I'm really struggling to understand exclusive salvation

[IAmAKaur]

My question is simple(-ish): why is it that only one religion is acceptable to God? Why is it that, given the multitude of religions in the world, that membership of one particular religion (in this case, Catholicism) grants people salvation?

It just seems a little illogical to me that the Creator of the entire universe would create a multitude of different cultures, with their own unique religious and philosophical outlooks, only to then condemn a large proportion of them to Hell.

 

[nuntym]

• JMJ +

Catechism of the Catholic Church, #847:

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.

 

[JamesCaruso]

My question is simple(-ish): why is it that only one religion is acceptable to God? Why is it that, given the multitude of religions in the world, that membership of one particular religion (in this case, Catholicism) grants people salvation?

It just seems a little illogical to me that the Creator of the entire universe would create a multitude of different cultures, with their own unique religious and philosophical outlooks, only to then condemn a large proportion of them to Hell.

God did not create all those unique religions and philosophical outlooks. That’s the problem. God only created one religion; man created all the rest.

 

[Rachel126]

The Church does not state categorically that everyone who is not a member of the Catholic Church in this lifetime will not be saved. Anyone who tells you otherwise is contradicting the Catechism and is not to be listened to.

 

[Allegra]

The Church does not state categorically that everyone who is not a member of the Catholic Church in this lifetime will not be saved. Anyone who tells you otherwise is contradicting the Catechism and is not to be listened to.

Furthermore, mere membership in the Catholic Church certainly does not guarentee salvation either!

 

[TomD123]

And not all religions can be true. They contradict one another. Therefore, they all can be false, but they can’t all be true. So if truth matters to God at all, then so does which religion someone belongs to.

 

[TK421]

There are no entirely false religions. But there is only one religion that is entirely right (or, as some see it, there are no religions that are right).

It is not coincidental that so much of the Old Testament involves God exhorting and scolding the Israelites to love & obey him. Identifying yourself with the correct religion does not make you bulletproof from accountability.

 

[JRKH]

My question is simple(-ish): why is it that only one religion is acceptable to God? Why is it that, given the multitude of religions in the world, that membership of one particular religion (in this case, Catholicism) grants people salvation?

It just seems a little illogical to me that the Creator of the entire universe would create a multitude of different cultures, with their own unique religious and philosophical outlooks, only to then condemn a large proportion of them to Hell.

The problem here is that the outlook is improperly defined. it is not that there is one “Religion” that is acceptable…but rather that there is only one path that is acceptable. That path is the path of selfless brotherly love - Agape in the Greek.

The reason that this Love is the touchstone is that Love is the greatest creative element in existence. It is so great that in the Bible we are told that God IS Love. Love always builds up and never tears down…it seeks only the good of others…Nothing that is built and lasts is built upon hate for hate consumes itself.

Now that said…there are organizations that have codified things in various ways…but the essential in evaluating these should always be how they conform to the Great commands of Love. These are Love God above all else…and Love your neighbor as yourself.
If a given religion is of God (even if imperfectly) it will be built upon these two principles.

Just my :twocents:

Peace
James

 

[MaeganFlinchum1]

• JMJ +

Catechism of the Catholic Church, #847:

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.

Would this include Protestants who don’t know the Catholic Church is the One True Church? ic

 

[TRH1292]

My question is simple(-ish): why is it that only one religion is acceptable to God? Why is it that, given the multitude of religions in the world, that membership of one particular religion (in this case, Catholicism) grants people salvation?

It just seems a little illogical to me that the Creator of the entire universe would create a multitude of different cultures, with their own unique religious and philosophical outlooks, only to then condemn a large proportion of them to Hell.

Nobody has said God “condemns a large portion of them to Hell”.

