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Ah, invincible ignorance. As I understand it, it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that a person who truly has no knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, but serves God as best as he or she knows how, and strives for the Truth, can be saved by God's infinite mercy.

As I understand the Catholic teaching, sin is the conscious decision to do what one knows is hateful to God. If one genuinely does not know that something is sinful, one is invincibly ignorant.

Invincible ignorance: It's the only thing between you and a Hell of a lot of sin.

I appreciate the information, but I get a sense that you were trying at the same time to be offensive. If that's not the case, I apologize.

"As I understand it, it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that a person who truly has no knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, but serves God as best as he or she knows how, and strives for the Truth, can be saved by God's infinite mercy."

All right. Now, how about my hypothetical Hindu? Is it possible for him to serve God, never having been exposed to any philosophy or theology of the Judeo-Christian tradition?

"As I understand the Catholic teaching, sin is the conscious decision to do what one knows is hateful to God. If one genuinely does not know that something is sinful, one is invincibly ignorant."

So, an Aztec priest offering up human sacrifices was not committing sins? That wasn't offensive to God? I'm not just quibbling here; I'm honestly trying to get this straight in my mind.

We know that God is infinitely merciful, loving, and just; so what's the status of a South Sea cannibal? What's the status of a Baal worshiper whose honest and sincere attempts to serve God as best as he knows how led him to cast his living infant into a fire in the idol's belly?

"Invincible ignorance: It's the only thing between you and a Hell of a lot of sin."

This would seem to imply that you think me invincibly ignorant. I'll admit to ignorance, but I think you're unnecessarily harsh in presuming my ignorance to be invincible.