Salvation and Church

OSV.com ^ | 03-14-18 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

Salvation and Church The teaching of ‘no salvation outside the Church’ is important and one that must rightly be understood

Msgr. Charles Pope

3/14/2018

Question: I hear the Catholic Church teaches there is no salvation outside the Church. This would seem to condemn most to hell. Or am I missing something? — Name, location withheld

Answer: It is in fact a doctrine of the Church often repeated by the Fathers of the Church and taught formally. However, it must be understood properly.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say by way of explanation:

“‘Outside the Church there is no Salvation.’ ... Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body: Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church ... is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence, they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church” (CCC, Nos. 846-847).

This much is sure: Whoever is in heaven was saved by Jesus Christ in and through his Body the Church. But, as we know, there are many barriers to people fully understanding that the Church is the sole and necessary means for salvation, and thus, simply being outside the Church usually does not alone bring condemnation.

God can and, it would seem, does draw others unto himself in ways not always known to us. All of this can console us and bring an understanding that the teaching “outside the Church there is no salvation” is not understood absolutely.

But this consolation must not be the source of letting our missionary zeal wane. While it is possible to be saved beyond the Church, sacraments and explicit faith in Christ, it is much more difficult. Consider the following teaching from the Second Vatican Council:

“Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. ... But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator (cf. Rom 1:21, 25). Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, ‘Preach the Gospel to every creature’ (Mk 16:16), the Church fosters the missions with care and attention” (Lumen Gentium, No. 16).

And therefore, we see that people often are deceived or let themselves be deceived. So, the fact that people can be saved apart from the Church is not a blank check or presumption that they likely will be saved. It must always be our earnest work to evangelize, for many “prefer the darkness” (see Jn 3:19).

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Placemarker

[ealgeone]

Kinda left out a very important one. It’s there in Exodus. And we know why Rome leaves it out.

[JesusIsLord]

No, you do not, as instead you wrest His words to mean something contrary to His other words, personally and by His Spirit.

Do you see my posts disagreeing with your viewpoint? Which ones?

[ealgeone]

No. There are more than you think. Some are put off by the Roman Catholic who cries to the mod when Roman Catholic theology is called into question. One frequent poster of RCC threads is well known to do so.

I also notice in most of these threads very few Romans participate....especially when we start discussing Scripture.

[Old Yeller]

We're not the ones with idols of Mary we kneel before or pray to, or wear a piece of cloth to avoid the hell-fire, or wear a miraculous medal, or attribute to Mary abilities and titles of Christ and the Spirit, believe you can lose your salvation but then see the priest, go to Mass and get it back again and continue to repeat that cycle. We don't believe Jesus is sacrificed over and over and over again.

Or bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your yard to superstitiously sell it quicker.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

....especially when we start discussing Scripture.

In +18 years of posting on Roman threads, I've yet to find any Roman who knows how to handle the Word of God.

There was one Roman who was a great guy, open to truth and we prayed for each other. He passed away and none have risen to take his place.

That includes two purported priests.

[JesusIsLord]

...the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel

When I read John 6, the focus of the chapter, beginning to end, is BELIEF in Jesus the Messiah. Jesus taught extensively with metaphor. Being born-again. "How can one enter a 2nd time into my mother's womb?" - Nicodemus. I am the door. I am the light of the world. Etc., etc. We don't worship doors or light. We don't attempt to re-enter our mother's womb.

Jesus indwells BELIEVERS with His Holy Spirit. This is how we 'commune' with Him.

[MHGinTN]

Selah

[MHGinTN]

Hear here

[ealgeone]

Or bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your yard to superstitiously sell it quicker.

YES!!!! Roman Catholicism has some of the most superstitious beliefs I've encountered.

Wearing pieces of cloth to avoid the hell-fire.

catholiccompnay.com

Wearing medals to receive "great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck". marian.org

There is NOTHING in the NT to support this. NOTHING! Yet many Roman Catholics have fallen for these lies.

[Luircin]

Logical Fallacy: Ad hominem, tu quoque.

Try again... again.

[ealgeone]

Context is your friend in understanding the Word.

Matthew 26:26-29	Mark 14:22-24	Luke 22:14-20	John 13:21-26	1 Corinthians 11:23-26
26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”	22While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.24And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25“Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”.	14When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”19And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.	21When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” 22The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.23There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” 25He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.	23For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Key Phrases/words:

Poured out: In the OT the blood sacrifice was never consumed; it was always poured out. We further have the drink offering which was poured out before God as a sacrifice (Ex 29:40, Numbers 15:4-5).

