will many will be saved?

CHAPTER II

Lumen gentium 16: Initial Observations

The Salvation of Non-Christians: The Council’s Teaching

We are trying to determine what precisely the Church is teaching regard-ing one important question: What are the necessary conditions for andactual limitations on the possibility of non-Christians being saved with-out coming to explicit faith in Christ and membership in the CatholicChurch?

The primary text from Vatican II that most thoroughly and authorita-tively deals with this question is LG 16.1 There are two other Vatican II textsthat deal with this question that need to be taken into account: AG 7 andGS 22. Since LG as a Constitution is considered the “keystone” of the docu-ments of Vatican II, and other documents often explicitly ground theirteaching by referencing it, we will focus primarily on the LG 16 text.2 AGexplicitly relates its teaching to the theological framework of LG. GS 22specifically cites LG 16 as a basis for its teaching.

We will consider these texts in an attempt to explicate their meaningin terms of their internal structure and referents, their place in the largercontext of LG and Vatican II, and in light of the theological and magisterialtraditions from which they flow. It is worth noting, as Msgr. Gérard Philipsdoes, that the final vote in favor of LG was overwhelmingly in favor, withonly five non placet votes.3

Even though LG 16 consists of only ten sentences, it is packed withcarefully constructed phrases with significant theological import, and veryimportant footnotes.4 The text first explains how “those who have not yetreceived the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways.” A

7

23

EERDMANS -- Will Many Be Saved? (Martin) final textTuesday, July 24, 2012 2:10:03 PM

Color profile: DisabledComposite 140 lpi at 45 degrees

footnote here references a text from St. Thomas, ST III, q. 8, a. 3, ad 1:“Those who are unbaptized, though not actually in the Church, are in theChurch potentially. And this potentiality is rooted in two things — firstand principally, in the power of Christ, which is sufficient for the salvationof the whole human race; secondly, in free-will.” It is clear that this “relat-edness” is not actually salvific, but potentially salvific.5 Special mention ismade first of the Jews, then of the Muslims, and then of unspecified otherreligions and peoples, “those who in shadows and images seek the un-known God.” Buddhists and Hindus are specifically mentioned in Nostraaetate, but the text here does not mention them by name since it is not in-tending to be exclusive or limit its teaching to just the religions it names.The text then affirms God’s universal salvific will, citing 1 Timothy 2:4 as abasis for its exploration of how salvation for those who do not know thegospel might be possible. We will designate this first section of LG 16 (thefirst four sentences) as LG 16a, although it will not be the focus of our anal-ysis. Later on in the text, which we will cite below, a fourth group of thosewho have not heard the gospel is added, those who “have not yet arrived atan explicit knowledge of God.” We will include here the three sentences ofLG 16 that treat of how salvation for all four of these categories of non-Christians might be possible.

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel ofChrist or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincereheart, and moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as theyknow it through the dictates of their conscience — those too mayachieve eternal salvation. Nor shall divine providence deny the assis-tance necessary for salvation to those who, without any fault of theirs,have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, and who, not with-out grace, strive to lead a good life. Whatever good or truth is foundamongst them is considered by the Church to be a preparation for theGospel6 and given by him who enlightens all men that they may atlength have life.

We will designate the above three sentences of LG 16 as LG 16b.

But very often (at saepius),7 deceived by the Evil One, men have becomevain in their reasonings, have exchanged the truth of God for a lie andserved the world rather than the Creator (cf. Rom. 1:21, 25). Or else, liv-ing and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate

8

Will Many Be Saved?

24



despair. Hence to procure the glory of God and the salvation of all these,the Church, mindful of the Lord’s command, “preach the Gospel to ev-ery creature” (Mk. 16:16) takes zealous care to foster the missions.

We will designate these concluding three sentences of LG 16 as LG 16c.We have already commented on two of the three footnotes attached to

LG 16 (all three are reproduced in Appendix I). The third footnote is par-ticularly relevant to our study and we will have occasion to examine it atlength in the next chapter.

The Council here is teaching that under certain very specific condi-tions salvation is possible for non-Christians. What are these conditions?

