“Where Peter is therefore, there is the Church. Where the Church is there is not death but life eternal… Although many call themselves Christians, they usurp the name and do not have the reward.” -St. Ambrose, 397 AD.
The dogma concerning No Salvation Outside the Church is pretty straightforward, drawn right from a cursory reading of Sacred Scripture. Although, there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding it today with Catholics. This is largely due to the influence of Modernism which teaches that the vast majority of people will most likely end up in Heaven. The other issue causing confusion is the overemphasis on Invincible Ignorance and Baptism of Desire, elevating these concepts to dogmas of their own, which I will touch on in a bit.
Where Does the Bible Teach This Dogma
The basic concept behind the doctrine is found through two irrefutable Scriptural truths:
1. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, and there is no other Name under Heaven by which we can be saved.
“Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). “I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1).
2. The Church is His Body, so she is attached to Him in an inseparable way, and she is also His Bride, which means she is one flesh with her Groom.
“And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). “Because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the church” (Ephesians 5:30-32). “Now you are the body of Christ, and members of member” (1 Corinthians 12:27). “Come, and I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Apocalypse 21:9).
From those premises alone, the dogma naturally follows. If Christ is the only way to Heaven, and the Church is one flesh with Him and His very Body, then outside of her there can be no salvation. To deny this tenet would be to deny that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Or it would be to deny that the Church is His Body and His Bride. Either way, one ends up rejecting a portion of divine revelation when they reject the dogma of No Salvation Outside the Church. There is no other way around this basic truth, revealed right from Sacred Scripture.
Noah had one ark. Not two, a hundred, or ten thousand. Just one ark. And that one ark was the one way that anyone could be saved from the flood. So too, Jesus has one Church. And that one Church is the one way anyone can be saved from the fires of Hell. Noah did not build fifty thousand lifeboats and call it the Ark, nor did Jesus and the Apostles establish fifty thousand denominations and call it the Church.
This doctrine remains the normative rule, due to the clear implications of Scripture’s testimony concerning Christ’s relationship to His Church. Unfortunately today, due to the rise of Modernism, Relativism, and Naturalism, many seek to deny or minimize this normative rule. But we must be very clear in our proclamation that this is the standard presented to us from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
What Does Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium Teach About This Dogma
We have seen the testimony of Sacred Scripture. Now, let us hear the harmonious voice of the Church Fathers, the Saints, the Doctors, the Councils, and the Popes. All of them are in agreement with this plain teaching from Sacred Scripture.
St. Irenaeus, died 202 AD, 2nd generation student of St. John the Apostle: “The Church is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. On this account, we are bound to avoid thieves and robbers… We hear it declared of the unbelieving and the blinded of this world that they shall not inherit the world of life which is to come… Resist them in defense of the only true and life giving faith, which the Church has received from the Apostles and imparted to her sons.”
Origen, died 253 AD: “Let no man deceive himself. Outside this house, that is, outside the Church no one is saved.”
St. Cyprian, died 258 AD: “He who has turned his back on the Church of Christ shall not come to the rewards of Christ; he is an alien, a worldling, an enemy. You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother. Our Lord warns us when He says: ‘he that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.’ Whosoever breaks the peace and harmony of Christ acts against Christ; whoever gathers elsewhere than in the Church scatters the Church of Christ… He who does not hold this unity, does not hold the law of God, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.”
Firmilean, died 269 AD: “What is the greatness of his error, and what the depth of his blindness, who says that remission of sins can be granted in the synagogues of heretics, and does not abide on the foundation of the one Church.”
Lactantius, died 310 AD: “It is the Catholic Church alone which retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth, this is the abode of the Faith, this is the temple of God; into which if anyone shall not enter, or from which if anyone shall go out, he is a stranger to the hope of life and eternal salvation.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, died 386 AD: “Abhor all heretics…heed not their fair speaking or their mock humility; for they are serpents, a ‘brood of vipers.’ Remember that, when Judas said ‘Hail Rabbi,’ the salutation was an act of betrayal. Do not be deceived by the kiss but beware of the venom. Abhor such men, therefore, and shun the blasphemers of the Holy Spirit, for whom there is no pardon. For what fellowship have you with men without hope. Let us confidently say to God regarding all heretics, ‘Did I not hate, O Lord, those who hated Thee, and did I not pine away because of Your enemies?’ For there is an enmity that is laudable, as it is written, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.’ Friendship with the serpent produces enmity with God, and death. Let us shun those from whom God turns away.”