29.11 ἀνάμνησις, εως f: (derivative of ἀναμιμνῄσκω ‘to cause to remember,’ 29.10) the means for causing someone to remember—‘means of remembering, reminder.’ ἀλλ’ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀνάμνησις ἁμαρτιῶν κατ’ ἐνιαυτόν ‘but in those (sacrifices) there is a yearly reminder of sins’ or ‘… that people have sinned’ He 10:3. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 347). New York: United Bible Societies.

[boatbums]

From Lumen Gentium: Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with his grace strive to live a good life.

A close look at this Roman Catholic teaching shows the damnable heresy of Catholicism's gospel - that people can be good enough to be saved. "Dictates of (their) conscience" and "strive to live a good life" cannot be interpreted any other way than that faith in Jesus Christ ISN'T necessary for salvation as long as you are a "good person".

[MHGinTN]

It is clear. Sadly, too many want to believe the great blasphemous lie, pushed weekly by those who draw empowerment from the deception!

[ealgeone]

>>Your comment: “How do you read and study the Bible? We’ve been told a person cannot on his/her own read the Bible and understand it.”<<

Again you make false statements.

Nope. There is a RC poster who used accuse Christians for "your own personal interpretation of Scripture". They had a gif of a cereal box with this.

Today, priests are obliged to read Scripture in their Office, or daily prayers, for about an hour and a half every day. The laity are more than encouraged, they are urged to read the Bible. By Pius VI (1778), by Pius VII (1820), they were earnestly exhorted to read it, by Leo XIII a special blessing was given to all who would read the Gospels for at least a quarter of an hour daily. Benedict XV (himself the founder of the Society of St. Jerome for distributing the Gospels in Italian, which sells great numbers every year) sent, by the Cardinal Secretary of State, the following message to the Catholic Truth Society: “It was with no little gladness of heart that the Holy Father learned of the work of the Society and of its diligence in spreading far and wide copies of the Holy Gospels, as well as of the other books of the Holy Scriptures, and in multiplying them so as to reach all men of good will. Most lovingly therefore His Holiness blesses all who have put their hand to this very excellent work; and he earnestly exhorts them to persevere with ardor in so holy an enterprise.” . . .

This is at odds with the following from the USCCB:

Scripture always has played an important role in the prayer life of the Catholic Church and its members. For the ordinary Catholic in earlier centuries, exposure to Scripture was passive. They heard it read aloud or prayed aloud but did not read it themselves. One simple reason: Centuries ago the average person could not read or afford a book. Popular reading and ownership of books began to flourish only after the invention of the printing press.

Once the printing press was invented, the most commonly printed book was the Bible, but this still did not make Bible-reading a Catholic’s common practice. Up until the mid-twentieth Century, the custom of reading the Bible and interpreting it for oneself was a hallmark of the Protestant churches springing up in Europe after the Reformation. Protestants rejected the authority of the Pope and of the Church and showed it by saying people could read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Catholics meanwhile were discouraged from reading Scripture.

Identifying the reading and interpreting of the Bible as “Protestant” even affected the study of Scripture. Until the twentieth Century, it was only Protestants who actively embraced Scripture study. That changed after 1943 when Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. This not only allowed Catholics to study Scripture, it encouraged them to do so. And with Catholics studying Scripture and teaching other Catholics about what they were studying, familiarity with Scripture grew.

Scripture awareness grew after the Second Vatican Council. Mass was celebrated in the vernacular and so the Scripture readings at Mass were read entirely in English. Adult faith formation programs began to develop, and the most common program run at a parish focused on Scripture study. The Charismatic movement and the rise of prayer groups exposed Catholics to Scripture even more. All of this contributed to Catholics becoming more familiar with the Bible and more interested in reading the Scriptures and praying with them.

USCCB

So it would seem based on this personal Bible study is a relatively new concept for the Roman Catholic.

[boatbums]

For your lively discussion -- not argumentation.

You can't be serious! What is "argumentation" to you and how is it different than a "lively discussion"? Everyone has to agree with you? Fat chance!

[boatbums]

The GOSPEL is an "extremely trivial issue"???

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Christ Alone Placemarker.

[boatbums]

You are a wise man.

[metmom]

Why wouldn’t you want to receive Jesus as often as you can?

Receive Him once and He's with you forever.

Receiving Him as often as I can means that I've lost Him that many times because you can't receive again something you already have in your possession.

Because it’s a one time profession of your faith. Where is it stated that faith is a one time acceptance and how can one determine that they will not reject that faith by their actions (sins) before their death?

It's still a better position than Catholics tell us they are in. They keep telling us that every time someone sins they are choosing to reject Jesus and He leas. At least with what you are claiming we believe, it would take a deliberate, conscious decision to reject Jesus, not simply a matter of falling into sin.

But as far as it being a one time thing, when we accept Jesus we are born again/born from above into the family of God. We are given new life in, the record of debt against us being canceled and we are transferred by God into the kingdom of Jesus.