Can atheists do "good?"

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THEOLOGY OF JUSTIFICATION. The process of a sinner becoming justified or made right with God. As defined by the Council of Trent, “Justification is the change from the condition in which a person is born as a child of the first Adam into a state of grace and adoption among the children of God through the Second Adam, Jesus Christ our Savior” (Denzinger 1524). On the negative side, justification is a true removal of sin, and not merely having one’s sins ignored or no longer held against the sinner by God. On the positive side it is the supernatural sanctification and renewal of a person who thus becomes holy and pleasing to God and an heir of heaven.

The Catholic Church identifies five elements of justification, which collectively define its full meaning. The primary purpose of justification is the honor of God and of Christ; its secondary purpose is the eternal life of mankind. The main efficient cause or agent is the mercy of God; the main instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is called the “sacrament of faith” to spell out the necessity of faith for salvation. And that which constitutes justification or its essence is the justice of God “not by which He is just Himself, but by which He makes us just,” namely sanctifying grace.

Depending on the sins from which a person is to be delivered, there are different kinds of justification. An infant is justified by baptism and the faith of the one who requests or confers the sacrament. Adults are justified for the first time either by personal faith, sorrow for sin and baptism, or by the perfect love of God, which is at least an implicit baptism of desire. Adults who have sinned gravely after being justified can receive justification by sacramental absolution or perfect contrition for their sins. (Etym. Latin justus, just + facere, to make, do: justification)

JUSTIFYING GRACE. The grace by which a person is restored to God’s friendship, either for the first time, as in baptism, or after baptism, as in the sacrament of penance.
 
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Fyi, 3 apologists at Catholic Answers have also written articles on this question:

Karlo Broussard, “Can Atheists Be Good Without Belief in God?”:


Trent Horn, “Atheistic Morality”:


Todd Aglialoro, “Can You Be Good Without God?”:


Also, Fr Grondin and Michelle Arnold at Catholic Answers have addressed the question of whether “atheists can be saved?” here:




Trent Horn has also produced a podcast on the question of “Why Do You Need Religion If You’re a Good Person?”

 
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People can breathe whilst not believing in oxygen.

People can ride on MegLev trains without any detailed knowledge of the science of magnetism.

Atheists can do good whilst not believing in or having detailed knowledge of God.
 
Atheists can do good. But if you look into their lives, they will often call evil things good, such as abortion or euthanasia. So in the end, the good they do may be cancelled out by their beliefs.
 
Lara said:
Atheists can do good. But if you look into their lives, they will often call evil things good, such as abortion or euthanasia. So in the end, the good they do may be cancelled out by their beliefs.
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I don’t know any atheists that call these good. Some may argue for the necessity of them but do not call it good!
 
Dan_Defender said:
To the OP: yes they can. Whether they are saved or not, I do not know and leave it up to God. St Augustine had a pessimistic view on their salvation.
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St Augustine taught that without grace we we cannot please God.
Is this De Fide? Can an unbaptized person be in the state of Grace? Do we still believe the unbaptized child ends up in limbo? For the unbaptized older person are the options hell or limbo? Is everyone baptized by at least by desire, and hence capable of reaching heaven? There are many issues and hence this thread is of vital importance.
What does the Church teach and what is opinion?
TominAdelaide said:
Those who die with baptism of desire are saved. Period.
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Do atheists who have never believed in God yet live moral lives have ‘baptism of desire’?

Finally I have looked at Gaudium et Spes.
The current answer seems to be all can be saved, whether they believe in God or not. Hence all have baptism of desire.
 
NoelFitz said:
Do atheists who have never believed in God yet live moral lives have ‘baptism of desire’?
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Not 100% sure of the answer to this, however Fr Ludwig Ott (in “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma”) notes the following in regard to atheism (pg 18):

Negative atheism is inculpable ignorance regarding the existence of God. Positive atheism (materialism, pantheism) directly denies the existence of a supernatural, personal divine being. It was condemned by the First Vatican Council (DH 3021ff.)

