Just don’t claim that Jehovah Witnesses can be saved.
So, the question becomes to whom does the requirement of sacramental baptism apply? Do we think it applies to people, for instance, who have never heard of, and will never hear of Christ or Christianity? If we think that, as did Fr. Feeney, then the millions upon millions of people in question cannot be saved.
But that view sounds like a contradiction to the saying that “God…wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.” (1Tim. 2:4)
If God wills the salvation of all men, then there must exist the
possibility for anyone to saved, otherwise God’s will that all should be saved would be pointless.
Evangelization and missionary work is one way to further realize God’s will in the world; preaching the Gospel and baptizing as many people as believe. But that still leaves a very large percentage of people who never hear the Gospel. So, we must still consider matter further, in regard to the gentiles who never hear the Gospel message.
We find an answer in St. Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome:
"There is no favouritism with God. All those who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law; and those under the Law who have sinned will be judged by the Law. For the ones that God will justify are not those who have heard the Law but those who have kept the Law.
"So, when gentiles, not having the Law, still through their own innate sense behave as the Law commands, then, even though they have no Law, they are a law for themselves.
“They can demonstrate the effect of the Law engraved on their hearts, to which their own conscience bears witness; since they are aware of various considerations, some of which accuse them, while others provide them with a defence . . . on the day when, according to the gospel that I preach, God, through Jesus Christ, judges all human secrets.”
The gentiles, then, can be saved if they follow the dictates of the natural moral law. The Apostle calls it the “Law engraved on their hearts.” The natural law is the same for all men, in all places, at all times throughout history. The Ten Commandments are actually a Divine revelation of certain precepts of the natural law, one that are otherwise naturally known to man. For instance, all societies have prohibited murder. They know the precept “Thou shalt not kill”. Errors come into play though, when there is disagreement as to just which acts constitute murder.
St. Paul is not contradicting the requirement for sacramental Baptism. The requirement just needs to be correctly interpreted, and St. Paul’s teachings have helped with that interpretation.
