Catholics of course have the advantage of tradition (whatever that is) and a teaching magisterium that is incapable of being incorrect. As a result they have what is called “Catholic unity” as opposed to the Protestants who all believe “Sola Scriptura” which has produced approximately 3567128 denominations with the number increasing daily.
**Vatican II summed up Sacred Tradition in this way:
*Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), ****Sacred Tradition is what “the apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with him, and from what he did, or what they learned from the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (DV 7). *
Further clarified on
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0003fea3.asp says that
Sacred Tradition, of which Sacred Scripture is a part, is a deeply penetrating, living reality. It is transmitted to us through the practices of the Church since apostolic times. These include official professions of faith, from the Apostles’ Creed (circa A.D. 120) and Nicene Creed (325) to the Credo of the People of God by Pope Paul VI (1968); the official teachings of the 21 ecumenical councils of the Church, from Nicea I (325–381) to Vatican II (1962–65); the writings of Church Fathers and doctors; papal documents; sacred Scripture; sacred liturgy; and even Christian art that portrays what we believed and how we worshiped over the centuries.
Catholics believe something called “There is no salvation outside of the Catholic church”. Now I could ask where in the Bible they get that from, but of course that is an invalid question because Catholics don’t believe in “Sola Scriptura” and they do not operate under the limitations that Protestants do of making sure that the Bible actually teaches something before they believe it.
Again, the Church of the Bible (New Testament) is the same Church that today is the Catholic Church. As such, it was founded by Christ as the way to bring salvation to all humankind.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, following historic Christian theology since the time of the early Church Fathers, refers to the Catholic Church as “the universal sacrament of salvation” (CCC 774-776), and states:
“The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men” (CCC 780).
Now the quote “There is no salvation salvation outside of the Catholic church” was said (I think) first by St. Cyprius of Carthage in 150AD or so when the Catholic church was the only game in town outside of the gnostics and other weirdos. It is perfectly logical according to Catholicism to lift that quote, dogmatize it, and plop it down here in the 21st century under conditions that St. Cyprius couldn’t even imagine.
**As early as 110 A.D. (77 years aftrer the Resurrection and Ascension, Saint Ignatius wrote:
"Be not deceived, my brethren: If anyone follows a maker of schism
, he does not inherit the kingdom of God; if anyone walks in strange doctrine , he has no part in the Passion [of Christ]. Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the union of his blood; one altar, as there is one bishop, with the presbytery and my fellow servants, the deacons" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:3-4:1** [A.D. 110]).
**The quote you are looking for is from Cyprian of Carthage: “The baptism of public witness [desire] and of blood cannot profit a heretic unto salvation, because there is no salvation outside the Church” (*Letters 72[73]:21 ***[A.D. 253]).
Notice too that although his wrote this 143 years after Ignatius, the belief is the same.
But for folks like me who know of the claims of Catholicism and still obstinately remain outside of the “Ark of Safety”, “invincible ignorance” just does not apply. We bake in the lake forever when we die.
No, the Church has never proclaimed as a matter of doctrine that those who are separated from the Church and yet still believe in Christ, have a valid baptism and follow Scripture are going to Hell. If you have heard otherwise, you have been misled. Maybe part of the reason you hesitate to become Catholic is because you are afraid to change, which is normal.
However, to the other Catholics, Vatican 2.0 changed nothing. I have received a number of explanations as to why this is ranging from
(1) It is not infallible and therefore is heretical because it conflicts with what previous popes have infallibly declared,
These are the extremists in the Church who have demonized the Council and all it entailed. The Council spoke for the whole Church. It was attended by practically all the bishops in the world. It was the largest Church Council ever in the history of the Church. Since the Magisterium spoke, the Council is infallible in that it speaks for the whole Church. There is nothing in any of its documents which conflicts with previous Church teaching. It has developed a deeper understanding of the Church in relation to the world.
(2) See (1) with the added twist and the popes that produced this heresy are really antipopes, The Catholic church now lacks a valid pope
Again, extremists who we need to pray for.
(3) It is not heresy, but the Catechism has misinterpreted it and is incorrect.
The CCC is a compendium on official teaching of the Catholic Church. There is no misinterpretation.
And on it goes. Having followed these forums for some time, I have concluded that Catholics disagree amongst themselves on what exactly their own church teaches in this regard.
All they have to do is read the CCC.
