A year ago,
Pope Francis implied that atheists would go to heaven if they only do good.
These were his words, “The Lord has
redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just
Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And
this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children
in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all
have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good …‘But I
don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another
there.”1
Pope
Francis’ speech about ‘doing good’ endorses salvation by works, which is
consistent with the theology of the Catholic church. So this is not surprising.
On the contrary, Protestants (or at least many Protestant denominations) negate
‘salvation by works’ to espouse ‘salvation by grace through faith.’
In his
controversial speech, Pope Francis stated that all are beneficiaries of
Christ’s redeeming blood. This then is the most disturbing aspect about Pope
Francis’ speech - his implication of universalism (that all human beings will
find salvation; it does not necessitate belief in God and Jesus Christ.) If his
implication of universalism is factual, then it is a false doctrine with
reference to the Bible.
Immediately
after Pope Francis’ controversial speech, Fr. Thomas Rosica (staff of the Holy
See press office) clarified that Christ is the means to all salvation, as if to
negate the implication to universalism.2
However, in
his statement of clarity, Fr. Rosica refers to Fr. Karl Rahner’s conceptualization
of “anonymous Christian” to imply universalism. The anonymous Christian is a
non-Christian who ends up in heaven although without consciously realizing himself
/ herself as a Christian. These are Fr. Rosica’s words, “This must mean that the non-Christians who end up in heaven must have
received the grace of Christ without their realising it. Hence the term – ‘anonymous
Christian’.”3 The concept of “anonymous Christian” is taught in
“Lumen Gentium” - the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Vatican II (no.16).
Before we
go any further, we should affirm the following:
1. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church (promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul
II in 1992; henceforth denoted as CCC in this essay) deems atheism a sin, “Since it rejects or denies the existence
of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion...” CCC 2125 The same message is found in ‘Gaudium Et
Spes’ (Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World) promulgated by
his holiness, Pope Paul VI in 1965, “While
rejecting atheism, root and branch, the Church sincerely professes that all
men, believers and unbelievers alike, ought to work for the rightful betterment
of this world in which all alike live…She courteously invites atheists to
examine the Gospel of Christ with an open mind.”4
2. The
Catholic church affirms the existence of hell, which is reserved for those who continue
in mortal sin until their end.CCC 1033-1037
3. The
Catholic church does not explicitly endorse universalism. Fr. Dwight
Longenecker, a Catholic Priest, author and blogger, emphasizes that
universalism does not find a place in Catholic church, “It is a sentimentalist heresy because it is based not on clear
thinking or logic or the authority of Church teaching or the catechism or the
Sacred Scriptures, for there is no support anywhere for universalism in the
Catholic faith” 5 Fr. Rosica affirms the same idea, “Catholics do not adopt the attitude of
religious relativism which regards all religions as on the whole equally
justifiable…”6
However,
the plot thickens here. Avery Cardinal Dulles, who held the Laurence J. McGinley
Chair in Religion and Society at Fordham University, endorsed universalism, “Who, then, can be saved? Catholics can be
saved if they believe the Word of God as taught by the Church and if they obey
the commandments. Other Christians can be saved if they submit their lives to
Christ and join the community where they think he wills to be found. Jews can
be saved if they look forward in hope to the Messiah and try to ascertain
whether God’s promise has been fulfilled. Adherents of other religions can be
saved if, with the help of grace, they sincerely seek God and strive to do his
will. Even atheists can be saved if they worship God under some other name and
place their lives at the service of truth and justice. God’s saving grace,
channeled through Christ the one Mediator, leaves no one unassisted…”7
Avery
Cardinal Dulles was a very well respected Catholic theologian and was in close
association to Pope John Paul II. It was Pope John Paul II who conferred the
title of Cardinal of the Catholic Church in Rome upon Avery Dulles in 2001. In
2008, Pope Benedict XVI gave the dying Cardinal Dulles a private audience.8
I make
these observations about Cardinal Dulles merely to emphasize his highly
respectable standing in Catholicism. Therefore, a man of such high stature in
Catholicism would not have ignorantly blurted out his endorsement of universalism.
If he had meant what he said, then that could be the official position of the
Catholic church as well.
In fact CCC
#841 affirms that Muslims and all those from other religions who acknowledge
the creator God will go to heaven even if they reject Christ, “The plan of salvation also includes those
who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims;
these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the
one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day.” 9
Furthermore,
CCC #847 offers anyone who rejects Christ a backdoor entry into heaven under
the guise of ‘through no fault of their
own’ hypothesis, “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.”10
The Bible
does not teach salvation for Muslims and other theists, instead the Bible teaches
that belief in Christ to be the only means to salvation. On the contrary, CCC #841
confers heaven upon all theists, even if they reject Christ, and CCC #847 and #848
confers heaven upon all atheists.
But the
hypothesis ‘no fault of their own’ in
CCC #841 bewilders me. Why?
First, it
is not biblical. Nowhere does the Bible say that man even if he rejects Christ
for no fault of his own will merit eternal life.
Second, the
concept that man is following another religion for no fault of his own ascribes innocence upon man. (On the
contrary, the Bible deems man a sinner.) In other words, man has not
consciously rejected Christ, but is innocently following the religion that he
has been born into.
