Della:
But, it doesn’t say that ONLY those who have knowledge of Christ will be saved, does it? No, it doesn’t. The SURE way of salvation is faith in Christ as Savior. For those who never heard of him or have been fed a lot of misinformation about him, his redemption is still in effect. What the Church teaches is that if these good people had known of Christ as he truly is and had had the opportunity to do so, they would have sought out Christian baptism. No one is saying we shouldn’t evangelize. Indeed, in order to MAKE SURE of others’ salvation we are morally obligated to share the Gospel with them, for how easy can it be to serve and love God and one’s neighbor without the aid of Church and the Sacraments established by Christ.
And the Catholic Church has never stopped sending out missionaries, and never will. We can’t get into every place because of government interference and ignorance, but we have evangelized nearly every spot on earth, and will continue to do so until Christ returns. All that this teaching is saying is that we human beings cannot judge anyone’s salvation because who will be saved is entirely up to God. It is a guard against being judgmental and presumptuous not a discouragement of evangelization.
Not at all, as I wrote above. There is many a nominal Christian (both Protestant and Catholic) who will be horribly surprised to learn that their lukewarm faith and inaction (sins of omission) have cost them their salvation. And, there will be many a surprised, but happy to now know who it was they were truly serving with their self-sacrificing love all those years persons, who will enter into the joy of their Lord. It is not for us to judge the heart of another, but it is for us to be sure we did all we could to see to it that others hear of Christ so they can be morally certain of their salvation as they serve him with the graces God gave them.
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Acts 4:12 [Peter telling the crowd about Jesus] “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
These sound pretty clear to me…
If we could go to Heaven through this idea of Invincible Ignorance, then why would God let Christ come down at all? It isn’t logical to think that He would sacrifice His only son (especially in that horrific manner) if we only had to be good-willed people.
Also, why would Christ tell His disciples to go to all nations if all nations can already receive salvation (especiall in the knowledge that the disciples would endure the same hatred from the world that Christ did)? Again this is not logical.
I will tell you, I weep over the people of this world. The fact is that we have people blinded by the world. Muslims, hindus, buddhists and even men and women in our own Churches may not know Jesus Christ. People groups of Africa and Asia and elsewhere have NEVER had the Gospel spoken or read to them and I cry at night realizing that they may or may not ever hear God’s words.
If you want an example of a man who realized this; look at Paul. He was there to save and preach to those who have never heard the Gospel. Look at the area he covered without any means of public transportation; that is astounding. Look at what he went through; beatings, prison, shipwrecks, yet he continued to preach the Gospel. He knew his business was to save through Christ’s name and he had an urgency knowing that every minute counted in that business. If this idea of salvation without Jesus Christ was there, Paul (and none of the other disciples) would have gone through the torment they went through. There would be no urgency in spreading the Word of God if salvation could be acheived any other way.
Can God reach the unreached through supernatural means? Sure. But looking through the Bible, especially after Christ, how often did we see any supernatural experiences? It was rare.
Mel,
I also want to congratulate you on looking into your heart and searching for God there.
I also want to tell you not to let anyone say that you cannot properly interpret what another man says. God gave your intelligence to you so that you CAN USE IT…
I will be praying as you continue onward in your quest for understanding. I also pray that this heartfelt searching for truth continues to the top of your Church itself.
God Bless,
Jim
But seriously, he’s in a hard position, isn’t he? No matter what he says some people will not understand, others will take his words out of context, and still others will shoot down anything said by the Roman Pontiff (none of these people are you, dear Mel).
