Invincible Ignorace - When does a person become ineligible?

[GodHeals]

**Invincible Ignorace - When does a person become ineligible?
**

Since being pressed by my Muslim friend for an answer, it seems I’ve concluded mercifully the following. He claims that KNOWING or HEARING about the gospel renders a person ineligible for invincible ignorance. I asked what KNOWING or HEARING means? It seems there can be so much involved in that those two words and that God is the ultimate judge. The Church doesn’t say much more on it, right?

SHARED ON FACEBOOK WITH FRIEND, PLEASE CORRECT MY THINKING, IF WRONG. Thank you!
Brian

My merciful thinking: If a person hears the Gospel, contemplates the reality or truth, fearlessly follows truth wherever it leads, etc. & still doesn’t receive Jesus Christ, but still continues to follow God as they know Him to Be & does the good in their heart, maybe they can be saved. God is the ultimate judge. When does a person become not invincibly ignorant? I don’t know…not sure we can know or what the Church has to further say on the matter.

I just wouldn’t want to be in the above situation and thank God I am not. But we all must remember that everyday we live, we can choose to turn away from God in our thoughts, words, and actions, and therefore must be vigilant of the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil.

May God forgive my above theological errors & correct them in the hearts of readers, and above all, save our souls. Amen.

 

[tonyrey]

How we live is the best test of what we believe. Regardless of other factors anyone who behaves in accordance with the teaching of Jesus is on the way to heaven.

 

[Vouthon]

Dear GodHeals

You touch upon something of great importance when you note:

God is the ultimate judge. When does a person become not invincibly ignorant? I don’t know

Blessed Pope Pius IX in one of his allocutions mentioning the doctrine of invincible ignorance said:

“…It is to be held for certain that they who labor in ignorance of the true religion, if this ignorance is invincible, are not bound by any fault in this matter in the eyes of the Lord. Now truly, who would arrogate so much to himself, as to be able to designate the limits of this kind of ignorance, because of the reason and variety of peoples, regions, natural dispositions, and a great many other things?..”

***- Blessed Pope Pius IX, Singulari quadam, 1854 ***

Pope Pius IX cautioned that we must not impose any limits on the scope of invincible ignorance. It is all in the “eyes of the Lord” as he says in a different allocution:

“…It is known to Us and to you that they who labor in invincible ignorance of our most holy religion and who, zealously keeping the natural law and its precepts engraved in the hearts of all by God, and being ready to obey God, live an honest and upright life, can, by the operating power of divine light and grace, attain eternal life, since God who clearly beholds, searches, and knows the minds, souls, thoughts, and habits of all men, because of His great goodness and mercy, will by no means suffer anyone to be punished with eternal torment who has not the guilt of deliberate sin…”

- Blessed Pope Pius IX, Quanto conficiamur moerore, 1863

 

[Richard_White]

I agree with the above poster and Blessed Pope Pius IX. I would also like to give my opinion: I believe that, in terms of invincible ignorance, it was much easier to use such an idea in the 1800s, because back then, there were many, many distant, unexplored, and unevangelized regions of Asia, Africa, etc. Therefore, people who did their best to follow their conscience, but did not kow God through no fault of their own, may have been able to be saved. Although this is true for some people today, I think it is very hard to us this idea any longer, because of the grea tamounts of intercommunication throughout the world- such as internet, television, etc. Thus, most people, in my opinion, know at least something about Christband His Gospel.

 

[Polycarp1]

How we live is the best test of what we believe. Regardless of other factors anyone who behaves in accordance with the teaching of Jesus is on the way to heaven.

I think this needs more clarification. We are all expected to live good lives but that in itself is no guarantee of heaven.

 

[tonyrey]

I think this needs more clarification. We are all expected to live good lives but that in itself is no guarantee of heaven.

There is a very significant difference between living good lives and behaving in accordance with the teaching of Jesus.

 

[edward_george]

There is a very significant difference between living good lives and behaving in accordance with the teaching of Jesus.

Which is?

 

[Qoeleth]

I agree with the above poster and Blessed Pope Pius IX. I would also like to give my opinion: I believe that, in terms of invincible ignorance, it was much easier to use such an idea in the 1800s, because back then, there were many, many distant, unexplored, and unevangelized regions of Asia, Africa, etc. Therefore, people who did their best to follow their conscience, but did not kow God through no fault of their own, may have been able to be saved. Although this is true for some people today, I think it is very hard to us this idea any longer, because of the grea tamounts of intercommunication throughout the world- such as internet, television, etc. Thus, most people, in my opinion, know at least something about Christband His Gospel.

But there is another aspect of “invincible ignorance”, relevant especially to the West. Many people have got the ‘wrong version’ of Christianity. This can be through ‘wrong’ information (i.e. bad theology), and also through practical experience (e.g. the experience of abuse).

In some cases, despite the availability of ‘information’, there can be ‘invincible ignorance’ based on bad experience- for example, a person who has suffered abuse may perhaps see the Church as ‘totally rotten’, and this, I suggest, would also qualify as a case of ‘invincible ignorance.’