1. That non-Christians be not culpable for their ignorance of the gospel.2. That non-Christians seek God with a sincere heart.3. That non-Christians try to live their life in conformity with what they

know of God’s will. This is commonly spoken of as following the nat-ural law or the light of conscience. It is important to note, as theCouncil does, in order to avoid a Pelagian interpretation, that this ispossible only because people are “moved by grace.”

4. That non-Christians welcome or receive whatever “good or truth”they live amidst — referring possibly to elements of their non-Christian religions or cultures, which may refract to some degree thelight that enlightens every man (John 1:9). These positive elements areintended to be “preparation for the Gospel.” One could understandthis to mean either a preparation for the actual hearing of the gospelor preparation for, perhaps, some communication of God by interiorillumination.

The Related Council Texts

The two other Council texts we cited must now be considered.GS 22, when speaking of our incorporation into the death and resur-

rection of Christ, which gives us hope for our resurrection, has this to sayabout non-Christians:

All this holds true not for Christians only but also for all men of goodwill in whose hearts grace is active invisibly. For since Christ died for all,and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is

9


25



divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility ofbeing made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery.

LG 16 is cited in a footnote as a foundation for this statement.Being “men of good will” is another way of stating a condition that is

more fully explicated in LG 16b. GS 22 does not try to explain how this pos-sibility of salvation is offered and what response to it must be made for itto be effective. Joseph Ratzinger, in his commentary on GS, thinks that theexplicit mention of the Holy Spirit in GS 22 as the means by which the pas-chal mystery is made present adds an important element to LG 16, whichhe thinks could be interpreted in too Pelagian a manner, laying too muchstress on what man must do to be saved, even though the role of grace ismentioned.8 I do not share this concern.

Finally, AG 7 must be considered.

The reason for missionary activity lies in the will of God, “who wishesall men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For thereis one God and one Mediator between God and men, himself a man, Je-sus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:4-5), “neitheris there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). Everyone, therefore, ought tobe converted to Christ, who is known through the preaching of theChurch, and they ought, by baptism, to become incorporated into him,and into the Church which is his body. Christ himself explicitly assertedthe necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby af-firmed at the same time the necessity of the Church, which men enterthrough baptism as through a door. Hence those cannot be saved, who,knowing that the Catholic Church was founded through Jesus Christ, byGod, as something necessary, still refuse to enter it, or to remain in it[LG 14 is referenced here]. So, although in ways known to himself Godcan lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of theGospel to that faith without which it is impossible to please him (Heb11:6), the Church, nevertheless, still has the obligation and also the sa-cred right to evangelize. And so, today as always, missionary activity re-tains its full force and necessity.

The obvious intent of this text is to reaffirm the continuing impor-tance of missionary activity. It would appear, though, that relative to theworld’s population, the numbers of those who know the Catholic Churchis founded by Christ and is necessary for salvation but refuse to enter her

10

Will Many Be Saved?

26



are relatively small. Correspondingly, for the vast majority, salvation mustthen be possible without hearing the gospel. Emphasizing that it is the willof God that missionary activity be carried out is certainly, in itself, a com-pelling reason; but for many people it fails to explain why missionary ac-tivity is still important given that people can be saved without it, and leavesthe exhortation weaker than it could be.

The Council Historians: LG 16 Was Relatively Noncontroversial

Was there much debate on these texts during the Council? Were they con-troversial? There was little significant debate on LG 16.9

In fact the original draft of De ecclesia prepared by the Curia containsthe substance of the teaching that LG 16 presents in the final, approvedtext. Even though De ecclesia went through significant revision and reorga-nization, on this point there was no substantial change. The curial draft,given to the fathers of the Council at its beginning, expressed what eventu-ally became the teaching of LG 16 like this:

As for those ordered by desire towards the Church, these include notonly catechumens, who, moved by the Spirit, consciously and explicitlydesire to enter the Church, but also those who, even if not knowing thatthe Catholic Church is the true and sole Church of Christ, still, by God’sgrace, implicitly and unknowingly desire the equivalent, either becausethey sincerely will what Christ himself wills or because, though ignorantof Christ, they sincerely desire to fulfil the will of God their Creator. Thegifts of heavenly grace will never be wanting to those who sincerely de-sire and ask to be renewed by the divine light.10

