Is There Salvation Outside the Church?

The quick answer is, “No.”  The longer answer might begin with, “Well, that all depends.” 

In John 14:6, we read, “Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  In Acts 4:12, St. Peter echoes this teaching, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” This is a fact that has always been taught by the Church.

It is important to remember that Jesus identified the Church with his very self inActs 9:4-5 when he told Saul, who had been persecuting the early Church, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He (Saul) said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  In 1 Tim. 3:15, St. Paul tells us that the Church is “the pillar and foundation of truth.”  From St. Cyprian in the 3^rd Century AD, we read his firm declaration: “Outside the Church there is no salvation.”  This teaching was repeated by many of the Early Church Fathers, the 4^th Lateran Council in 1215, the Council of Florence in 1442, the Council of Trent a century later, and by the Second Vatican Council.  To deny that Salvation comes through the Church is to deny Christ himself.

However, the Catechism states that, “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation” (CCC 847).  This is what is known as invincible ignorance.

Just as Jesus told the Pharisees in John 9:41, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains”, a person who is invincibly ignorant of the truth through no fault of their own may be saved even though they may not be a member of the Church.  It must be noted that this is not tantamount to a guarantee of salvation but a teaching based on the grace and mercy of God.

Conversely, a person who knows the Church to be the truth and rejects it anyway, cannot obtain salvation.  This sentiment is affirmed in Luke 12:48, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”   We must remember that our ability to reason does not dictate our faith but our humility before the truth that is passed onto to us by those to whom Christ entrusted the task - and our acceptance or rejection of that truth.

Peter, The Rock

There seems to be a rift between Protestants and Catholics when it comes to the primacy of St. Peter as Chief Apostle and first Pope.  The Catholic belief is that St. Peter was appointed by Jesus to lead the Apostles and the Church in his absence (Matt. 16:15-19, Luke 22:31-32, John 21:15-19).  The classic Protestant position is that and that our only authority is the written word of God - the Bible.

As you know, the Lord said to Peter, “And so I say to you, you are Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (Petra) I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  Many non-Catholics believe Peter is not the Rock because confession of faith.  It couldn’t be Peter because the Greek words used here are Petros, meaning, small stone and Petra, meaning, large mass of rock.  They say that the Rock is Jesus because he is referred to as Rock elsewhere, including, Matt. 21:42 and 1 Pet. 2:3-8.  The problem with this is that Jesus didn’t speak Greek to his Apostles - he spoke Aramaic.

What Jesus actually said was, “And so I say to you, you are Kepha, and upon this rock Kepha I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  This is why St. Peter is referred to as Cephas in many of St. Paul’s letters, because Cephas is the closest Greek transliteration of the Aramaic, Kepha.

There is another problem for the non-Catholic.  Petra is a feminine Greek noun and could hardly be used to describe a man, so the word was translated as Petros in Scripture because it was being used in reference to a man.  Jesus clearly appointed St. Peter as earthly head of the Church and Chief Apostle here in Matthew’s Gospel as well as Luke 22:31-32, where he told Peter that he prayed for him to strengthen the other Apostles in his absence and in John 21:15-19, where he told Peter 3 times to feed his sheep.

Charity

Many things can be said of the virtue of Charity.  The word itself conjures up thoughts of anything from the loving example of Mother Teresa to plunking a coin into the Salvation Army’s black pot.  Whereas, charitable acts include giving alms to the poor, visiting the sick and helping those less fortunate – it also includes treating others with the love, respect and dignity that God expects from us.

St. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 13:13 about the three great virtues of Faith, Hope and Love (charity).  He goes on to say that the greatest of these is love.  Are we truly charitable in all aspects of our life or do we understand charity as being simply a monetary donation?  Do we conduct ourselves with others in a respectful manner – or do we indulge in gossip and harbor ill-will towards one another?

In John 13:34, Jesus tells us to love one another, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” This was not a mere suggestion but a command. This same command is echoed in Mark 12:30-31.  In this passage, Jesus tells us about our love for God and each other and goes so far as to say, “There is no other commandment greater than these.  This is very strong language indeed.

Finally, in the 10 Commandments the first three are dedicated to God alone – but the next seven pertain to how we treat others.

One area we might want to consider is in the way we conduct ourselves as we leave the church grounds after mass.  As we drive away after mass – many times it seems that the charity and unity we all shared during the mass is all but gone.  As we jockey for position to be among the first to leave the Church property, we often times forget the car in front of us or off to one side as we careen by, making sure that nobody gets in our way.  As the Little Flower, St. Terese of Liseaux observed, it is not necessary to perform great deeds or heroic acts to express her love for God.  She practiced what became known as The Little Way:

"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."

Wine or Grape Juice?

The Fundamentalist charge that Jesus drank non-alcoholic grape juice and not wine is one that simply cannot stand up to Biblical or scientific evidence.  Many times we hear that all drinking is sinful and certain Biblical verses are furnished as proof for this claim, such as, Prov. 23:20, Ephesians 5:18, I Tim. 3:8; Tit.2:3. These verses speak to the sin of drunkenness, not of drinking in general.

First of all, the first miracle performed by our Lord recorded in the Bible is at the Wedding at Cana, when he turned water into wine at the request of his Mother. Let’s examine what the Bible has to say about this miracle, as well as other references to wine and drinking:

John 2:10 states,  “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men havedrunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”.  Ps. 104:14-15 says, “You bring bread from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts, Oil to make our faces gleam, food to build our strength”. 

