The Council of Trent was the 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It met from 1545 to 1563 in Trento, Italy in response to the ever-growing influence of the Protestant Reformation.
The Council was particularly concerned about a former German monk named Martin Luther. He was teaching that a person could be saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, without the need for the sacraments and ceremonies offered by the Roman Catholic Church.
It was his doctrine of ‘sola fide’ (Latin for ‘by faith alone’), amongst other things he taught, that angered the Council, causing them to gather and respond forcibly. They were furious that Luther was preaching and teaching that salvation could be obtained outside the visible Church.
Extra ecclesiam nulla salus
The Roman Catholic Church taught, and continues to teach (though they seek to make it a little more palatable these days) extra ecclesiam nulla salus, which means that ‘outside the Church there is no salvation’.
It teaches that those who know that Jesus founded the Church, yet refuse to acknowledge or come into communion with the Roman Catholic Church, cannot be saved. It follows then that those, like the Reformers, and countless Protestants since, who deny the claims of this church are heretics.
The Roman Catholic Church, whilst condemning the Protestants as apostate, compound things further by teaching that the earnest, yet ignorant Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist etc. may be saved.
Commenting on the dictum, ‘there is no salvation outside the Church’, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
“This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: 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)”[1]
Speaking of eternal salvation, they continue:
All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.[2]
Mormon Apostle – Henry B Eyring greeted by the Pope.
Anonymous Christians?
The idea of ‘anonymous Christians’ was introduced by a Catholic Jesuit theologian named Karl Rahner. He posited the idea that those who have never heard the gospel of Christ may still be saved through Christ.
"Anonymous Christianity" means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianity. A Protestant Christian is, of course, "no anonymous Christian"; that is perfectly clear. But, let us say, a Buddhist monk (or anyone else I might suppose) who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity.”[3]
I believe this is how the Apostle Paul would have responded to Rahner:
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:13-17
If anonymous Christianity is in any way true, where is the need for mission? Where is the need for evangelism? What on earth was William Carey doing going to China – if the Buddhists and the Taoists who, acting according to their conscience, could achieve eternal salvation through the Christ they have never heard of. What of Paul’s missionary journeys? If only the great apostle had known about anonymous Christianity!
Necessary for Salvation
The Roman Catholic Church believes itself to be God’s chosen vessel to bring salvation to the world. It teaches that Christ founded the Church and so, all that is necessary for salvation is to be found only within its walls. Accordingly, those who knowingly reject this Church, knowingly reject God’s salvation and are eternally lost.
Over the coming weeks I will begin a series entitled Answering Catholic Answers, where I will consider Roman Catholic teaching comparing and contrasting it with Scripture.
[1] What "No Salvation Outside the Church" Means | Catholic Answers
[2] Ibid
[3] Rahner, Karl (1986). Imhof, Paul; Biallowons, Hubert (eds.). Karl Rahner in Dialogue: Conversations and Interviews, 1965–1982. Translated by Egan, Harvey D. New York: Crossroad.
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