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Albert —
Acts 4:12 says merely that salvation
comes through Jesus Christ, and that
anyone who is saved,
is saved by Christ and his life-giving
sacrifice on the Cross. They may
or may not explicitly know Christ,
but it is Christ who, in his grace,
accepts their prayers and devotion
and saves them from their sins. Hence,
if any Muslim is saved, he is saved
by Christ; so as well with any Jew
or pagan.
The Catholic position on salvation
of non-believers is that it is possible
for those who, through no fault of
their own, are ignorant of Christ
and His Church to be saved if they
seek God, responding to his grace,
and faithfully follow the dictates
of their conscience. Explicating
this from Scripture would take a
whole book but for a start, look
at John 9:41, which says,
'Jesus said, “If you were
blind, you would not be guilty
of sin; but now that you claim
you can see, your guilt remains." '
Thus, we are only accountable for
what we know. The concept of conscience
excusing or accusing those outside
the fold (Gentiles) may be found
in Romans 1:14-16. However, the most
assurance of salvation can only be
found by faith in Christ and communion
with the Church which is his body.
- It's sorta like asking, can
a homeless man survive a winter
night without shelter?
Sure, it's possible, but wouldn't
you want to give him shelter and
food and protection and wouldn't
he be more likely to live, if he
received it?
It would not be possible for someone
to be saved who, knowing Christ was
the Savior and that the Catholic
Church was the Church He founded,
refused to have faith or refused
to enter the Catholic Church.
We can never judge anyone's soul,
including our own (although the Pope
can declare people are in Heaven,
we call them Saints.) See 1 Corinthians
4:3-5, Matthew 7:1, and Luke 6:37.
We know neither whether Gandhi was
saved or condemned. He seemed to
be attracted to Christ but ultimately
repelled by Christ's followers.
What we believe as Catholics is found:
For example, paragraphs 846-848 of
the Catechism states:
"Outside the Church there
is no salvation"
846 How are we to understand this
affirmation, often repeated by
the Church Fathers? Re-formulated
positively, it means that all
salvation comes from Christ the
Head through the Church which
is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture
and Tradition, the Council
teaches that the Church, a
pilgrim now on earth, is necessary
for salvation: the one Christ
is the mediator and the way
of salvation; he is present
to us in his body which is
the Church. He himself explicitly
asserted the necessity of faith
and Baptism, and thereby affirmed
at the same time the necessity
of the Church which men enter
through Baptism as through
a door. Hence they could not
be saved who, knowing that
the Catholic Church was founded
as necessary by God through
Christ, would refuse either
to enter it or to remain in
it.
[Lumen
Gentium 14; cf. Mark 16:16;
John 3:5.]
847 This affirmation is not aimed
at those who, through no fault
of their own, do not know Christ
and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of
their own, do not know the Gospel
of Christ or his Church, but who
nevertheless seek God with a sincere
heart, and, moved by grace, try
in their actions to do his will
as they know it through the dictates
of their conscience—those
too may achieve eternal salvation.
[Lumen
Gentium 16; cf. Denzinger-Schonmetzer
3866-3872.]
848 "Although in ways known
to himself God can lead those
who, through no fault of their
own, are ignorant of the Gospel,
to that faith without which it
is impossible to please him, the
Church still has the obligation
and also the sacred right to evangelize
all men."
Eric
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