St. Ambrose (died 397 AD): “Where Peter is therefore, there is the Church. Where the Church is there is not death but life eternal… Although many call themselves Christians, they usurp the name and do not have the reward.”
Bishop Niceta of Remesiana (died 415 AD): “He is the Way along which we journey to our salvation; the Truth, because He rejects what is false; the Life, because He destroys death… All who from the beginning of the world were, or are, or will be justified – whether Patriarchs, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or Prophets, whether Apostles or martyrs, or any others – make up one Church, because they are made holy by one faith and way of life, stamped with one Spirit, made into one Body whose Head, as we are told, is Christ. I go further. The angels and virtues and powers in heaven are co-members in this one Church, for, as the Apostle teaches us, in Christ ‘all things whether on the earth or in the heavens have been reconciled.’ You must believe, therefore, that in this one Church you are gathered into the Communion of Saints. You must know that this is the one Catholic Church established throughout the world, and with it you must remain in unshaken communion. There are, indeed, other so called ‘churches’ with which you can have no communion. …These ‘churches’ cease to be holy, because they were deceived by the doctrines of the devil to believe and behave differently from what Christ commanded and from the tradition of the Apostles.”
St. Jerome (died 420 AD): “As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is, with the Chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the Church is built… This is the ark of Noah, and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails… And as for heretics, I have never spared them; on the contrary, I have seen to it in every possible way that the Church’s enemies are also my enemies.”
St. Augustine (died 430 AD): “No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have the sacraments, one can sing alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church.”
St. Fulgentius (died 533 AD): “Most firmly hold and never doubt that not only pagans, but also all Jews, all heretics, and all schismatics who finish this life outside of the Catholic Church, will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
St. Bede the Venerable (died 735 AD): “Just as all within the ark were saved and all outside of it were carried away when the flood came, so when all who are pre-ordained to eternal life have entered the Church, the end of the world will come and all will perish who are found outside.”
St. Thomas Aquinas (died 1274 AD): “There is no entering into salvation outside the Church, just as in the time of the deluge there was none outside the ark, which denotes the Church.”
St. Peter Canisius (died 1597 AD): “Outside of this communion – as outside of the ark of Noah – there is absolutely no salvation for mortals: not for Jews or pagans who never received the faith of the Church, nor for heretics who, having received it, corrupted it; neither for the excommunicated or those who for any other serious cause deserve to be put away and separated from the body of the Church like pernicious members… for the rule of Cyprian and Augustine is certain: he will not have God for his Father who would not have the Church for his mother.”
St. Robert Bellarmine (died 1621 AD): “Outside the Church there is no salvation…therefore in the symbol [Apostles Creed] we join together the Church with the remission of sins: ‘I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins’… For this reason the Church is compared with the ark of Noah, because just as during the deluge, everyone perished who was not in the ark, so now those perish who are not in the Church.”
Pope Boniface VIII: “With Faith urging us we are forced to believe and to hold the one, holy, Catholic Church and that, apostolic, and we firmly believe and simply confess this Church outside of which there is no salvation nor remission of sin.”
Pope Pius VIII: “Indeed this deadly idea concerning the lack of difference among religions is refuted even by the light of natural reason. We are assured of this because the various religions do not often agree among themselves. If one is true, the other must be false; there can be no society of darkness with light. Against these experienced sophists the people must be taught that the profession of the Catholic faith is uniquely true, as the apostle proclaims: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
Pope Pius IX: “By Faith it is to be firmly held that outside the Apostolic Roman Church none can achieve salvation. This is the only ark of salvation. He who does not enter into it, will perish in the flood.”
Pope Pius XII: “Now among the things that the Church has always preached and that she never shall cease to teach, there is this infallible declaration that says that outside the Church there is no salvation.”
The Ecumenical Fourth Lateran Council: “Out of the Church there is positively no Salvation.”
The Ecumenical Council of Florence: “It firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the catholic church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the catholic church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the catholic church.”
Now that we know the normative rule, as taught by Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the infallible Magisterium, let us examine the Protestant response, the Modernist response, and also the case of Baptism of Desire.