Karl Rahner states that he thinks the issues contained in LG 16 were ofmore long-term importance than the issues concerning collegiality, the“new exegesis,” the relationship between Scripture and tradition, and othersuch issues that dominated the Council’s attention. He marvels at how lit-tle attention was addressed to LG 16 and “how little opposition the conser-vative wing of the Council brought to bear on this point.” He considerswhat he understands to be “this optimism concerning salvation . . . one ofthe most noteworthy results of the Second Vatican Council.”11 In a laterchapter we will evaluate Rahner’s claims concerning the newness of thisteaching and its discontinuity with the tradition.

11


27



When one examines the relatio12 that introduced the amended texts tobe voted on by the Council fathers, one is struck at how little attention wasfocused on LG 16 compared to, for example, LG 15, which treats of the rela-tionship of non-Catholic Christians to the Catholic Church. The relatio asit presents LG 15 states:

De indole generali paragraphi aliqui Patres quondam anxietatem mani-festaverunt . . .

The Commission’s response was “quod timor praedictus non apparetfundatus.”13

In contrast, the relatio for LG 16 was the briefest of the four presenta-tions covering LG 13-16.14

The bulk of the issues considered in the relatio had to do with thestructuring of the material or with the supporting footnotes. The relationoted that some Council fathers had made suggestions that some things bemade more explicit or said more or less strongly, and the TheologicalCommission thought that the text it was presenting adequately handledthese concerns, but there seemed to be no fundamental disagreement orcontroversy noted and the text of LG 16 was overwhelmingly approved.15

In fact, when prominent commentators on the work of the Councillisted the main areas of controversy or concern during the course of theCouncil, the teaching about the possibility of people being saved withouthearing the gospel was not listed. Joseph Ratzinger, in his book detailing thetheological highlights of Vatican II, devoted only a few pages to this issue,and not in connection with LG 16 but in connection with AG. When helisted the main areas of concern that most drew the attention of the Coun-cil, this issue was not present.16 Stronger concerns about this issue surfacedwhen the text Ad gentes was debated. There were also some interventionsthroughout the course of the Council in relation to several of the docu-ments that called for a greater mention of the reality of sin, the work of thedevil, and the reality of hell,17 but the focal point of these concerns, to theextent that they surfaced at all, was the debate on AG.18 Even there the focusof the debate was not on the conditions under which it was possible forpeople who have never heard the gospel to be saved. Rather it was on theneed to give a theologically compelling and inspiring account of the needfor mission that would provide encouragement to missionaries. There wasalso much debate and many interventions having to do with how the mis-sion of the Church should be structured in relationship to current and pro-

12

Will Many Be Saved?

28



posed structures, and issues of central authority versus local freedom toadapt, as well as a strong concern to show that mission was the task of eachmember of the Church, not just the professional missionaries.

The big issues that dominated the debates on LG were those that per-tained to balancing collegiality and papal primacy19 and the issues con-nected with how to understand and relate to non-Catholic Christians, thefocus of LG 15, which was developed more fully in the Decree on Ecume-nism. Other significant issues that consumed attention during the years ofthe Council were those connected with the relationship with the Jews, thequestion of religious liberty, and the huge and complex questions aboutwhat attitude to take towards the “modern world” and how to “speak” to it.Concerns on the implications for evangelization of the teaching that it ispossible to be saved without hearing the gospel did not surface in a notice-able way until the debate on AG. Even then it did not result in a close analy-sis of the LG 16 text,20 which is the text that contains an important aspect ofthe Council’s answer to why ongoing missionary effort is truly necessary. Itsimply resulted in a strong reaffirmation of the importance of ongoing mis-sionary work. Omitting a strong explanation of the theological rationaleabout why missionary activity was still urgent undoubtedly contributed tothe rapid collapse of missionary activity in the years after the Council.21

Some Early Concerns about Theological Currents

Some of the Council fathers were motivated in their call for a strong affirma-tion of the need for missionary activity, by their reaction to the disturbingpastoral realities of the lack of a really indigenous Asian Christianity, the in-fluence of the critique of colonialism on the mission enterprise, and recenttheological theories that questioned basic missionary assumptions about theneed for non-Christians to become Christian. Missionary bishops and oth-ers submitted interventions that voiced their concern that the confidence oftheir missionaries would be undermined if there was not a strong reaffirma-tion of the need for missions. Ratzinger describes the situation of missionsand missionaries, even in the early 1960s, as already being one of “crisis.”