We can summarize Catholic teaching on the salvific nature of the Church in 13 points:

1. God strongly desires every Human being to be saved.
2. God sent Jesus to die for every human being.
3. Christ established the Catholic Church and the Sacrifice of Mass and the other sacraments especially Baptism for the salvation of the world.
4. God’s perfect will for every human being is that they may enter in the Church through Baptism and be saved.
5. The Catholic Church is the only ark of Salvation God established and joining it is the only sure path of salvation.
6. Not all have access to the Church, and not all have a proper understanding due to outstanding circumstances , such as how they were raised, to the truth of the Catholic Church. It’s a confusing world.
7. But because of #1 and #2, God gives every person a chance to be saved. God gives every single person sufficient grace to be saved, regardless of if they know about the Church.
8. People who respond to his Grace may be joined to the Church mystically by a Baptism of Desire if they truly seek the will of God, because God is merciful, even if this desire is only implicit.
9. Those who are saved with this Baptism of Desire, or saved by being a non-catholic Christian who was ignorant of these truths, are still saved through the Catholic Church. They are saved from Grace that comes from the catholic sacraments and the sacrifice of Mass and prayers of the Church. They are united to the Church fully in heaven.
10. Outside of the visible structures and sacraments of the Church, there can be no definite assurance of salvation.
11. The Church hopes that in God’s mercy all may respond to his graces that he gives to all and be saved, even if perhaps at death. Even if this is unlikely, the church hopes and prays for the salvation of all people.
12. For those who knowingly reject the Catholic Church with enough evidence to reasonably know it is true have absolutely no hope for salvation unless they repent, but we do not know who has reached such a point.
13. The Church does not know if any person or what persons have entered hell, or how many. This is simply not known.

Now, beyond that, why is this so?

One basic reason is that God is logical. He can’t contradict himself. God can’t be the founder of all world religions because they are not compatible with each other.

However, sense God desires all to be saved in all culture’s, the true religion must be able to place itself in all cultures. That is why the Catholic church is called “Catholic” or universal, because she is in all different cultures and places on earth.

And although other religion’s might not be true paths of salvation, they often have dim expectations of the true religion, anticipations of the coming of God’s son, a search for goodness, which can be preparations for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

[adf417]

Would this include Protestants who don’t know the Catholic Church is the One True Church? ic

Yes it does when the lack of knowledge is of no fault of theirs. This would also include those who “think” they do know. It is possible for people to think they know everything there is to know for their own salvation but later learn differently. In these cases God does understand.

Peace!!!

 

[TRH1292]

Would this include Protestants who don’t know the Catholic Church is the One True Church? ic

That particular paragraph does not apply to protestants, it’s mainly speaking of non-Christians.

For protestants, read paragraph’s 817-822 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

819 says:

““Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth” are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: “the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.” Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to “Catholic unity.””

 

[Aelred_Minor]

And not all religions can be true. They contradict one another. Therefore, they all can be false, but they can’t all be true. So if truth matters to God at all, then so does which religion someone belongs to.

I would not put it so bluntly.

Most world religions are natural religions. This does not automatically mean they are false or that God has nothing to do with their genesis. God gave us all an intellect capable of coming to know of His existence without supernatural help and a will that is naturally ordered to religious piety.

In a state of nature man observes the created world and comes to realize that it all must come from a sacred Creator. He then experiences an almost instinctive desire to serve and sacrifice to this Creator. Hopefully he does so, empowered and guided by divine grace.

Unfortunately man is also a fallen creature, and there are other spiritual forces at work other than grace. Thus natural religions quickly become unnatural. Superstitions creep in. False gods are imagined. Mythology is tainted with sex and sin. In many cases the idea of God himself is tainted, sometimes to the point that he could no longer be called God.

But there is also such a thing as revealed religion. Judaism is the only pre-Christian one we know about. Here God actually revealed truths about Himself, provided a national religious law, set up a system of sacrifices and festivals similar to those of natural religions but ordered towards something higher.

Then came Jesus Christ. This is the key to the OP’s question. God Himself became man and made himself the bridge between the humanity and divinity that natural religions had tried in vain to build and that Judaism had only anticipated.

Looking at Christianity as simply a world religion, it’s easy to see its claims to universality as provincial ignorance or, worse, presumptuous cultural imperialism. But if you look at what Christians actually believe about Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that either or faith must be tragically mistaken, or else that the Messiah we put our trust in is indeed the only possible path to eternal salvation.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

God did not create all those unique religions and philosophical outlooks. That’s the problem. God only created one religion; man created all the rest.

I would not put it so bluntly.

