Salvation

[Melek]

I have heard that Protestants believe that you can only go to Heaven by faith in Christ. Do Catholics believe this is true too? I have heard that actions are very important in Catholicism while in Protestantism, only faith matters.

So I’m wondering, do righteous people who don’t accept Christ really go to Hell? What about the innocent Jews who died in the Holocaust? Are all of them in Hell too for not accepting Jesus Christ? Some Protestants have told me they are but what is the Catholic viewpoint on this?

 

[Ron_Conte]

I have heard that Protestants believe that you can only go to Heaven by faith in Christ. Do Catholics believe this is true too? I have heard that actions are very important in Catholicism while in Protestantism, only faith matters.

So I’m wondering, do righteous people who don’t accept Christ really go to Hell? What about the innocent Jews who died in the Holocaust? Are all of them in Hell too for not accepting Jesus Christ? Some Protestants have told me they are but what is the Catholic viewpoint on this?

The Council of Trent taught that faith alone is not sufficient for salvation. When a person received the Sacrament of Baptism, he receives the infused virtues of love, faith, hope, placing him in a state of grace. If he commits an actual mortal sin, he loses that state of grace, and no longer has love and hope as infused virtues. He might still retain faith, in that he retains his belief in what the Church teaches. His faith is dead, in the sense that he lacks sanctifying grace; his faith is not enlivened by love and hope. But it is also a type of true faith, because he still believes that God exists, that sin exists, that he can regain sanctifying grace by repentance and confession.

To be saved, one must die in a state of grace. So the enter the state of grace, a person must be baptized. Then to retain that state, he must either avoid all actual mortal sin, or repent and be forgiven if he has fallen into actual mortal sin. Everyone who dies in a state of grace has eternal salvation.

Good works are important in Catholicism in that we are morally obligated to worship God, to practice prayer, self-denial, works of mercy toward our neighbor. To fail to do so would be a mortal sin. And to be saved, one must avoid all mortal sin. But salvation itself is from Baptism, which is from Christ on the Cross.

A person who is a non-Christian can still be saved by what is called a baptism of desire (also taught by the Council of Trent). This is a non-formal baptism (no ceremony). The person received the state of grace and the infused virtues of love, faith, hope because they desire, perhaps only implicitly, baptism. A person might love truth, love his fellow human beings, love justice and mercy, etc. In doing so, the person implicitly desires and receives baptism. Then, again, if he dies in a state of grace, he is saved.

The Church teaches that non-Catholics and non-Christians can be saved, including Jews, Muslims, other religions, agnostics, atheists, etc. Any person who has receive either formal baptism or non-formal baptism (of desire), and who has retained that state of grace by avoiding actual mortal sin, or by repenting from actual mortal sin, is saved.

 

[teachccd]

All people (who get to heaven) are saved by the grace of God through faith. We cannot save ourselves by anything that we do. ( Ephesians 2:8-9) Only because Christ died for us do we have the opportunity to gain eternal life. But what is this faith that we are saved through? Most Protestants will say that it is a one time assent of the will to “accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior”. Is this what the bible teaches? In the second chapter of the letter of James we can plainly read that faith without works is dead. ( cf. James 2:14-26) As Catholics we know that we can only be saved by a saving faith and not a said faith. Jesus would never have taken up three chapters in the Gospel of Matthew (5-7) to teach us how to live in His love and equate that with the rewards of heaven if it was not necessary. In Matthew 25: 31-46, we find that we will be judged on how we treat others. The bible is filled with what is necessary to be called a Christian. Even Saint Paul cautions himself that though he preaches the gospel he too might be disqualified.

No where in Scripture or the writings of the early Church Fathers do we find that if you say the sinner’s prayer and accept Jesus as your personal Lord and savior that you are saved. That may be part of it but definitely not exhaustive of the love that Jesus preached. Martin Luther devised such a theology because he never felt forgiven and had an extreme case of scupulosity. He even tried his hardest to throw out the letter of James in the New Testament referring to it as the “Gospel of Straw”. But, it is clear that James believes the way Catholics have believed for 2000 years; faith with works is a saving faith and faith without works is dead… I hope that this helps as well… teachccd

 

[teachccd]

So I’m wondering, do righteous people who don’t accept Christ really go to Hell? What about the innocent Jews who died in the Holocaust? Are all of them in Hell too for not accepting Jesus Christ? Some Protestants have told me they are but what is the Catholic viewpoint on this?

Again, ALL people who gain eternal life only received it through the death of Christ on the Cross whether they know it or not. So Jews and anyone else will be held in the infinite mercy of God. The Catholic Church does NOT teach that those outside of the Church will go to hell. They may or may not depending on the infinite judgment of God. He knows each of us better than we know ourselves and wishes for ALL to be saved. BUT, if a Jew is saved, He was saved through the merits of Christ and not through any other means. (John 14:6) Any Protestant or Catholic who tells you who is going to hell just made themself God and I would pray that that person would know the infinite mercy and love of his or her God… teachccd

 

[StCsDavid]

Catholics believe that the only way to Heaven is through Christ; however, by ways known only to God, those who did not hear the Gospel in this life may be saved. That is our hope for the non-believer based upon a loving and just Father and a merciful Savior in Christ.

Also, I know you didn’t ask, but Protestants often say Catholic believe they can work their way into Heaven. Works are simply a sign of obedience to Christ. Grace is what saves, but can one expect to receive grace if one is disobedient to Christ? Then, too, performing works doesn’t guarantee the reception of grace. So works are done out of love of neighbor and obedience to Christ. Grace is conferred primarily via the sacraments.

 

[teachccd]

Our very being is sustained by the grace of God. We can do nothing apart from Him. Our “good works” or acts of love only crowns His already infinite gift of love for us. I have heard Catholics say that they get brownie points for the good deeds that they do. Well the merits of those good deeds are only granted through the treasury bestowed upon us through Christ. If we, as Catholics, have a hard time with this teaching then how are the Protestants supposed to understand how Catholics view our acts of love in conjuction with our faith? You would not believe how many Catholics have told me that since I teach so many classes I have “earned” my way to heaven. Maybe they should be in one of my classes. … teachccd