Salvation

[Vic2]

What eternally happens to a person who is not Baptized but leads a good moral life?

 

[LilyM]

Well, that would depend on lots of things. For example whether they were taught Christian doctrine, whether they were taught that baptism is necessary for salvation, whether they actively and consciously rejected such teachings and why they did so.

The Catholic Church certainly teaches that it is quite possible for God in his infinite mercy to make allowances for what is called ‘invincible ignorance’. That is that people who were never taught about Christ or about baptism may nonetheless, if they do their best to reach out to God and lead a good moral life as they understand it, still be saved.

But we can’t rely on people being saved by ignorance in situations where they have the opportunity to learn about Christianity and baptism and can’t be bothered to do so. And with our world being as it is, the majority of people would have more than ample opportunity.

So in a nutshell we don’t really know, and we don’t assume that anyone (or any particular person, be they baptised or not) is in hell.

 

[Fidelis]

What eternally happens to a person who is not Baptized but leads a good moral life?

**Beginning qualifying statement: **Only God knows for sure. We do know that God desires ALL men to be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ.

What the Church generally teaches is that faith, baptism, and obedience to Christ as Lord, as each person is enabled by grace, are the necessary normal means for salvation. It has not been definitively revealed to us that there is another way. However, God is not bound by the rules he has set for us, so there could be other possibilities.

Now, theologians tell us there is such a thing as baptism by desire; that a person **may **be saved if he sincerely would have embraced Christ and be baptized, but was unable for whatever reason.

There is also baptism of blood, if a non-Christian dies willingly for the cause of Christ, such a person **may **also be saved in this way.

Some people may have been exposed to the “gospel,” but it was presented in an abusive, distorted seriously coercive, or intimidating manner (like if you were raised in a cult, for example), they may reject that distorted presentation without really hearing the true gospel. Also, another person, again for the sake of example, in the innermost inaccesable tribal regions of Asia, has never had a ghost of a chance to hear the gospel his whole life. But if these persons follow God’s promptings to follow His law as best they know how, those persons **may **also be saved, as it seems inconcievable that God would create a person with no chance in this life to escape damnation.

**Ending qualifying statement: **Only God knows for sure. We do know that God desires ALL men to be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ.