Salvation for tye ignorant

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Shaolen

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I need some help. I have an atheist friend who sent me a meme that says

"Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?

Priest: No, not if you did not know.

Eskimo: Then why did you tell me?"

And he then asked “what is the church’s teaching on ignorance?”

I replied

"Priest’s answer should be “probably, the possibility you could be saved despite not being baptized does exist, though it is remote.”

You’re responsible for responding to God as He has revealed Himself to you

And the more revelation you have, the better chance you have of living the life of faith.

An analogy I’ve heard that I think helps with this is imagine a rapid moving river and abridge that leads to the other side. The other side is heaven, the bridge is the church, and getting washed down the river is hell. Its possible someone could wade through the rushing rapid and make it, but unlikely and would be much better if they knew about the bridge."

Now he has replied

“Lets assume I live with a remote tribe with no contact of the outside world. Christianity is a word I never heard and religion is simply me wondering what is up in the sky. Wouldn’t I be doomed for “hell” though? A priest saying, “well, you might get lucky” in kinder words is not a very good answer. I guess he wouldn’t know anyways until he died lol.”

What would you say to this?
 
Shaolen said:
I need some help. I have an atheist friend who sent me a meme that says

"Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?

Priest: No, not if you did not know.

Eskimo: Then why did you tell me?"

And he then asked “what is the church’s teaching on ignorance?”

I replied

"Priest’s answer should be “probably, the possibility you could be saved despite not being baptized does exist, though it is remote.”

You’re responsible for responding to God as He has revealed Himself to you

And the more revelation you have, the better chance you have of living the life of faith.

An analogy I’ve heard that I think helps with this is imagine a rapid moving river and abridge that leads to the other side. The other side is heaven, the bridge is the church, and getting washed down the river is hell. Its possible someone could wade through the rushing rapid and make it, but unlikely and would be much better if they knew about the bridge."

Now he has replied

“Lets assume I live with a remote tribe with no contact of the outside world. Christianity is a word I never heard and religion is simply me wondering what is up in the sky. Wouldn’t I be doomed for “hell” though? A priest saying, “well, you might get lucky” in kinder words is not a very good answer. I guess he wouldn’t know anyways until he died lol.”

What would you say to this?
Click to expand...
What does the Catechism say?
 
What makes you think the possibility of salvation is remote?

The reason we spread the Gospel is because it is Good News. It gives hope, it gives purpose, it gives people the opportunity to achieve spiritual greatness.

The analogy I like is a glass. A small glass can be full and a big glass can be full. But the big glass can hold more. The small glass represents people who do not know God. Natural Law is written in all of our hearts. Those that live good lives are like the small glass. They can never reach their full spiritual potential but they can please God. The big glass represents those who have access to the fullness of truth and embrace it.

catholic.com/magazine/articles/what-no-salvation-outside-the-church-means
 
Shaolen said:
I need some help. I have an atheist friend who sent me a meme that says

"Eskimo: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?

Priest: No, not if you did not know.

Eskimo: Then why did you tell me?"

And he then asked “what is the church’s teaching on ignorance?”

I replied

"Priest’s answer should be “probably, the possibility you could be saved despite not being baptized does exist, though it is remote.”

You’re responsible for responding to God as He has revealed Himself to you

And the more revelation you have, the better chance you have of living the life of faith.

An analogy I’ve heard that I think helps with this is imagine a rapid moving river and abridge that leads to the other side. The other side is heaven, the bridge is the church, and getting washed down the river is hell. Its possible someone could wade through the rushing rapid and make it, but unlikely and would be much better if they knew about the bridge."

Now he has replied

“Lets assume I live with a remote tribe with no contact of the outside world. Christianity is a word I never heard and religion is simply me wondering what is up in the sky. Wouldn’t I be doomed for “hell” though? A priest saying, “well, you might get lucky” in kinder words is not a very good answer. I guess he wouldn’t know anyways until he died lol.”

What would you say to this?
Click to expand...
I’d ask him what he thinks about the bridge analogy, because that analogy answers his second question. Yes, “you might get lucky” is indeed an unsatisfactory answer. That’s why you tell people about the bridge! Your friend is evading your previous answer.
 
I think I would have said that according to Christ, we should let everyone know what he said and that they should be baptized. He was God.

He also said what would happen to those who refused to believe in him.

For those who haven’t been reached yet to hear his message, then we must let that be left in the hands of God. As men we simply don’t know, but each will be fairly treated according to God’s mercy, love, and justice for each given situation.

The following will help with this understanding.

oswc.org/stmike/qa/fs/viewanswer.asp?QID=2441
 
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