Wednesday, March 21, 2012

ST.THOMAS DID NOT REJECT “INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE”: HE KNEW IT DID NOT CONTRADICT THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF OUTSIDE THE CHURCH NO SALVATION, WHICH HE HELD

There is no Church document ,pope or saint who claims that those saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire are known to us and so they are explicit exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

St.Thomas Aquinas affirmed the ‘rigorist interpretation’ of the dogma outside the church no salvation. He also accepted in principle that a non Catholic can be saved in invincible ignorance .He knew in general that the normal, ordinary way of salvation was Catholic Faith with the baptism of water.

The ordinary way of salvation is not the baptism of desire or blood since we cannot give ourself this grace. However we can administer the baptism of water and teach someone the Catholic Faith.

The sedevacantists Most Holy Family Monastery (MHFM) assume that those saved in invincible ignorance are explicitly known to us and so they are exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. So they also assume that St.Thomas Aquinas made a mistake.-Lionel Andrades
 
ST. THOMAS REJECTED “INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE”

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by: Bro. Peter Dimond O.S.B. from Most Holy Family Monastery, 4425 Schneider Rd., Fillmore, NY 14735, (800)275-1126 or (585)567-4433.


It is also very important to point out that while St. Thomas Aquinas was wrong on baptism of desire, he held the dogma Outside the Church There is No Salvation and rejected the modern day heresy that people can be saved who are “invincibly ignorant” of Jesus Christ. In numerous places St. Thomas directly addressed the question of persons in so-called invincible ignorance.

St. Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, 14, A. 11, ad 1: Objection- “It is possible that someone may be brought up in the forest, or among wolves; such a man cannot explicitly know anything about the faith. St. Thomas replies- It is the characteristic of Divine Providence to provide every man with what is necessary for salvation… provided on his part there is no hindrance. In the case of a man who seeks good and shuns evil, by the leading of natural reason, God would either reveal to him through internal inspiration what had to be believed, or would send some preacher of the faith to him…”[cclvi]

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. II, 28, Q. 1, A. 4, ad 4: “If a man born among barbarian nations, does what he can, God Himself will show him what is necessary for salvation, either by inspiration or sending a teacher to him.”[cclvii]

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. III, 25, Q. 2, A. 2, solute. 2: “If a man should have no one to instruct him, God will show him, unless he culpably wishes to remain where he is.”[cclviii]

In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas further taught the truth that all men above reason are bound to know the principal mysteries of Christ for salvation with no exceptions for ignorance.

St. Thomas, Summa Theologica: “After grace had been revealed, both the learned and simple folk are bound to explicit faith in the mysteries of Christ, chiefly as regards those which are observed throughout the Church, and publicly proclaimed, such as the articles which refer to the Incarnation, of which we have spoken above.”[cclix]

Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica: “And consequently, when once grace had been revealed, all were bound to explicit faith in the mystery of the Trinity.”[cclx]

Therefore, St. Thomas, like all of the fathers of the Church, rejected the modern heresy of “invincible ignorance” saving those who die as non-Catholics.

Lionel:
St.Thomas was saying that if a man in the forest was in invincible ignorance he could be saved and God would send a preacher to him or have him baptized . So in Heaven there are only Catholics. This is the view also of the religious at the St.Benedict Centers in the USA , inspired by Fr.Leonard Feeney.

In ‘certain circumstances’ (Letter of the Holy Office 1949 ) a non Catholic can be saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire (followed by the baptism of water) and it would be known only to God. We would not know any of these cases. So it was always assumed that these were not explicit exceptions to the dogma outside the church no salvation.

MHFM
His speculation and erroneous teaching on baptism of blood/desire only regarded catechumens.

Lionel:
Yes the baptism of desire is with reference to only catechumens who die before having received the baptism of water which they sought.

However there can be non Catholics in some forest, in invincible ignorance, who can receive the grace of salvation and it would be known only to God. This is a possibility and we accept it in principle. Explicilty, we do not know any case.
 
MHFM
And this point really shows the dishonesty of modern heretics, who like to quote St. Thomas Aquinas on baptism of desire to somehow justify their heretical idea that members of false religions can be saved by “baptism of desire.

Lionel:
That members of religions which are false paths to salvation can be saved in principle with the baptism of desire is a possibility we accept and this in no way contradicts the rigorist interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas or that of the Dimond Brothers at the Most Holy Family Monastery.

http://onetruecatholicfaith.com/articles.php?id=308&title=St.+Thomas+rejected+%22Invincible+Ignorance%22&category=Catholic+Articles&page=2

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