Salvation
SALVATION
BASIC R.C. BELIEF In classic Roman Catholicism, the possibility of Hell is very real and the prospect of Heaven very dim, except after a long term in Purgatory.
Priest Bertrand Conway, THE QUESTION BOX, “Some well meaning but unscholarly preachers of the Gospel have suggested that Christ allowed Himself to experience the torments of hell as if he were alienated for a time from His Father. Such a view is utterly alien to Catholic teaching. The guilt of actual sin cannot be transferred from one soul to another. To assert that the guilt of men’s sins was transferred to our Lord dying on the Cross is absurd and blasphemous.”
From GRACE, Knights of Columbus, page 4. “These punishments of original sin left us `ad agonem,’ as the Council of Trent says, that is, for the purpose of making us struggle for our salvation.” page 30, “We know that man can merit heaven because Holy Scripture speaks of Heaven as a prize to be fought for, or a reward for faithful service.”
POST VATICAN II On Saturday, May 12, 1979, in St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, Las Vegas, Nevada, Rev. Despars was giving his homily (sermon). He was talking about the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. He stated, “When Jesus died on the Cross, He did almost all of the work for our salvation, I would say about 90%.”
I have had several Catholic commentators who object to my using Rev. Despars as an illustration because, they say, “He is only one priest; he cannot speak for the official Roman Catholic Church.” However, these same men that object to my using Priest Despars have admitted that, while they do not preach any specific percentage, it is basically true that Christ did almost everything for our salvation.
St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Catechism puts it this way, “It is the sin of presumption to believe that we can be saved by God alone without our own efforts.”
The late Fulton Sheen, in a prayer to God in THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF CHRIST, “Reconciliation is Thy work; atonement is mine.”
Vatican II Council, “Those also can attain to everlasting 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.”
Most modern Roman Catholic theologians (and laymen) think that just about everybody will eventually make it to Heaven. Some reason that all God desires is sincerity, others feel, “God is so good He will send no one to Hell.”
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU’RE ASKED “ARE YOU SAVED” by Bishop Charles Herzig. Distributed by Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, PA. Some weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon as I was just about to leave my house for an evening Mass in one of the parishes, my doorbell rang.
The two ladies standing on the small porch looked startled as I opened the door. They recognized me as a clergyman, dressed as I was in my black suit and clerical collar, and it was obvious that they were not prepared for a clergyman to open the door.
They said they wanted to ask me some questions. I was relieved; at least they weren’t going to try to sell me anything. They looked at each other, then one of them blurted out, “Are you saved?” I was as surprised by the question as they had been by my opening the door. I looked down at my black shoes and my black coat and my silver pectoral cross suspended around my neck and said, “Honey, I’m so saved it’s a shame!”
That must have been all they wanted to know because they thanked me and scurried off to the next house.
I’m not quite sure what they meant by the question, “Are you saved?” I think it was their way of asking if I had given my life over to the Lord. You’ve probably been asked that question before. It comes very easily from people who talk about religion and salvation more readily and sometimes more challengingly than Catholics.
We believe that by baptism we are given a share of the very life of God Himself. That is what salvation means.
It is a participation in the life of Jesus Christ that begins at baptism and it developed as we live the Christian life. If we are faithful to his ways it will eventually reach its perfection in heaven. It is certainly God’s will that we be saved. Of course, we can frustrate God’s plan and jeopardize our salvation by sin, but the whole economy of God’s plan calls for our salvation.
If you really love God and are trying to live the Christian life as best you can, and you are aware of the constant need for conversion in your life, the next time someone asks you if you are “saved”, just say yes.
CATHOLIC JOURNALS From THE CATHOLIC DIGEST, 8/83, “In response to the question, `Have you been saved?’ the Catholic could really give three answers. `Yes, I have been saved. Jesus Christ died for me. Through faith and Baptism I have received forgiveness of my sins. I am being saved. I look to the Lord each day for the grace to continue believing. I hope to be saved. I know I must persevere in my faith and love for God until the end of my life.'”
CHRISTIAN COMMENT The argument that a good God will allow everyone to Heaven cancels His true Love and Justice. It would have God failing to deal with sin, and deny the justice of Calvary, and would break His Word to His children, to whom He has promised an eternity without sin.
RELIGIOUS JOURNALS From FOUNDATION, 1-3/88. “`A Tug-of-war with Biblical scholars’ is the title of an article in the March 21, 1988 issue of INSIGHT. In this article, Roman Catholic philosophy professor at the Jesuit-founded Loyola University of Chicago, is quoted as follows: `The theological defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity has been buried for 20 years…and claims that Jesus is the sole way of salvation have been abandoned.’ Sheehan says that `some young Catholic clergymen accept that Buddha offers Buddhists a valid path to salvation…and it is now recognized in many Catholic academic circles that there are a plurality of mediators between man and God, not just Jesus.’ ”