Conversely, if you don't penalize them, then Jesus can't be an essential part of the equation. You can't have it both ways. Either you have a Gospel that's unacceptably unfair or Jesus is not the requisite path to salvation.
Just to shed a little light ,
Back in September after the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders , at the United Nations
The Holy See/Vatican saw fit to issue a
post~summit shocking edict
known as :
"Dominus Jesus: on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church."
Which in brief, was a blunt statement (available at www. vatican.va) that only Catholics are going to be saved and go to heaven, and everyone else, including all other Christians, are not. All other religions are pronounced "gravely deficient." It also said that the only purpose of Catholic participation in interfaith dialogue is to further the Church's program
of evangelization.
In a letter to the world's bishops, Cardinal Ratzinger said Pope John Paul II had approved the document and wanted its contents to be accepted by the entire church.
Cardinal Ratzinger said the document was drafted in response to "the growing presence of confused or erroneous ideas or opinions" in the church generally and in certain theological circles that cast doubt upon Christianity's universal mission.
The text says :
there was a tendency among modern Christians to be silent about Christ, to consider him as just one.historical manifestation of God, to elevate other religions as pathways to salvation, to downplay Scripture and to undervalue the church as an institution. It warned that these ideas are "contrary to Catholic faith" and listed a series of truths it said must be
held by all Catholics.
more fears here they might just not have it right :
"The church's constant missionary proclamation is endangered today by relativistic theories which seek to justify religious pluralism," it says.
One, such theory in "radical contradiction" with the Christian faith, it says, is that Christ's revelation is incomplete or imperfect - a reflection of the popular idea that God cannot be fully grasped by any single historical religion.
The sacred writings of other religions may have a value, but the Old and New Testaments are the only such writings inspired by the Holy Spirit, it says.
On the complicated issue of how non-Christians can be saved, the document makes several points:
(1) While salvation is possible for those outside the church, this always takes place through a special grace from Christ and in an indispensable though mysterious relationship with the church.
(2) Theologians are still discussing how God's saving grace comes to non-Christians, but "it would be contrary to the faith to consider the church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by other religions."
(3) While Catholics should respect other religions, they must not subscribe to the idea that "one religion is as good as another." Equality in interreligious dialogue refers to equal personal dignity of the participants, not to doctrinal content.
"If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the church, have the fullness of the means of salvation," the document says.
God's saving plan for all humanity, it says, was "realized in the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son of God" and "no one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit."
etc etc ---------> ad infinitum & ad nauseum
** Or could it be that people in the 21rst century are just
finally waking up and ready for an
expansion of new ideas and and willing explore
other avenues in order to find ways
to seek wisdom , experience delve into Life
& grow? |