Let’s say
that ‘A’ is born into an atheist household. The no fault of his own argument will posit A’s atheism as a
consequence of A’s nurture / upbringing – that ‘A’ was brought up in atheism,
so ‘A’ subscribes to atheism. The logical alternate of this argument would be,
had ‘A’ been brought up in a Catholic household, then ‘A’ would have subscribed
to Catholicism. So in this case, ‘A’ will go to heaven because of his
circumstances (atheism or Catholicism), which according to the Catholic
catechism is for no fault of his own.
The no fault of his own hypothesis includes a
couple of invalid presuppositions.
A. This hypothesis removes any semblance of
cognition of an alternate worldview. So the hypothesis presumes that the person
in contention does not think about alternate worldviews for no fault of his own.
Really? How
did Catholic theologians determine this?
B. The no fault of his own hypothesis also rejects
a notion of conscious rejection of competing worldviews by the person concerned.
By imputing innocence to the person, the hypothesis assumes that the person does
not consciously reject competing worldviews, which need not necessarily be true.
Consider Richard
Dawkins who rejects God and Christ consciously. To begin with, the no fault of his own argument could
include Dawkins under its scope by arguing that Dawkins was not properly
informed or educated about God or creation that he subscribed to Darwinian
evolution to reject God.
Then just
as how an expert neuroscientist would be unable to be an expert in ‘C’ language
programming, the no fault of his own
argument could potentially argue that Dawkins does not have the expertise to
comprehend the truth of the Christian faith, and hence for no fault of his own subscribes to the lie of atheism to reject
Christ.
This so
deviously entails that Dawkins has not rejected Christ consciously. It’s just
that Dawkins is unable to comprehend the truth for no fault of his own.
Thus the no fault of his own hypothesis has the surreptitious
potency albeit sans sense and sagacity to confer heaven upon all and sundry.
The third
and the most important argument, as I see it, against the no fault of his own hypothesis is this. The concept that man follows
another religion for no fault of his own
ascribes inactivity upon God.
If man is
said to be following a lie for no fault
of his own then the insinuation is that God has not done anything
significant to teach man or to bring man into truth-consciousness. This is the
most troublesome aspect of this Catholic doctrine.
But God
does intervene in people’s lives. The Bible is replete with such instances; a vividly
remembered case in point would be Christ’s supernatural appearance to the
church persecutor Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 1-18) or the promise
that Christ would be with us until the very end of the age (Matthew 28: 20).
Therefore
to say that man remains in a lie for no
fault of his own questions God’s immanence and relegates HIM to a mere
spectator. Relegating God to a spectatorial dungeon is a false accusation and a
sin against a sovereign and a just God.
Significantly,
St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274 AD) arguably
two most important Catholic theologians did not subscribe to universalism. The
contemporary Catholic conception of universalism commenced in 16th
and 17th centuries11 and since then continues to gradually
capture the Catholic minds.
The no fault of his own doctrine of the
Catholic church motivates those subscribing to contradictory worldviews to
remain in their belief. Why would an atheist or a Muslim want to know the truth
if he is taught that he will go to heaven even according to the Catholic
understanding? Why would Catholics even want to evangelize, for anybody could be
wherever they are for they are there for no
fault of their own, and for which they will enter heaven?
Importantly,
the Catholic conception of universalism mocks sin and Christ’s gory death on
the cross. Why would anyone want to renounce their sinful life if all they need
to do is good works while they continue to enjoy their sinful deeds? Why would
Christ have to undergo that extremely painful death while HE could have
sovereignly willed everyone into heaven without the pain of the cross?
What about
the Catholic affirmation of hell and their consideration of atheism as sin? It
seems that the Catholic church does not take them seriously anymore.
I conclude
with the words of Fr. Dwight Longenecker, “The
effects of universalism on the church are catastrophic. It's not real hard to
understand. People aren't dumb. If everyone is going to be saved, then why
bother to go to church? If everyone is going to be saved there is no such thing
as mortal sin. If everyone is going to be saved there is no need for
evangelism. If everyone is going to be saved there is no need to feed the
hungry, become a priest, build the church and become a saint.
Of all the various Hydra heads of
modernism, universalism is probably the most insidious and diabolical and
destructive of them all. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's sweetness and
light and sentimentality and underneath it's poison.”12
Jesus
Christ said, “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14: 6,
NIV). This is the truth, all else is a lie. Amen.
Endnotes:
1 http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/explanatory-note-on-the-meaning-of-salvation-in-francis-daily-homily-of-may-22
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
5 http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=43802
6 http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/explanatory-note-on-the-meaning-of-salvation-in-francis-daily-homily-of-may-22
7 http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/02/001-who-can-be-saved-8
8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Dulles
9 http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm
10 Ibid.
11 http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/02/001-who-can-be-saved-8
12 http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=43802
CCC2125: Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a
sin against the virtue of religion. The imputability of this offense can be
significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances.
"Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To
the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or
present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social
life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God
and of religion." (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm)
CCC 1033-1037
1033We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him.
But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or
against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who
hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
abiding in him." Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if
we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his
brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful
love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This
state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is
called "hell."
1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the
unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse
to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus
solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . .
. all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," and that he
will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire!"
1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its
eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of
mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell,
"eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation
from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was
created and for which he longs.
1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the
Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon
man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the
same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the
gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who
enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to
life, and those who find it are few."
Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice
of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly
life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and
be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants,
be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where
"men will weep and gnash their teeth."
1037 God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning
away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.
In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church
implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to
come to repentance":
Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.
(http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm)
