Saturday, April 26, 2014

University of Bristol video is telling a factual lie : we cannot see the dead-saved who are exceptions to Catholic traditional teaching on other religions and salvation

I have sent the following post to the Academic and Research staff members of the Department of Religion and Theology of the University of Bristol, England (1).

Gavin D'Costa, professor of Theology at the University of Bristol infers deceased-saved are visible in England :official policy of the university?

 
I also e-mailed a copy to the Public Relations dDpartment of the University but have not received a reply.Gavin D'Costa in an e-mail to me says he does not want to receive any communication on this subject. He has nothing more to say.
 
On the website of the university there is a video of Prof. D'Costa saying "People are not damned if they are not Catholics" (5:09)
 
This is not the teaching of the Catholic Church the university needs to clarify. Also this statement is based on a factual error of D'Costa. To persist in this error even after being informed would be a lie. The university would be promoting a lie.
 
1.According to Vatican Council II (Ad Gentes 7) 'all' need 'faith and baptism' for salvation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also says all need to enter the Church 'as through a door' (CCC 846. Outside the Church No Salvation).The video does not state this (2).
2.There is no Church text, in Vatican Council II or any other magisterial document, which states there are known exceptions, in the present times, to the Ad Gentes 7 teaching , all need faith and baptism.The video does not state this.
3.Gavin D'Costa does not know any one personally who does not need to enter the Catholic Church with 'faith and baptism' to avoid Hell.The video does not state this.
 
How can the university otherwise also, promote 'a theology of religions' and consider it the teaching of the Catholic Church, when we do not know any exception to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus .
 
Basically it is offensive to infer that the dead for us now saved in Heaven are visible exceptions to the traditional Catholic teaching that people are damned if they are not Catholics. It is a falsehood to state that we Catholics can see the dead on earth.
 
It is common knowledge that the deceased are visible only to God so how can the video allege that invisible for us cases (NA 2, AG 11 etc) are visible in the flesh.This is ludicrous.The same video has been placed on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
 
Even a non Catholic would know that we cannot see the dead-saved. So how can these cases be assumed to be exceptions to the Catholic teaching on exclusive salvation; the need for all to convert into the Church with no known exceptions.
 
It is possible that someone could be saved in invincible ignorance (LG 16), seeds of the Word (AG 11) etc but how can the university infer that these cases are visible to us? A possibility is not a known reality. If they are not visible to us or personally known in 2014, how can the university suggest that they are relevant to Catholic teaching on salvation and other religions?
 
International students in a lectureThis is not theology or a personal opinion. It is a fact of life that we cannot see the dead with the naked eye.
 
I repeat this is not theology: it is common sense that the dead who are in Heaven, including those declared saints by the Catholic Church, cannot be met on the streets of England.
 
So it is an irrational premise being used by Gavin D'Costa. Upon this false premise of being able to see the deceased-saved  he has built a theology, a theology of religions.
 
The video is a break from reality and rationality.It is also falsely being projected as a teaching of the Catholic Church. Catholics according to the university, can see the dead saved who are not visible members of the Church and so they are exceptions to the traditional teaching on outside the Church there is no salvation!?!
 
I think Gavin D'Costa and the University of Bristol needs to clarify this unreal statement and stop projecting it as a Catholic teaching.
 
Whatever are D'Costa's personal opinions and theology he needs to clarify that Vatican Council II does not contradict the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus, defined by three Church Councils and which Pope Pius XII called an 'infallible teaching'( Letter of the Holy Office 1949).
-Lionel Andrades
 
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