"Christ Among Us"

Father Mateo (76776.306@compuserve.com)
02 Feb 96 00:08:41 EST

To: cinaskf@catinfo.cts.com
#960111.02
> From: "Brent Brown" <brow1863@varney.idbsu.edu> >
To: cinaskf@catinfo.cts.com
> Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 19:45:54 mdt
> Subject: "Intellectual" belief in Christ
> Hi Father
>
> I'd like to start by thanking you for running this list and for
> giving such detailed answers to the questions posed. I've learned
> a lot since subscribing. I hope you don't mind long questions.
> This one has been on my mind for awhile. I am a 25 year old
> college student in Boise, Idaho. I am a Roman Catholic and, God
> willing, I will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this
> Easter; at St. Paul's Campus Ministry for Boise State University.
> My question has to do with salvation and the necessity of an
> "intellectual" belief in Christ. I understand that many
> Protestants believe that an explicit faith in Christ as "your
> personal Lord and Savior" results in salvation being "imputed" to
> an individual. Christ, somehow, covers up our sinful nature. As
> I understand our faith, we believe that at baptism we are
> actually redeemed and renewed by God's grace. What, then, is the
> fate of those who: 1. Have not heard the Gospel. 2. Who have
> been raised to believe in another religion, cannot be convinced
> to convert to Christianity, but faithfully follow their
> beliefs. 3. Who have been raised not to believe in God at all,
> but who live good and decent lives by their "own moral code."
> Conservative Protestants seem to claim that all three groups are
> all doomed to hell. Without the "imputed" salvation gained
> through an explicit and intellectual faith in Christ, it is
> impossible to please God. While this seems (to me) harsh and
> frightening, it is at least a consistent answer to the question.
> My research into Catholic faith is providing me with some less
> consistent answers. One section of the Catechism states: "The
> Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He
> also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations
> and to baptize them. 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. 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 spirit'. God has bound
> salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but He Himself is not
> bound by His Sacraments". (Catechism, section 1257) This seems to
> indicate that those who have never heard the gospel proclaimed
> have the opportunity for "Baptism by desire." However this seems
> to condemn those who believe in other religions and those who,
> despite good conduct, do not believe in Christ. However another
> section of the Catechism states: "Believing in Jesus Christ and
> in the One who sent Him for our salvation is necessary for
> obtaining that salvation. Since `without faith it is impossible
> to please [God]' and to attain to the fellowship of his sons,
> therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification,
> nor will anyone obtain eternal life `but he who endures to the
> end.'" (Catechism, section 161) This seems to indicate that an
> explicit and intellectual faith in Christ is necessary for
> salvation. It seems to condemn those who have never heard the
> gospel proclaimed. Other sources give other opinions. I have
> purchased a copy of "Christ Among Us - A Modern Presentation of
> the Catholic Faith for Adults" by Anthony Wilhelm. This book has
> sold over two million copies and seems to be the mostly widely
> read of the summaries of Catholicism. It also takes a much more
> liberal view of the necessity for an intellectual faith in
> Christ: "There are other ways of being united to God besides
> baptism. Most of the human race has never heard of or cannot
> believe in Christ or baptism... Most of humankind is united with
> God in other ways." (Christ Among Us, 206) "So, too, one who
> cannot believe in a personal God but is committed to following
> one's conscience receives God's grace-presence. The basic
> orientation of one's life would be to some ideal outside oneself,
> e.g., the good of humankind or the welfare of those one loves.
> In seeking this, one is unknowingly seeking God - and God comes
> to such a person." (Christ Among Us, 207) "Some who sincerely
> seek truth oppose Christ and His Church, by harassment or even
> open persecution. ...God lives within many of these unbelievers,
> though they may oppose Him or those who try to work for Him."
> (Christ Among Us, 207) I can just hear my Protestant friends
> yelling "Salvation by works!" :-] So I am confused. When I throw
> in Scripture, I only grow more confused. The Scripture seems to
> agree with the statement of section 161 of the Catechism. Those
> from group one seemed doomed: "For `everyone who calls on the
> name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on Him in
> whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of
> whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone
> to preach?" (Rom 11:13) "But without faith it is impossible to
> please Him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he
> exists and that he rewards those who seek Him." (Heb 11:6) "To
> Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in
> Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name." (Acts
> 10:43) Those in groups two and three also seem to be condemned
> "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
> world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever
> believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not
> believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed
> in the name of the only Son of God." (Jn 3:18) "Whoever
> rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge
> him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day,
> because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me
> commanded me what to say and speak." (Jn 13:48) "Whoever
> believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe
> will be condemned." (Mk 16:16) "Therefore, since we have been
> justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
> Christ, through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this
> grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of
> God." (Rom 5:1) Scripture such as this fills the New Testament,
> and does not seem to leave much room for Baptism by desire
> (especially Rom 11:13). It also seems to doom those who believe
> in other religions, or who do not believe in God but live moral
> lives. I realize that Sacred Tradition is on equal footing with
> Sacred Scripture, but the Church has also proclaimed that the
> "...books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error
> teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished
> to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures." ( Catechism, section
> 107) I am aware that it is the duty of the Church to officially
> define and interpret the Scripture. I also have to believe that
> those who make these interpretations are far more familiar with
> the Scripture than I am. I just seem to be having trouble
> figuring out exactly what their interpretation is. So, finally,
> my questions are: What is the fate of these three groups of
> people? Is an "explicit and intellectual" belief in Christ
> necessary for salvation? How does the answer to the above
> question square with the references from Christ Among us, the
> Catechism, and the Scripture noted above?
> Thanks Father! - Brent

Dear Brent,

Before attempting an answer to your lengthy message, allow me to do
some damage control. I earnestly beg you and other readers to place
no reliance whatever on Anthony Wilhelm's "Christ Among Us". This
book, in its subtitle, claims to be "a modern presentation of the
Catholic Faith for adults". This claim is deceptive and misleading.
Unwary readers, expecting the book to help them to a true
understanding of our religion, will find there warped and shallow
misconceptions, the tendentious opinions of various modernists,
seeking to supplant the teachings of the Church.

(continued in next message)

Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo

- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -

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