The crucial issue, which gravely affected the whole context of the ques-tion, especially for the missionary bishops, was the crisis in which thevery idea of missions found itself. The cause of this crisis lay in pro-found changes in modern thinking about the necessity of missions. The

13


29



motive which had driven missionaries in the past to bring other peopleto Christ had increasingly lost its urgency. What drove the great mis-sionaries at the beginning of the modern era to go out into the world,and what filled them with holy unrest, was the conviction that salvationis in Christ alone. The untold millions of people who suddenly emergedfrom unknown worlds beyond the horizon would thus be hopelesslydoomed to eternal ruin without the message of the Gospel. . . . Whatwas involved was either eternal salvation or eternal damnation.22

Ratzinger also notes that the trend in theology was very much in thedirection of seeing God’s salvific activity outside the bounds of the visibleChurch, which hitherto had been seen, he states, only by way of concessionand exception.

It is important to note here that the overwhelming theological andmagisterial interpretation of the texts of Scripture on the issue of salvationup until relatively recently has understood Scripture as saying that it islikely that the majority of the human race will be lost. This is the view ofIrenaeus, Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Aquinas,Canisius, and Bellarmine, as well as many others.23

Ratzinger also identifies the theological trend, which was even thengathering force, to see the non-Christian world religions more positively.These trends were already percolating throughout the Church, and thosedirectly engaged in the missionary enterprise were particularly sensitive tothem and understood them to be a significant challenge to the whole ratio-nale of the missionary enterprise. Ratzinger’s comments on this are worthnoting:

Here, again, closer reflection will once more demonstrate that not all theideas characteristic of modern theology are derived from Scripture. Thisidea is, if anything, alien to the biblical-thought world or even antipa-thetic to its spirit. The prevailing optimism, which understands theworld religions as in some way salvific agencies, is simply irreconcilablewith the biblical assessment of these religions. It is remarkable howsharply the Council now reacted to these modern views. During the de-bate on the parallel passages on the text on the Church, it had seemedmore amenable.24

There is an obvious concern in this text of AG that acknowledging thepossibility of people being saved without hearing the gospel could under-

14

Will Many Be Saved?

30



mine the missionary effort of the Church. AG strongly affirms the need tocontinue preaching the gospel, but the fundamental teaching about whythis still makes sense is actually contained in LG 16. We must return to LG16c to see why the missionary mandate is not undermined by this possibil-ity. After listing the conditions under which it might be possible for non-Christians to be saved without knowing the gospel, it comments on theunlikelihood in many cases of these conditions being met.

But very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in theirreasonings, have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and served theworld rather than the Creator (cf. Rom. 1:21, 25). Or else, living and dy-ing in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.Hence to procure the glory of God and the salvation of all these, theChurch, mindful of the Lord’s command, “preach the Gospel to everycreature” (Mk. 16:16) takes zealous care to foster the missions.

The witness of Scripture is that the powerful workings of the world,the flesh, and the devil are operative among non-Christians in a less re-strained way than they are among those who live within the protection ofthe means of grace available in the Church. If Christians sometimes stiflethe light of conscience or disobey a direct command of Christ or some-times prefer the darkness to the light, how much more likely for this tohappen in the absence of all the help of explicit revelation and sacramentallife in the Church?

The Scripture cited is Romans 1:21-25, which indeed testifies to the aw-ful reality of those to whom God has revealed something of himself reject-ing that revelation and, “without excuse,” turning to idolatry and immo-rality and, as a consequence, incurring God’s wrath.

15


31



will many will be saved?

Documents