The Protestant Response to This Dogma
When Protestants respond angrily to this teaching, they are letting their emotions blind them to the clear teaching revealed in Sacred Scripture. Jesus is the only way to Heaven; the Church is His Body; thus there is no other way to Heaven except through Christ and His Bride since she is one flesh with Him. They are angry because Jesus only founded one Church and she traces back to St. Peter and the Apostles. He did not establish tens of thousands of denominations, nor did He drop Bibles on everyone and say, “Read them and let me know what you think.”
To get around this, Protestants have reinvented the definition of “Church” to be solely the invisible gathering of believers worldwide (a half truth and a half error). However, when you get down to the nitty gritty, you realize they must hold to a very liberal and loose understanding of what it means to be a believer. They want us to believe that a believer is one who accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, and that God is Triune. That is it. Anything essentially outside of that is open for debate. In other words, they can not know the truth of Christ’s teaching absolutely; rather, it is a hodgepodge of relativism and endless arguments over who has the correct interpretation of Scripture Alone. So they think that Jesus came to gather us in His sheepfold, since the sheep hear His voice, but they do not really know for certain what his doctrine consists of. So they do not really know the sound of His voice. To call Him Lord means to accept His doctrine; but if everyone disagrees as to the content of His doctrine, how can they call Him Lord?
This is the real reason that Protestants repulse at this dogma. Because they believe the “Church” is built upon the shifting sands of relativism. Our Lord said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), “But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth” (John 16:13), “But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you” (John 14:26), “He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me” (Luke 10:16), but Protestantism can not figure out for sure what Our Lord came to reveal in matters of faith and morals, nor what the Holy Spirit came to teach. And they believe the mechanism with which He left us to determine such matters is the infallible Magisterium of one’s Private Interpretation, where every believer gets to play “Pope.”
However, Our Lord left us a teaching Church to steer and guide us, as we see in Acts 15:1-35 at the Council of Jerusalem, where we learn how the Holy Spirit teaches and leads into truth, which is at a Council led by the Apostles and their successors. “For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us” (Acts 15:28). Our Lord also teaches in Matthew 18:17-20, “And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Jesus commanded His Apostles, “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 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 world” (Matthew 28:18-20), but Protestants assume we can not know the unanimity of their teaching. It somehow got lost over time. Or somehow it was corrupted in translation. The Holy Spirit’s guidance, and Our Lord’s guarantee to remain with His Church, apparently had an expiration date. However, we know that Jesus assured us, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
Try gathering 10 Protestants from different denominations and factions together. A Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Reformed Baptist, Mennonite, Adventist, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel, and Pentecostal. All of them claim that Jesus is their Lord, and that the Holy Spirit leads them into truth. Ask them their thoughts on:
The Augsburg Confession, the Formula of Concord, the Westminster Confession, the Thirty Nine Articles, the Reformed Helvetic Confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism, the role of Baptism, sprinkling or immersion, infant baptism, the Eucharist as sacrament or memorial, predestination and free will, eternal security, total depravity, can grace be resisted, the purpose and effect of the Atonement, worship on Saturday or Sunday, the structure of church leadership, speaking in tongues as a manifestation of receiving the Spirit, Original Sin, the Virgin Birth, the innerancy of Scripture, young earth vs old earth creationism, eschatology, pre-trib or mid-trib or post-trib Rapture, Jesus has two Natures or one, Jesus has two Wills or one, the use of statues and art inside churches, whether Hell is eternal, universal salvation, inner religious prayer services, ordination of women, homosexual marriage, test tube fertilization, artificial contraception, artificial insemination, divorce and remarriage, abortion, cloning, surrogate motherhood, masturbation, the use of mind altering drugs, cremation, Just War doctrine, Church and State relations, Capitalism and Communism.
See how much agreement you find amongst the ten. Which one is accepting Jesus as Lord? Which one is led by the Holy Spirit? Which one is the heretic?
Jesus taught one body of doctrine. He charged His Apostles with teaching one body of doctrine. His Apostles charged their successors with propagating this one body of doctrine. That is His Church. When the Apostles met at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, St. Peter didn’t say, “Well, personally, this is my best guess on what to do with these Gentile converts.” St. Paul didn’t then say, “That’s fine for you, Pete. But personally, I think you are misinterpreting things.” St. James didn’t chime in, “Hey guys, you both have valid points, but personally, I think you are both wrong, and I have the truth.”