Most world religions are natural religions. This does not automatically mean they are false or that God has nothing to do with their genesis. God gave us all an intellect capable of coming to know of His existence without supernatural help and a will that is naturally ordered to religious piety.

In a state of nature man observes the created world and comes to realize that it all must come from a sacred Creator. He then experiences an almost instinctive desire to serve and sacrifice to this Creator. Hopefully he does so, empowered and guided by divine grace.

Unfortunately man is also a fallen creature, and there are other spiritual forces at work other than grace. Thus natural religions quickly become unnatural. Superstitions creep in. False gods are imagined. Mythology is tainted with sex and sin. In many cases the idea of God Himself is tainted, sometimes to the point that he could no longer be called God.

But there is also such a thing as revealed religion. Judaism is the only pre-Christian one we know about. Here God actually revealed truths about Himself, provided a national religious law, set up a system of sacrifices and festivals similar to those of natural religions but ordered towards something higher.

Then came Jesus Christ. This is the key to the OP’s question. God Himself became man and chose to be the great sacrifice, the bridge between the humanity and divinity that natural religions had tried in vain to build and that Judaism had only anticipated.

Looking at Christianity as simply a world religion, it’s easy to see its claims to universality as provincial ignorance or, worse, presumptuous cultural imperialism. But if you look at what Christians actually believe about Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that either our faith must be tragically mistaken, or else that the Messiah we put our trust in is indeed the only possible path to eternal salvation.

 

[fhansen]

My question is simple(-ish): why is it that only one religion is acceptable to God? Why is it that, given the multitude of religions in the world, that membership of one particular religion (in this case, Catholicism) grants people salvation?

It just seems a little illogical to me that the Creator of the entire universe would create a multitude of different cultures, with their own unique religious and philosophical outlooks, only to then condemn a large proportion of them to Hell.

Well, our faith teaches that man is lost and that God, alone, can show him the way back home, so why would He provide many different and sometimes conflicting means? Cathlocism does not teach that other religious and philosophical outlooks condemn people to hell. We’re essentially judged based on what we know, on what we’re given.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I would not put it so bluntly.

Most world religions are natural religions. This does not automatically mean they are false or that God has nothing to do with their genesis. God gave us all an intellect capable of coming to know of His existence without supernatural help and a will that is naturally ordered to religious piety.

In a state of nature man observes the created world and comes to realize that it all must come from a sacred Creator. He then experiences an almost instinctive desire to serve and sacrifice to this Creator. Hopefully he does so, empowered and guided by divine grace.

Unfortunately man is also a fallen creature, and there are other spiritual forces at work other than grace. Thus natural religions quickly become unnatural. Superstitions creep in. False gods are imagined. Mythology is tainted with sex and sin. In many cases the idea of God Himself is tainted, sometimes to the point that he could no longer be called God.

But there is also such a thing as revealed religion. Judaism is the only pre-Christian one we know about. Here God actually revealed truths about Himself, provided a national religious law, set up a system of sacrifices and festivals similar to those of natural religions but ordered towards something higher.

Then came Jesus Christ. This is the key to the OP’s question. God Himself became man and chose to be the great sacrifice, the bridge between the humanity and divinity that natural religions had tried in vain to build and that Judaism had only anticipated.

Looking at Christianity as simply a world religion, it’s easy to see its claims to universality as provincial ignorance or, worse, presumptuous cultural imperialism. But if you look at what Christians actually believe about Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that either our faith must be tragically mistaken, or else that the Messiah we put our trust in is indeed the only possible path to eternal salvation.

I was talking about religions and philosophies in the formal sense.

A natural religion is only true in the sense that a person has no knowledge of Christ through no fault of his own, but not in the sense that his belief contains the fullness of truth. If a person, for instance, believes in one God, but that is as far as his belief goes, it is only true in so far as it goes, and the person is excused since he does not know about Christ. That does not make it a “true” religion. It really leaves God to judge that person according to his conscience; it does not mean his “religion” is true. I suppose he might even believe is six gods, but God will judge him according to his conscience. In the latter example, his religion is not true in even the smallest sense.

There is a bluntness about Catholicism being the one, true faith given us by God. But I do not mean to demean anyone who does not know this through no fault of his own.