As far as the possibility of atheism is concerned, it cannot be denied that there are atheistic doctrinal systems (materialism, pantheism) and practical atheists, that is, people who live as if there were no God. The possibility that there are also subjectively convinced theoretical atheists, is founded in the spiritual and moral weakness of man, and on the fact that the proofs of God are not immediately but only indirectly evident. But as the knowledge of God can easily be gained from contemplation of nature and the life of the soul, it will not be possible to adhere permanently to an honest and positive conviction of the nonexistence of God. An inculpable and invincible ignorance regarding the existence of God is not possible for a long time in a normal grown-up person, in view of the facility of the natural knowledge of God attested in Sacred Scripture and in Tradition. (Rom. 1:20: “there is no excuse for them.”) Cf. Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 19-21.

The Navarre Bible commentary on Romans 1:19-20 makes a similar point:

The fact that it is possible to know God by the use of natural reason means that pagans who choose not to worship him are blameworthy. Their position is comparable to that of contemporary atheists and unbelievers who deny or doubt the existence of God despite the fact that as human beings they do know him in some way in the depths of their conscience. The culpability of pagans as of modern unbelievers (“they are without excuse”) derives from the fact that they fail to accept that God is knowable through the use of human reason; they both commit the same fault—that of refusing to render worship to God.

Of course, to some degree the attitude of atheists can be explained by historical, environmental, personal and other factors. But, “those who wilfully try to drive God from their heart and to avoid all questions about religion, not following the biddings of their conscience, are not free from blame” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 19).

continued…
 
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Scott Hahn in his commentary on Romans 1:19-20 (in the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series) also makes a similar point:

In point of fact, God made himself evident through “the greatness and the beauty of created things” (Wis 13:5). Theologians call this God’s natural revelation, which Paul claims has been accessible in every age and to every thinking person through the use of reason: Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. By a process of observation, reflection, and deduction, the mind is capable of rising to the knowledge of an almighty Deity who transcends the material universe and yet is necessary to account for its existence and organized complexity. The world, to paraphrase the Apostle, is covered with the fingerprints of God.

Persons who refuse this knowledge have no excuse. Before God’s tribunal, they are simply defenseless. Even the notion of “culpable ignorance” seems too weak to capture what Paul is saying. For him, it is a matter of knowledge pushed aside and rejected rather than knowledge unattained because of negligence.
 
Yes they totally Can

Like An Animal can seek Good and turn away from Evil

Like how a sheep seeks for Food and Runs from Wolves

But Animals have no Notion of Good since if they have we well see a world organization of sheeps against wolves.

Same with Atheist they may seek Good and follow it but they couldn’t Justify Good.
 
TominAdelaide said:
pagans who choose not to worship him are blameworthy.
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It seems to me that it is possible for a thinking person not to believe in God. Many sincere philosophers are unbelievers. In school I learned faith was a gift. The idea that it is culpable not to believe in God seems to be against normal experience.

Is it Catholic De Fide teaching that only those in the state of grace can do meritorious acts, and only those baptized (by desire or otherwise) can be in the state of grace?
 
NoelFitz said:
Is it Catholic De Fide teaching that only those in the state of grace can do meritorious acts
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Yes, Fr Ludwig Ott in his work “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” states (on pg 284):

By his good works the justified man really acquires a claim to supernatural reward from God (De fide.)

He notes that “the meriting person must be … in the state of grace (in statu gratiae), as far as merit properly so-called (meritum de condigno) is concerned. The teaching of the Council of Trent on merit refers exclusively to the just. (DH 1576, 1582)"
 
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aThomist said:
Yes they totally Can

Like An Animal can seek Good and turn away from Evil

Like how a sheep seeks for Food and Runs from Wolves

But Animals have no Notion of Good since if they have we well see a world organization of sheeps against wolves.

Same with Atheist they may seek Good and follow it but they couldn’t Justify Good.
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I’m not really sure, but I think I’ve just been insulted. In Upper Case As Well…
 
Fyi, Fr John Flader in his work “Question Time 3” (the work has the nihil obstat and imprimatur) answers the question “Can atheists go to heaven?” He refers to Lumen Gentium at 16 in his answer which addresses those who “have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God”:

In principle atheists can go to heaven, but there are a number of issues to consider. As the advertisement for a special offer often says, “Conditions apply.”

The first issue is what we mean by atheist. The word atheist means simply one who does not believe in God and it distinguishes the person from a theist, who does believe in God. But within the broad category of atheist there are many different attitudes and backgrounds. It is impossible to lump them all together as if they were all one. It might even be safe to say that there are as many types of atheism as there are atheists. Each one is unique.

