Why should we Evangelize?

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Startingcatholic

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Why should we evangelize if we believe Non-Christians who through no fault of their own don’t know Christianity go to heaven. Wouldn’t it be better to let them live in ignorance?

(I understand that Jesus gave us the great commission to go make disciples of all nation’s, this is merely a food for thought question!)
 
Jesus did command us to “go into all the worlds and preach the gospel”
 
Startingcatholic said:
Why should we evangelize if we believe Non-Christians who through no fault of their own don’t know Christianity go to heaven. Wouldn’t it be better to let them live in ignorance?
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Two things:
  1. it’s still possible for a nonbeliever to commit a mortal sin
  2. we aren’t sure how much ignorance is required for invincible ignorance. It could be that only those who have literally never heard of Jesus (like tribes in the Amazon) are sufficiently ignorant. Its possible (though not certain) that mere familiarity with ChristianIty is enough for someone to be culpable for a lack of faith.
 
Well let us use seafaring analogies, after all in Europe the Roman Catholic Church is often referred to as “The Boat/Ship/Barque of St. Peter”
He was a fisherman after all and did posses boats.
So here we are members of this big Boat we have many amenities but most importantly we have also lots of safety equipment on board, we have medical personnel, rescue resources if someone was to slip and fall of the ship. We can associate all this “safety equipment” to the Sacraments of the Church. They give the members who avail themselves of these graces to combat the many perils at sea.
Other people are also out in the sea but they do not have the safety equipment. They do not know about it and cannot by themselves obtain them. Some have just 1 device for their salvation “Baptism” is like a life jacket. But they lack all the others.
Some don’t even believe Baptism does anything. “It is just a symbol” they say. They do not know any better.
Would you not like all those other people drifting in their little dinghy boats to come aboard your ship where they will be safer from the perils at sea?
And of course every now and then someone will decide they will brave the waters by themselves and jump into the sea.
No one can stop them! We pray for them that they may not be lost.
Peace!
 
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The problem is that invincible ignorance isn’t a biblical concept in which we are told who qualifies and by what standard someone can be considered, Invincibly Ignorant.

We are commanded to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Which means combating any errors and false religions which seek to keep people out of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Unfortunately, the Salvation of souls no longer seems to be the objective. Instead, we find ways in which we can compromise our truths, so that everyone can have a seat at the table.

There is only One Faith, One Lord and One Baptism.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
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Because it’s always most advantageous to know the rules of the game.
 
If it’s better to put a hedge of protection to preserve ignorance for better odds it’s better to Kill our kids right after they are Baptized. Aborting a child even would give them better odds if not knowing God is good That way they won’t be accountable for their ignorance
 
SPBlitz said:
It could be that only those who have literally never heard of Jesus (like tribes in the Amazon) are sufficiently ignorant. Its possible (though not certain) that mere familiarity with ChristianIty is enough for someone to be culpable for a lack of faith.
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Yes and I think St Augustine’s opinion was along those lines. And part of the reason why most people are going to Hell, in his opinion.
 
Dan_Defender said:
Yes and I think St Augustine’s opinion was along those lines. And part of the reason why most people are going to Hell, in his opinion.
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Yeah, Augustine was a bit stricter about those things. I’m not saying I necessarily agree with him, but the fact that we can’t know for sure what qualifies as invincibility ignorant means we should err on the side of caution, especially since what’s at stake is so important.
 
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Startingcatholic said:
Why should we evangelize if we believe Non-Christians who through no fault of their own don’t know Christianity go to heaven. Wouldn’t it be better to let them live in ignorance?
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Ignorance is not a means of salvation. Most importantly, one cannot be saved without knowledge of Christ, since faith in Christ (who embodies all of God’s revelation) is necessary:

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.42 "Since “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘But he who endures to the end.’"43
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Following an upright conscience and seeking the truth puts one on the path to faith and salvation, but we must meet them on that path so that their desire may be fulfilled:

CCC (my bolding)
851 Missionary motivation. It is from God’s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ urges us on."343 Indeed, God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”;344 that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God’s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.
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The following is also true:

CCC
848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338
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Yes, God could just enlighten individuals directly and maybe He does at the “eleventh hour” in extreme circumstances, but because God is a communion of love (the Trinity), He has ordered salvation to be achieved in a communion of persons joined to Him and one another in faith and charity.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently released an explanation of this very point. The subsection entitled “V. Salvation in the Church, Body of Christ” is especially on point, but the whole thing is on this topic.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...c_con_cfaith_doc_20180222_placuit-deo_en.html

Finally, for those who have hardened their hearts to the small voice of God, many respond to the charity and word of another person–that personal interaction may be the way God brings that person to repentance and conversion. The Scriptures and history–and the testimony of many converts even in our time–show this almost always to be the case. Interior enlightenment is very rare. Most often, faith comes through hearing or reading the words of another and seeing and experiencing charity first hand.
 
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Startingcatholic said:
Why should we evangelize if we believe Non-Christians who through no fault of their own don’t know Christianity go to heaven. Wouldn’t it be better to let them live in ignorance?

(I understand that Jesus gave us the great commission to go make disciples of all nation’s, this is merely a food for thought question!)
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We don’t believe that and the Church does not teach that. It teaches that someone genuinely under invincible ignorance MAY be saved. That is different from WILL be saved.
 
Christian living also has benefits in this life, and we should wish to share that with all people.
 
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