In Luke 7:34, Jesus says, "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard’”  In 1 Tim. 5:23, St. Paul tells timothy, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Whereas these verses do not condemn drinking in moderation, neither do they condone drunkenness.

The fact is that crushed grapes begin to ferment immediately the grapes are crushed.  Interestingly, the chemical process that halts fermentation was only invented in the 19th century by the Welch's Company. This means that grape juice as a product has only been around for less than 200 years.  Consequently, when wine is spoken of in Scripture – it is truly wine and not grape juice.

While the Scriptures do condemn drunkenness, drinking in moderation is not necessarily evil unless, of course, this is a source of sin for the individual, such as alcoholism, or losing one’s inhibitions or self- control.

Matrimony

At times we hear that Catholics should “get off their high horse” regarding marriage because we place too much importance on things that are not a matter of salvation.  After all, people make mistakes.

When Jesus was teaching the crowds about marriage, he once again elevated it to the level of a Sacrament – just as God had done in Genesis between Adam and Eve.  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "by its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring, and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory" (CCC 1652).  Whereas others may see marriage as a mere romantic union or contract – a Catholic marriage is a covenant.

In Malachi 2:16, God says “I hate divorce.”  This sounds rather harsh, but it emphasizes the fact that matrimony is ordained by of God.  The Scriptures tell us that Jesus, the Bridegroom and his Church, his Bride, are inseparable.  Similarly, a husband and wife are inseparable because this was God’s divine plan from the beginning.

In Matt 19:3-10, the Pharisees, who were always looking for an opportunity to trick Jesus, asked him if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause because of the Mosaic Law allowing it.  Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

He went on to say, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”

Unlike a civil divorce, which is the dissolution of a civil contract, a marriage in the eyes of God is indissoluble.  Contrary to what some may think, anannulment is not a “Catholic divorce.”  And, unlike a civil divorce, an annulment or Declaration of Nullity, is a decree stating that a sacramental marriage never took place.  It is not the ending of a marriage but an acknowledgement that there was no Sacrament of Matrimony from the very beginning of the union.

Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession is one of the Four Marks of the true Church that we pledge belief in when we recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday.  For the Church to be Apostolic, it must be the one Church that was established by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago and the very same Church that the Apostles continued to build and grow during the 1^st century and beyond.

You might hear non-Catholics claim that before the Reformation, the Church was so corrupt and had so perverted Biblical teachings that it ceased to exist as the Body of Christ and therefore, had to be rebuilt or revived.  They speak of the“invisible Church” having been around from the beginning that had its rebirth during the Reformation.  This goes completely against the Word of God.

First of all – the idea of an invisible Church is not supported by Scripture.  InMatt. 5:14, Jesus tells the Apostles that the Church was “the light of the world”and that, “A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Furthermore, Jesus tells the Apostles that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18)despite what non-Catholics might claim.  After the Reformation, many different“denominations” splintered off from the Church and continue to splinter today to the tune of about 35,000 divided, sects.

Another charge is that after the death of Apostles, there was to be no succession.  This makes no sense, as God would never leave his Church an orphan (John 14:18)and in total chaos, teaching different doctrines from sect to sect. Acts 1:16-26 tells us that the Apostles chose another to take the office of Judas, which was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalms 109:8.  In Acts 15:15 we see that the Apostles told the people not to listen to anybody that they hadn’t mandated and sent out to them.

We have the writings of the Early Church Fathers who taught about Apostolic Succession from the 1^st Century on – while some of the Apostles were still alive.  One example is a letter from St. Peter’s successor, Pope Clement I in the year A.D. 80:

"Our Apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).

Purgatory

The doctrine of Purgatory is one of the most misunderstood teachings of the Catholic faith.

First of all, Purgatory isn’t necessarily a place, but a state.  According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s a “final purification of the elect” (1030-1032). Another misconception is that Purgatory is a “second chance”.  This is not the case, as those Christians who die in a state of mortal sin are not eligible because mortal sin severs our relationship with God.

Since Revelation 21:27 tells us that nothing unclean can enter heaven, a final purification or purgation is necessary for some before entering heaven.  Those in Purgatory will indeed make it into heaven.  As the great Protestant author, C.S. Lewis once stated, “The mercy of God demands purgatory.”

Regardless of what some may say, the belief in Purgatory is scripturally-based.  In 2 Macc. 42-46, we see that Judas Maccabeus prays for the men of his army, killed in battle. Verse 44 says, “… for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.” Matt. 5:25-26 tells us that unless we have settled our matters, we will be “handed over to the prison guard and will not be released until we have paid the last penny.”

We are told in 1 Cor. 3:12-15 that the day (judgment) will disclose the foundation that a person builds upon and how it will be revealed: “If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Additionally, Matt. 12:32 states, “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”, which indicates that there is purification after death for some. Matt. 18:32-35 and Luke 12:58-59 are additional verses that support this doctrine.

All of these verses point to the fact that those in Purgatory will suffer loss but will eventually be released (purified, purged from iniquity, saved). Purgatory is for the believer who dies in God’s favor (without the stain of mortal sin) but is in need of final purification before entering heaven.