Non Believers Chance to hear gospel after death

[Meyer]

Hello all!

I am currently going through RCIA and what drove me to this was actually because of what a close LDS friend of mine was trying to educate me on(long story but claiming to be the true church never settled well with me and that’s when I began RCIA to learn more about Catholics). One thing I feel compelled to understand greater is that after death , within the LDS Church, someone can still hear the gospel and be baptized … hence gaining salvation if the message is accepted.

How does the Catholic Church approach this? Are there such things as baptisms for the dead? It makes me think that many people will pass on and have never been given the chance to learn about Christ even in such a modern age!

Thanks in advance.

 

[pianistclare]

The Catholic church does not teach this.
We believe in particular judgments after we die. No do-overs. Live a just and holy life and see if things don’t turn out really well.
Part of the “thing” about Mormons, is that they believe that their spot in heaven can be elevated the more ancestors they have. Therefore the necessity to have some sort of second chance after death. We, however, believe that we alone are responsible for our destination (heaven or hell) and that getting there in the first place is what matters. That heaven is living in bliss with God for all eternity.
I don’t care one bit if I have an exalted spot, I just want to be seated at the table.
God bless. You did well to question this It simply has no foundation.

 

[Vico]

Hello all!

I am currently going through RCIA and what drove me to this was actually because of what a close LDS friend of mine was trying to educate me on(long story but claiming to be the true church never settled well with me and that’s when I began RCIA to learn more about Catholics). One thing I feel compelled to understand greater is that after death , within the LDS Church, someone can still hear the gospel and be baptized … hence gaining salvation if the message is accepted.

How does the Catholic Church approach this? Are there such things as baptisms for the dead? It makes me think that many people will pass on and have never been given the chance to learn about Christ even in such a modern age!

Thanks in advance.

Catechism

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

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.337
848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

335 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 73.21L 3,1169; De unit.L 4,509-536.
336 LG 14; cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5.
337 LG 16; cf. DS 3866-3872.
338 AG 7; cf. Heb 11:6; 1 Cor 9:16.

 

[Meyer]

Thank you so much.

 

[Genesis315]

As the passage by Vico noted, we believe God offers the possibility of salvation to all and therefore He can bring them to that faith, without which it is impossible to please Him, even in ways known only to Himself. This may even come just before death–Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vinyard shows that He calls different people at different times, even right at the “eleventh hour.” The key though is that this happens before death (even the instant before it), but not afterward–then comes the definitive judgment.

 

[catholic1seeks]

I understand the point you’re getting across, but we have to balance it by remembering the strong place of Catholic concepts like the communion of saints, intercessory prayer, purgatory, indulgences, and so on. Mormons may have the baptism for the dead wrong, but St. Paul does mention this practice, even though no one is certain what it means. What is clear is that we as Christians can aid those who are dead, if they are not yet fully purified. And certainly this could be the case for many who have never heard of Christ, via the OP.

We should always pray for the dead, for the only ones we are certain that are in Heaven are the canonized saints of the Catholic Church.

 

[pianistclare]

I hear you. But I’m never going to advocate for Mormon thinking, FYI.

 

[catholic1seeks]

t makes me think that many people will pass on and have never been given the chance to learn about Christ even in such a modern age!

One thing we have to get right about Catholic teaching is that salvation does not equivalent to having the right beliefs. In fact, you can have all the right beliefs and be a Catholic and still end up rejecting God and going to hell.

Knowing the fullness of the Gospel greatly aids us in our relationship with God, because if we didn’t know the truth, we wouldn’t know how God wishes to reach us in our day-to-day lives: prayer, sacraments, Confession, the Eucharist, the moral life, and so on. But no one gets to Heaven simply by knowing about Christ or even “believing” in him (remember he says on the last day, many will say “Lord, Lord,” but will have never done his will.)

What gets one to Heaven is a heart that has been changed by God so that it can love God and neighbor in an authentically supernatural way. God desires all persons to be saved, so we must not think that only card-carrying Christians or even just Catholics are going to Heaven.

All that being said, we should pray for everyone who has died. We don’t lose hope for even unbelievers and atheists, for only God knows their hearts, and they could very well be in need of a long process of purification before obtaining the fullness of Heaven.

Hope these random bits of info help!

 

[BlackFriar]

after death , within the LDS Church, someone can still hear the gospel and be baptized … hence gaining salvation if the message is accepted.

That’s really interesting.
Actually I believe there is something here in common with Catholicism similar to Limbo and Jesus’s descent into Hades to preach to the spirits of the just dead locked out of heaven.

The issue is what happens to unbaptized babies that die.
We used to have a Limbo teaching. This is still valid but now on the backburner.
Now we admit we just don’t know, but if God is the merciful Person we know Him to be then heaven will not be lost to them.

Personally I believe it is acceptable for a Catholic to hold that the Risen Jesus is still quite able to preach to these dead spirits who had no opportunity to hear the Gospel on earth and choose baptism.

Now we do not believe there is a baptism after death (though some Corinthians did).
But somehow Jesus may be able to give them a chance to hear His Word and decide at the moment of their death.

But of course, no one really knows.