Dear Brent,
In the Introduction (p.37) of the Navarre Bible's volume on St.
Paul's Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, the writer asks: "How
can man...share in the salvation achieved by Christ?" And he
continues: "The corpus of St. Paul's letters provides the following
answer: God takes the initiative and `calls' a particular individual
by means of Gospel preaching, which brings with it a `grace'. If a
person accepts the word he is being offered, he makes an `act of
faith' with the help of grace and begins to believe -- faith is a
form of knowledge -- in the saving power of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ...The process which normally follows on
from this is that the person desires to be baptized and is baptized.
Baptism forgives his sins (1st Corinthians 6:11, Hebrews 10:22,
Titus 3:5) and makes him born again to a new life (John 3:5) by
union with Christ." This is the Catholic doctrine about the ordinary
means of salvation, which includes explicit gospel preaching,
explicit faith in Jesus Christ, and actual water-baptism. The
Church is forever committed by Christ's explicit command to
missionary activity, so as to reach as many people as possible and
to make available to them the ordinary means of salvation. But God
may use other means for those who are not reached by the ordinary
means. CCC #1257 implies this, and #1260 explicitly states it.
These two sections shed light on each other, and both of them shed
light on #161.
#161 says: "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 (children), therefore without faith no one has
ever attained justification..." At this point, it is fair to ask,
"Does this statement necessarily and always mean EXPLICIT faith in
God and Jesus Christ, or, if you will, INTELLECTUAL faith?"
Let me examine with you the Bible texts you quote. In this
examination, let us try to follow the humble and realistic
observation made in the preface of the aforementioned Navarre Bible
commentary on Romans and Galatians: "It would have been impertinent
of us to comment on the Holy Bible using our own expertise alone.
Besides, a basic principle of exegesis is that Scripture should be
interpreted in the context of Sacred Tradition and under the
guidance of the Magisterium" (p.8).
Furthermore, we must let Scripture help us interpret Scripture. No
text must be read in isolation, but only as illuminated by apposite
passages from other parts of the Bible. And finally, it is not too
much to expect that, if EXPLICIT faith is necessary for salvation,
the texts adduced must EXPLICITLY and clearly say so.
Romans 10:13-18 - this passage is addressed to Christians (it was
written to the Christian community in Rome). It emphasizes the duty
of Christians to live and preach the Faith. Verse 17 rests explicit
faith upon explicit preaching. Verse 16 views the rejection of the
gospel by some who have actually heard the preaching: "Who has
believed what he has heard from us?" But the passage as a whole does
not deal with the condition of those who have not heard the gospel.
And nothing in the passage proves the absolute necessity of explicit
faith.
Moreover, Romans 10:13, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved," is not a blanket statement covering all the
requirements for salvation. It needs heavy qualification, which it
receives in Matthew 7:21-23, Luke 6:46, and James 1:22-25 (q.v.).
Hebrews 11:6 - "Without faith it is impossible to please (God): here
we need to observe that in Scripture "faith" is not a univocal term.
It has many meanings , many shades of meaning. Reading Hebrews 11:6,
one asks, "What is the meaning of "faith" here?" The whole of
chapter 11 answers this question by a series of cameo portraits of
Old Testament saints. A study of these will show that this passage
does not deal with explicit faith in Jesus Christ.
To assert that Acts 10:43, which promises forgiveness of sins to
"everyone who believes in (Jesus)", requires EXPLICIT faith simply
begs our question. "Everyone who believes in Him" does not mean
"only those who believe explicitly in Him." The logic of language
tells us this.
John 3:18 speaks of the condemnation of him who does not believe.
But John 12:48 and Mark 16:16 show that John 3:18 also implies a
positive, deliberate rejection of a known Christ as a condition for
damnation. None of these verses deal with the case of those who
have not heard the preached Gospel.
Romans 5:1 is the Catholic faith: salvation is by God's free gift;
and in another place Paul says: "By grace you have been saved
through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of
God" (Ephesians 2:8). All salvation is from God through Christ in
the Holy Spirit. So we pray in the fourth acclamation after the
Consecration of the Mass: "Lord, by your Cross and Resurrection you
have set us free. YOU ARE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD."
Objectively, all salvation is the fruit of Christ's saving death and
resurrection. Subjectively, those who have heard the gospel embrace
their salvation through explicit faith in Jesus Christ and through
baptism; God finds other ways to save those who have not heard the
gospel THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, yet who live upright lives,
using, BY THE POWER OF GOD'S GRACE, WON FOR THEM BY CHRIST ON THE
CROSS, the meager light which they have.
We Catholics pray for all who are not yet perfectly joined to us by
explicit faith and baptism in the unity of Christ's Church. In the
words of our Savior, we say to them: "You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know" (John 4:22). And we remind
Christians, whose ideas of God and of his power and mercy are too
narrow, of his word through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or his ear dull that it
cannot hear" (Isaiah 59:1).
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
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