Over the years atheists have come to divide themselves into many different types: explicit and implicit, positive and negative, strong and weak, theoretical and practical, etc. The last distinction is perhaps one of the most helpful. In simple terms a theoretical atheist is one who has taken a positive stand against the existence of God – he or she denies that God exists – whereas the practical atheist does not believe in God but has not explicitly rejected such a belief. He or she lives as if there were no God. Often this state of mind is found in people who have not been taught about God. They have simply not heard of him or they have ignored him. They are indifferent to the question of God.

Another factor which is very important is what the atheist believes deep down, as distinct from what they proclaim to others. I suspect there are many atheists who proudly and defiantly proclaim there is no God, or that they don’t believe in God, but who secretly wonder about God and have a residual belief in a higher power “out there” to whom they would turn in a time of crisis. This is very relevant to their eternal salvation.

Then too the issue of time is important. The person who today proclaims herself or himself to be an ardent atheist may have a big conversion tomorrow. A notable recent example is Professor Antony Flew, a British philosopher who, after 50 years of professed atheism, including writing books on the subject, came to believe in God through scientific discoveries. He relates his conversion in the book There is a God, published in 2007. With these considerations in mind, we return to your question, can atheists go to heaven?

We can begin with the practical atheists, especially those who simply do not know about God and who therefore live their lives without him. The Second Vatican Council, in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium spoke of them expressly. The statement came in a paragraph considering the relationship of the Church to many different groups of people – other Christians, Jews, Muslims, those who do not know Christ – and finished with those who do not know God.

continued….
 
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The Council declared: “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. She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life” (LG 16). As the Council makes clear, these people must be in this position through no fault of their own and they must strive to lead a good life. This includes being sorry for their sins. They can be saved.

As regards theoretical atheists who say they do not believe in God or that there is no God, their eternal salvation is more difficult. It is hard to see how they could spend eternity in a loving relationship with the God they have rejected during their life.

In the end, what is necessary for anyone to enter heaven, including a professed atheist, is for the person to repent of their sins and accept God’s merciful love (cf. CCC 1033). An atheist, especially one with a faint belief that there might be a God, could still do this and be saved. We can hope and pray that even the most convinced atheist today may be able to repent and believe in God before they die. Since only God knows the state of their soul when they die, we should make no judgment about their eternal salvation. We should always pray for them.
 
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Pattylt said:
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Lara:
Atheists can do good. But if you look into their lives, they will often call evil things good, such as abortion or euthanasia. So in the end, the good they do may be cancelled out by their beliefs.
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I don’t know any atheists that call these good. Some may argue for the necessity of them but do not call it good!
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They say things like, “a girl shouldn’t have to pay for one mistake the rest of her life.” (They say the good is her freedom from a consequence.) Or, in reference to euthanasia, “it’s better this way, he couldn’t recognize his wife anymore anyways.” (They say the good is his freedom from suffering, another available bed for somebody else, his wife being free to marry again etc.)
 
TominAdelaide said:
An atheist, especially one with a faint belief that there might be a God, could still do this and be saved. We can hope and pray that even the most convinced atheist today may be able to repent and believe in God before they die.
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This should be quite easy to determine for any atheist. Just ask them if they’ve experienced a time where they thought they were going to die and ask if they repented past sins to God and asked for His help. Or ask if they’ve ever asked for God’s help if someone close to them was close to death. Just in case, as it were.
 
Fr Hunter in his work “Outlines of Dogmatic Theology” also addresses this question at no. 600 (the work has the nihil obstat and imprimatur):

We assert that [man, unaided by grace] is capable of resisting the less urgent temptations that assail him and of doing acts which have natural goodness. [However,] without grace he can do nothing that draws him nearer to the supernatural possession of God, nor can he resist all temptations to grievous sin [ie, mortal sin]; but it is false to say that he necessarily yields to every temptation, or that all his works, whatever he does, are sin, removing him away from God. … St. Pius V. and other Popes condemned the teaching of Baius (n. 390, vi.) that all the works of those who have not faith are sins, and the virtues of the philosophers are vices.

 
If atheism has any worth at all, it is in fostering a method of skeptical free enquiry; a kind of suspended belief for the benefit of truth. When it hardens into ideology it’s not only dangerous but a worthless risk, both for the individual and society.

Atheists can be moral people; but only by following moral codes that they cannot justify without giving credence to something that is rooted in theism. They can also be good by nature or by accident, but not consistently.
 
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