Posted on 11/30/2005 6:41:45 PM PST by NYer
I have a feeling that this is going to cause a great deal of controversy.
Baptists ain't gonna like this one. Gonna be ugly.
For many, many years, Catholics were taught "Outside the Church, there is no salvation." In the NewThink of Vatican II, tradition is easily forgotten ...
There is nothing in the New Testament that supports this.
I believe that Buddha will be saved.
Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. "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.'"
As for St. Augustine's opinion on the matter, he couldn't be clearer: "If, however, Christ did not die in vain, then human nature cannot by any means be justified and redeemed from God's most righteous wrath--in a word, from punishment--except by faith and the sacrament of the blood of Christ." (On Nature and Grace, 2).
My father in law was a cultural Christian... went to church because it was the civilized thing to do and then, three days before he died of cancer, sitting up all night because he was afraid to lie down, he saw the clock saying 3:16 and believed. I know he was saved.
I have a feeling that this is going to cause a great deal of controversy.
&&
This is nothing different from what I learned from my Baltimore Catechism over 50 years ago.
But it wasn't reported as worldwide news back then.
Acts 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Acts 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Probably a typo in translation: of course even the nonbelievers can save, as the First Church of the Almighty Dollar has always taught, and then if they invest prudently, they were vouched the miracle of compounded interest for their salvation. Even those who do not save still can do OK, but that requires them to win a jackpot or to receive a sizable inheritance.
Thank you for this post!
My adoptive father was born to Lutheran parents. They were both baptized but opted not to baptize their one and only child.
He met and eventually married my mother and promised to the Church that he would raise me Catholic. He never renegued on that promise. Three years ago, his mother died. In her will, though not a practicing Lutheran, she left all her worldly possessions to the Lutheran Church. My stepfather comlied with her wishes.
At Christmas last year, he asked my mother to give him a Bible. She wasn't quite sure how to approach this since she was raised Catholic. In the end, she gave him a KJV Bible. I doubt that he ever read it.
In my office, there is a wonderful man who was raised catholic, married a catholic woman in a catholic church. They are non practicing catholics. When their only child was born, they decided not to have her baptized into the catholic faith, opting to allow her the "freedom of choice" in selecting a religion when she grows up.
Reflecting on my own step father's dilemma, I have attempted on several occasions to challenge him in this approach. Children raised in a secular household have no basis of faith on which to build. It is a thorn in my side and I pray for this family each and every night, especially their 5 year old daughter who associates Santa Claus with Christmas and the Easter Bunny with Easter. It grieves me no end, having watched my father struggle with the mixed messages he was fed over the years by the mainstream media.
I hope and pray that Benedict XVI has a good handle on this concept. My co-worker's child is a victim of her parent's decision. Both parents are solid conservatives in their thinking and practices. For whatever reason, they have turned their backs on the Catholic Church and entrusted their only, beloved child to the whims of the world. Please remember Sara in your prayers.
Unbelievable!
I fully understand the thought process that get's one there, but it is totally unbiblical.
Paul says...
For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
- Rom 10
Since God is just, everyone has an opportunity to receive the Light. This is one of the true names of Christ. (I AM the Way, the Truth and the Light.) You are judged by the Light you have received.
Revelation 5:9 also speaks of the universal availability of the salvation from Christ:
"...with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation."
Clearly there are many tribes, tongues, peoples and nations which had already died out and were extinct before the coming of Jesus Christ, and many, many more which became extinct over the last 20 centuries without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ. Are they all damned? By no means! Because every one of these people, every person who "comes into the world," can be enlightened by the Light. Can repent and believe. Can choose the Light, Who is in fact the one Mediator between God and the human race: Jesus Christ.
This is not universal salvation. This is the universal availability of salvation. 1 Tim. 2: 3-4 This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
John 14... "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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