Can we hope or assume that most people will eventually attain Heaven?

  • Thread starter Thread starter blaskoman
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

blaskoman

Guest
Heaven was unattainable prior to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrrection. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection Heaven is now attainable for all souls who have faith in Jesus and perform good works.

Many catholics do not practice their faith. Moreover, the vast majority on this Earth are non-catholics. Can we assume that most non-catholics can get into Heaven? Unfortunately, common sense points to the fact that most souls will not get into heaven. I hope I’m wrong.
 
We can hope, but not assume. I’m partial to Von Balthasar’s “Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved” (spoiler alert, he says yes), but I know many who disagree.
 
blaskoman said:
Heaven was unattainable prior to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrrection. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection Heaven is now attainable for all souls who have faith in Jesus and perform good works.

Many catholics do not practice their faith. Moreover, the vast majority on this Earth are non-catholics. Can we assume that most non-catholics can get into Heaven? Unfortunately, common sense points to the fact that most souls will not get into heaven. I hope I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
i definitely hope. but based on what jesus said, i think it’s unlikely.

the way to salvation is narrow and few will fine it.

now what i’m not sure about is what his definition of few is.
 
blaskoman said:
Heaven was unattainable prior to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrrection. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection Heaven is now attainable for all souls who have faith in Jesus and perform good works.

Many catholics do not practice their faith. Moreover, the vast majority on this Earth are non-catholics. Can we assume that most non-catholics can get into Heaven? Unfortunately, common sense points to the fact that most souls will not get into heaven. I hope I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
I think it is a poor assumption.

An assumption that many people hold at the expense of evangelization.

After all if most everyone goes to heaven why do missions, why go to church, why do anything except what I want to do. Why submit to God?

So while I hope and pray for many to be saved, I choose to evangelize as if many our lost.

After all. It was Jesus who said “narrow is the gate to life and few find it”
 
There’s two different questions.

First, do I think most non-Catholics get to heaven? I’m not even sure I’d say most Catholics do. Christ (and most of the saints who spoke on the matter) all indicate that most do not find the narrow way, or really even try to (and remember Christ tells us to “strive” to enter - it takes effort).

Second, your question "Can we hope or assume that most people will eventually attain Heaven? Pope Benedict answered this in the affirmative in his encyclical Spe Salvi wherein he states, “For the great majority of people—we may suppose—there remains in the depths of their being an ultimate interior openness to truth, to love, to God.” So yes, we may suppose this. Although, we don’t have to suppose this. Benedict wasn’t teaching universalism or even that most non-Catholics will be saved, just that the Church allows us to fight this one out.

As for Von Balthazar and his “Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved,” I’d recommend reading Ralph Martins “Will Many Be Saved?” which takes Balthazar’s argument (and Rahner’s anonymous Christian argument) apart.
 
The Lord will ask us when we meet him after this life “DO WE LOVE ME” and “ARE YOU SORRY”

These 2 things must be done daily.

Check out this you tube of a women who had a near death experice. The Lord she said showed her heaven, hell and purgatory and when she was speaking about hell she could not stop crying but dont forget that the Lord gives us every chance to comeback to him even at the moment of death. If you where given the chance of entering the deepest part of purgatory instead of hell you would take it.
 
I believe it is most charitable to hope that all will be saved and to assume that none will be.

With the fathers of the Church and a great number of older saints, it’s basically a non-issue: it is believed the great majority of souls are in Hell. However, I do believe this should have limited import, because if you raise up a number of students in the same class, under the same teacher, in the same culture, the result is going to be that they’re pretty much all going to think the same way and hold very similar opinions. A 4th century Catholic theologian isn’t going to go around talking about how few will be damned when everybody he ever knew held a contrary opinion; it is extremely doubtful such a view would ever form within him, especially if we consider that Christians assumed the pagan nations (which was the enormous majority of the world compared to the Mediterranean) were damned by default. So stacking up a large number of quotes by older saints isn’t, in my opinion, very meaningful or compelling. They were all cut from the same stone.

Still, even if we set that aside, the strongest case for the majority being damned always has been, and I think always will be, the words of Christ himself. Saints are weak, but the Gospel is not, and is created for all time, and Christ says that the gate to Heaven is narrow, and the road to Hell is broad. Many theologians today, who certainly cannot by any stretch of the mind be called lukewarm Christians (Pope Benedict XVI among them) conflict with the old, literalistic interpretation, and speculate that Jesus is speaking as an anguished father towards his children, rather than as a statistician. But without any infallible declaration, this explanation will remain speculation. I suppose I could see that as feasible.

It is best to just focus on loving God with all your heart, body, mind and soul, and being a light to the world, and allow the Judge to handle the wet work.
 
Who ultimately gets there is above my pay grade. But I am sure hoping is ok because we pray for all souls to be led to heaven in the fatima prayer

O my Jesus,
forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell,
and lead all souls to Heaven,
especially those in most need of your Mercy.
Amen.
 
Christ wishes everyone’s to be saved and we must pray that as many souls will convert and persevere to the end.
 
Speaking of Catholics, and I’m not wishing to be unkind, but … how many have received the sacrament of confession recently that need to. Just think of the ones in our own family. Look at the church putting on these “come home” programs. Look at all the catholics who do not attend sunday mass any more. 20% attend in this country and 4.5% in France. And the last time I looked, the church still says that this is a serious obligation, (which by the way it shouldn’t have to do). Oh yes, the divorce rate of 50% dosen’t help, and all the porn and tv sex mixed in for good measure(not to mention all the dope, gambling, drinking, going on).

I won’t bore anyone with any more details (where the devil is).

Oh, and one more thing, PRAY PRAY PRAY (so no one becomes one of the stats).

God bless us one and all (if it isn’t too late).
 
Considering the path to the destination is narrow, I think ‘most’ don’t make it.

I like to reference my favorite parable - The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Beginning of Matthew, chapter 25 usccb.org/bible/matthew/25

Be prepared, is what we can do.

How? is the logical next ?
 
Matthew’s parable about the Wheat and the Chaff springs to mind.

Matthew 13:24-30

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

On would hope that there is more wheat than chaff.

Faith, Hope & Charity, may God preserve us.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top