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I have a few questions about the Church's
view of salvation.
Does Acts 4:12 mean that all who do not
know Christ, or have accepted Him, will
be condemned to Hell?
What is the position of the Catholic
Church on the salvation of non-believers?
How does the Church reconcile this with
the Bible?
For example, what about all the good men and women
in history who have led exemplary lives? . . .
like Gandhi and Buddha?
Are they all automatically condemned
to Hell?
The Bible seems to clearly say so, but
I recently read about a priest who was
excommunicated for preaching this as heresy:
Fr. Feeney.
What should we believe, as Catholics,
and must we believe it?
Albert
{
What is the Church's view of the salvation of non-believers and how is it reconciled with
the Bible? }
Eric
replied:
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; as is 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,
41 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:
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? (cf. Cyprian, Ep. 73.21:PL 3,1169; De unit.:PL 4,509-536.)
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.
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.
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."
In addition to what my colleague
has said, I think it is important
to clarify several things:
Fr. Feeneywas not excommunicated
for doctrinal reasons, that's
just a historical fact.
He was excommunicated for reasons
of discipline, like Archbishop
Lefebvre was.
In 1972, all the apparent censures
were lifted from Father Feeney,
without his having to retract
any of his teachings.
This issue was never the doctrine,
which the Church has always taught
and will always teach,
but the proper interpretation of
the doctrine.
During the period of time Fr. Leonard
lived, the Church was going through
a few growing pains explaining and
clarifying this important doctrine
of the Church. There was confusion
in Rome on what Fr. Feeney was teaching
due to various newspaper reports
from liberal Boston newspapers.
He was called to Rome to explain
his views, but refused to go, and
thus was excommunicated.
Nevertheless, before his death, he
was reconciled with the Church; interestingly
enough, in a bookstore in Harvard
Square, where it all began :-)
If you want the whole scoop, check
out the book by a central figure
at the time, Abbot Gabriel Gibbs:
