RULE OF THUMB FOR ANALYSING REPORTS ON EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS

RULE OF THUMB FOR ANALYSING REPORTS ON EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS


An easy way to analyse reports on the subject of extra ecclesiam nulla salus is this rule of thumb (Rule I and II)

RULE I
If one says in principle (de jure) there are no exceptions to all people needing Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water to go to Heaven-it is heresy.

If one says de facto, when meeting non Catholics, there are exceptions to all people needing Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water to go to Heaven-it is heresy.

(The Baptism of water is part of Catholic Faith. I separate it here only for clarity, to differentiate often between the baptism of desire)

Rule II

Explicit salvation (Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water) is the ordinary, normal, general means to go to Heaven for all people.

Implicit Salvation (the baptism of desire; being saved without the Sacraments) is the extraordinary means of salvation, known only to God. We cannot judge implicit salvation in specific cases.

De facto salvation/explicit salvation is taught by Jesus and the Catholic Church(Council of Florence, Vatican Council II).So we know that every non Catholic needs to convert to go to Heaven. We know this truth without having to judge specifically.

De jure salvation/implicit salvation is accepted in principle. De facto we cannot judge specifically at the pastoral level, the level of personal contact with non Catholics.

GENERAL ERRORS

1. Mixing dejure and de facto salvation .
2. Mixing the extraordinary way of salvation, the exceptions (to the rule of the Baptism of water and Catholic Faith) with the ordinary way of salvation.
APPLIED TO SCRIPTURE

The extraordinary and ordinary means of salvation applied to Bible passages.


Mark 9:38-40 But Jesus said: Do not forbid him. For there is no man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me. 39 For he that is not against you, is for you. 40 For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ: amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

Extraordinary means of salvation.

Mark 16: 16 He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.

Ordinary means of salvation.

John 3:5 Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Ordinary means of salvation.

Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. 19 Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the worldThe ordinary means of salvation is Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water.(Douay Rheims Bible)


Ordinary means of salvation is Jesus and the Catholic Church.


APPLIED TO THE CATECHSIM

VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit."

The Ordinary means of salvation.

God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

The extraordinary means of salvation

845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood.334

The ordinary means of salvation.

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

The ordinary and extraordinary means of salvation.

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

The ordinary means of salvation.

847 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.337

The extraordinary means of salvation

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

The ordinary means of salvation. Defacto all need to be evangelized.