By understanding the New Evangelization policy and how it connects with teachings from the catechism, one can better understand the RCC’s concepts on salvation to Non-Christians and Non Catholic Christians.
Ever since the inception of the “Year of Faith” the New Evangelization has been pushed with fervency. This policy is a call to all Catholics to be bold and spread their faith to the unsaved. Many may have questions on what do Catholics mean by the “New” Evangelization. Dr. Scott Hahn, author, theologian and Catholic apologist for the St Paul Center for Biblical Theology illustrates this policy in the video, What is the New Evangelization. In the video, Hahn separates Evangelism into two distinctive categories: Primary and Secondary Evangelization. The former entails the normal evangelization that all Christians have done to spread God’s word throughout history. The latter, however, describes the New Evangelization which focuses on “re-evangelizing the de-Christianized”. Dr. Hahn said the push started around January 1993 although I believe that it was initiated a couple months earlier with the promulgation of the RCC Catechism, Second Edition in October 1992. This I believe is very important because the updated Catechism cements the current views of the Catholic faith. One such view documented is on salvation which describes very well why the RCC priorities have shifted to focus on the “de-Christianized”.
In the catechism, starting at paragraph 839, it discusses the status of certain non-Christians in God’s economy. For instance, it says that even though Jews do not believe in Jesus as the savior, it implies that the Old Covenant is still valid because they believe in a Messiah, only that the next time He comes the Jews believe that it will be the first. I believe that this denies Jesus. Jesus said that “I am the way the truth and the light, no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6).
The book goes further in discussing Muslims, in that they are also children of God and worship the same as Christians, therefore, “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the creator” (841). I have studied Islamic culture and religion, I’m required to within my job. I can’t agree with this statement. The Quran and Hadith are diametrically opposed to our Bible. In backing up this statement, Muslims deny the deity of Jesus and even that Jesus had died on the cross. the first part of this statement is written plainly on the outside of the Dome in Jerusalem. In refutation of those writings, Acts 4:11-12 quotes Jesus as saying there is no salvation through anyone but Jesus. To summarize this paragraph, The god of the Muslim is not our God.
The catechism also talks briefly about other pantheistic and polytheistic religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, saying that they all are on a path to God. However, what’s most interesting is when the book discusses non-catholic Christians. This group is described as those that either know the Word of God and refuse to enter the RCC or those who have, in the words of Robert Barron priest and host of the Word on Fire video series, “divorced themselves from God”. As this group is discussed you can see that the tone noticeably changes. Simply put the Catechism pronounces that there is no salvation to those who knowingly separate themselves from the church (RCC).
This appears to be the evangelization priorities of the RCC as per the “New Evangelization” policy and the Catechism and it summarizes RCC concepts of salvation among Non-Catholics.
