Aquitaine

Agrees with Augustine’s absolute insistence on Grace, but allows for the salvation of those who have not yet heard the Gospel“Even now they receive that measure of

general grace [gratia generalis] that heaven has always bestowed on all men.”

(Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)St. Prosper of Aquitaine

Insistence on God’s universal salvific will:“Yet we believe with complete trust in God’s

goodness that ‘he wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.’ This we must hold as His changeless will from all eternity”

Reiterates Augustine’s other principle:“Those who did not share in His grace plead

guilty of malice, and those who were resplendent with its light cannot glory in their own merit, but only in the Lord”

3) The Middle Ages

3) The Middle Ages

Development of theory of “Limbo” for unbaptized babiesA softening of Augustine’s teaching that they

go to HellDistinction between consequences of

Original Sin (separation from God) and of Actual Sin○ This distinction was affirmed by Innocent III,

but the teaching of Limbo never formally taught by the Magisterium

3) The Middle Ages Continued conviction that heretics and

schismatics must be reconciled with Church or damned

Conviction that all Jews and Pagans (i.e., Muslims) go to Hell

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:15-16)

3) The Middle Ages

Two Defects Here:

--Is this the “whole world”?

--At what point has one “heard” the Gospel?

3) The Middle Ages

Insights of St. Thomas AquinasFaith – Explicit vs. ImplicitIgnorance – Culpable vs.

InculpableBaptism of Desire – either

explicitly (e.g., catechumens) or implicitly (e.g., Cornelius)

St. Thomas Aquinas

(In response to the “extreme” case of someone never having heard of Christ):

“If anyone were brought up in the wilderness or among brute animals, provided that he followed his natural reason in seeking the good and avoiding evil, we must certainly hold that God would either reveal to him, by an inner inspiration, what must be believed, or would send a preacher to him, as He sent Peter to Cornelius”

3) The Middle Ages (Conclusion)

Core Convictions:

1) God’s Universal Salvific Will

2) Necessity of Grace

3) Necessity of Faith in Jesus Christ (as a “hearing” and response)

4) Necessity of Baptism (and Eucharist)

5) Necessity of belonging to the Church as a Member of Christ’s Body

4) Discovery of the New World

4) Discovery of the New World

Stimulus for development of Christian thoughtSo many lands, so many people, so many

centuries without hearing of Christ… Efforts to re-express old ideas in a way

that allows for their salvation…Dominicans at SalamancaJesuits at the Roman College

Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, O.P.

Invincible Ignorance for the “Indians” Makes salvation possible (but not inevitable or even likely):

“When we postulate invincible ignorance on the subject of baptism or the Christian faith, it does not follow that a person can be saved without baptism or the Christian faith. For the aborigines to whom no preaching of the faith or Christian religion has come will be damned for mortal sins or for idolatry, but not for the sin of unbelief. But, as St. Thomas says if they do what lies in them, accompanied by a good life according to the law of nature, it is consistent with God’s providence that He will illumine them regarding the name of Christ”

Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, O.P.(1493-1546)

Raises the Question: When has the faith truly been “preached”Troubled by the actions of the Conquistadors

“It is not sufficiently clear to me that the Christian faith has yet been so put before the aborigines and announced to them that they are bound to believe it or commit fresh sin … I hear of no miracles or signs or religious patterns of life; nay, on the contrary, I hear of many scandals and cruel crimes and acts of impiety”

Fr. Albert Pigge (1490-1542)

Raises further questions about when the Gospel is “heard”

“If you say that by now that Gospel of Christ has been sufficiently promulgated in the whole world, so that ignorance can no longer excuse anyone – reality itself refutes you, because every day now numberless nations are being discovered…”

Not only for “Indians,” but even for Muslims (!!)

“I grant that the Muslims have heard the name of Christians. But they have been so educated that they think that our faith is false and mistaken, while the faith in which they have been educated is the true faith, and they believe that God commands them to hold that faith … They do not know anything about divine revelation … Therefore, erroneous faith does not condemn, provided the error has a reasonable excuse and that they are invincibly ignorant of the true faith”

St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)

Common perceptionHis apostolic zeal fueled by a conviction that

all these nations were doomed to Hell without the Gospel

Not so simple…He seemed aware of St. Thomas – God won’t

deny grace to those who don’t put an obstacle in the way

Deeply concerned about damnation, not because of lack of Faith, but because of idolatry and vice

Council of Trent (mid-1500’s)

Decree on JustificationConfirms the Necessity of Faith

“…we are said to be justified through Faith because ‘Faith is the beginning of man’s salvation,’ the foundation and root of all justification, ‘without which it is impossible to please God’ (Heb 11:6), and to come into the fellowship of his sons”

Council of Trent Decree on Justification

Confirms the Necessity of Baptism

“The justification of the sinner … is a translation from that state in which man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Savior. This translation however cannot, after the promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the bath of regeneration or its desire, as it is written: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.’”

5) Modern Era

A turn to focus on the self

“I think, therefore

I am.”

Turn to the Self

Negative ConsequencesMoral RelativismReligious IndifferentismNihilism

○ Gradual Disintegration of…

Church Christ God Man Self

Turn to the Self

Positive ConsequencesAppreciation for Subjective Perspective

○ (as long as we keep objective truth)Appreciation for Dignity of Each Human

Person○ Push for The Abolition of Slavery○ Religious Freedom / Freedom of Conscience

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Evangelization From a Subjective Point of View…

“You tell me of a God who was born and put to death nearly two thousand years ago, in another portion of the world, and in I know not what obscure town; assuring me that all those who do not believe in this mysterious tale are damned ... You are come, you say, to inform me; but why did you not come soon enough to inform my father, or why do you damn that innocent man because he knew nothing of the matter? Must he be eternally punished for your delay; he who was so just, so benevolent, and so desirous of knowing the truth? Be honest, and suppose yourself in my place. Do you think that I can believe, upon your testimony alone, all these incredible things you tell me, or that I can reconcile so much injustice with the character of that just God, whom you pretend to make known? …”

6) Vatican II

Called by Pope John XXIIITo take the age-old doctrine of the Church

and ensure that it is expressed in a way relevant to modern man

Strikes a balanceReaffirming the Necessity of Grace, Faith in

Jesus Christ, Baptism, and the Church as Objective Necessities

Appreciating Subjective Side of the Question

Objective Requirements

“Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, [this Sacred Council] teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved” (LG 14)

Subjective Insights Perhaps not all non-Catholics are personally guilty

of Heresy and/or Schism?

“The children who are born into these Communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin involved in the separation, and the Catholic Church embraces them as brothers, with respect and affection. For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect” (Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 3)

Subjective Insights Even those who haven’t formally accepted the Gospel

can be saved

“Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel” (LG 16).

Question

How to reconcile these objective

requirements with these subjective

insights?

--A matter left for theologians to speculate…

Salvation for Unbaptized Infants?

John Paul II to post-abortive mothers:

“You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord” (Gospel of Life, n. 99 – original draft)

“To the same Father and his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child” (final draft)


Limbo?Pope Benedict in 2007

○ Never taught by Magisterium○ Reason to hope for their salvation

Other Problems with Limbo○ Not in Scripture / not even implicit in SS○ Pain of Loss is much worse than Pain of

Sense not a comfort(But not a condemned doctrine either)


The Bottom LineWe trust in God’s love and mercyWe believe in God’s universal salvific will (1

Tim 2:4)

BUT…○ Christ is still the “one mediator” (1 Tim 2:5)

They still need grace by coming into contact with His Paschal Mystery

Salvation for Other Christians?

On the one hand…“Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the

Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved” (LG 16)

On the other hand…“Elements of sanctification” (LG 8)

○ Faith in Christ, Baptism, Prayer, Good Works

God is the judge, not us

Salvation for Non-Christians?

Key Scripture PassagesHebrews 11:6Romans 10Acts

Romans 10

“But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? … Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ”

Romans 10

A certain “order”

Proclamation Hearing Faith Salvation

Acts of the Apostles

Acts 2 (Pentecost)Peter proclaimsListeners “cut to the heart”“What should we do?”“Repent and be baptized”Lifelong commitment to…

○ Apostles’ teaching○ Communal Life [koinonia]○ Breaking of the Bread○ Prayers

Acts of the Apostles Acts 10 (Cornelius the centurion)

“God-fearing along with his household”Almsgiving and PrayerGod sends an angel

○ “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God”

Angel leads him to Peter, who proclaims Gospel

Response of FaithBaptismLived Christian Life

Acts of the Apostles

A more complete “Order”1) Beginnings of Faith (by Grace)

2) Proclamation of Gospel

3) Increasing Response of Faith

[or of unbelief]

4) Baptism

[both presupposes and gives Faith]

5) Perseverance in Life of Faith Salvation

Other means of “Hearing” the Proclamation?

Must come from the outside – not simply from our own natural efforts

Must be Christian (not vaguely theistic) 2 Possible Explanations

1) Conscience?

--Experienced as a voice (Newman)

--an echo of the Word?

2) An Angel?

Baptism without Water?

2 Possible Explanations“Baptism of Desire” (Implicit)

○ Often used to turn describe them as “anonymous Christians”

○ [but problems with this view]“Baptism of Blood”

Baptism of Blood

ExamplesEarly martyrs (not yet baptized)The Holy Innocents (Dec 28th)

○ “O God, whom the Holy Innocents confessed and proclaimed on this day, not by speaking but by dying…”

○ “Receive, O Lord, we pray, the offerings of your devoted servants and purify us as we faithfully serve these, your mysteries by which you grant justification even to those who lack understanding…”

Baptism of Blood Water Baptism = dying with Christ (Romans

6)We must be configured to Paschal MysteryMust become Members of Christ’s Body

Rather than postulating “Anonymous Christians,” perhaps a Baptism of BloodPerhaps non-Christians who respond to grace

and faith (in ways known to God alone) could “die with Christ” at moment of their own death?

(Just a theory – not Church teaching)

What we do know… In Heaven all are members of Christ’s Body

Indeed, salvation is Christ God universally wills this salvation – and will give us ample

opportunity as long as we don’t oppose it If we enter into it, the credit goes to Him; if we don’t, it’s our

own fault God has willed an ordinary path to Salvation

Faith, Baptism, Eucharist, the Church To refuse this path (knowingly & freely) leads to damnation; to

follow it leads to salvation “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but

he himself is not bound by his sacraments” (CCC n. 1257) We can speculate all we want – but because God alone knows

our hearts we leave all final judgment to God…

Then why Evangelize?

Jesus told us to! Vatican II tells us these others can be

saved, not that they will beHard enough to grow in holiness with Faith,

Prayer, & Sacraments. Without them? Out of Love (more important than Fear)

Questions?

Go to our website:www.thecatholicfaithexplained.com

Next Presentation:

Wednesday, Oct. 17th

“Freedom of Conscience / Freedom of Religion”

are you saved?

Documents