When St. Paul wrote the Corinthians regarding his apostolic authority, and the divisions among their local church, he didn’t say, “Well, how do you interpret Jesus’ words?” No. He told them to quit it with their dissension and get back to being one. And he reminded them that they weren’t Apostles. When he wrote to the Ephesians, he didn’t say, “Well, here are my opinions and best guesses on how the local church should be run. What do you think?”
The Church was, and is, a visible hierarchical organization comprised of all disciples who listen to the truth as Jesus revealed it and as He continues to uphold it through His Bride. “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). And she exists in every generation. “To him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, world without end” (Ephesians 3:21). He has one Body, not tens of thousands of them. He taught one faith, not tens of thousands of interpretations. He has one Church, with the Apostles as the foundation (Ephesians 2:20, “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”), which they handed on to their successors (2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also”), and outside of that Church, there is no salvation. Again, if you disagree, then implicitly you disagree that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. That is the only way to be consistent with the testimony of Sacred Scripture.
The Modernist Response to This Dogma
Now, a brief word to the Modernists, who want us to think that God does not care about truth or religion, only that we try to be “good” people. Psalms 95:5 teaches, “For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.” God does not tolerate the worship of any false gods. “Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). “That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him” (Deuteronomy 4:35).
The gospel is hidden from the Modernists due to their hardness of heart, and they are blinded from the truth. “And if our gospel be also hid, it is hid to them that are lost, In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
The chief error in regards to the approach of these heretics is to assert that “being a good person” is all that matters to God. However, St. Paul teaches, “And if by grace, it is not now by works: otherwise grace is no more grace” (Romans 11:6). We need grace to be saved, and we receive sanctifying grace only through the Sacraments. In this state of grace, our works are pleasing to God. But outside of this state of grace, we are stepped in mortal sin and under the system of Law, where we do not care to know the one true God and we think we can just shove our “good deeds” in His Face and demand that He owes us salvation. If that is the relationship we are seeking, were God is treated like an impersonal CEO who owes us a paycheck for our 40 hours, then for one sin, we will be condemned to Hell.
God desires an intimate union with us, and He does not close His eyes when we decide to pretend He does not exist or we choose to worship the false gods of man made religions. We must repent of our sins, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and grow in holiness as we walk with God and carry our crosses. The Modernists may not like this, but they will have to answer to God one day for spreading their blatant heresies to the world. We need grace to get to Heaven; we receive this grace through the Sacraments; we receive the Sacraments through the Church. And thus, again we see, outside the Church there is no salvation.
Fr. Muller’s Small Catechism on This Dogma
Before I delve into the topics of Baptism of Desire, and Invincible Ignorance, which are exceptions to the rule (they are not a rule unto themselves), allow me to forcefully restate the Catholic dogma by quoting Fr. Michael Muller from his 1875 work “No Salvation Outside of the Roman Catholic Church.” He instructs on the doctrine in the form of a catechetical Question and Answer:
Q. Since the Roman Catholic Church alone is the true Church of Jesus Christ, can any one who dies outside of the Church be saved?
A. He cannot.
Q. Why not?
A. Because one who does not do the will of God cannot be saved.
Q. Is it, then, the will of God that all men should be Catholics?
A. Yes; because it is only in the Roman Catholic Church that they can learn the will of God; that is, the full doctrine of Jesus Christ, which alone can save them.
Q. Did Jesus Christ Himself assure us most solemnly, and in plain words, that no one can be saved out of the Roman Catholic Church?
A. He did, when He said to His Apostles: “Go and teach all nations, and teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. He that believeth not all these things shall be condemned.”
Q. Did Jesus Christ assure us in other words of the damnation of those who die out of His Church?
A. He did in these words: “He who will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.” Matt, xviii. 17
Q. Can you give some further proofs to show that no one can be saved out of the Roman Catholic Church?
A. From these words of Jesus Christ: “Other sheep I have who are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one fold and one shepherd.” John x. 16.
Q. How can you show from these words of our Lord that all who wish to be saved must be Roman Catholics?
A. Because in this passage He plainly declares that all those of His sheep who are not of His fold (that is, of His Church) must, as a necessary condition of their salvation, be brought to that fold.
Q. What do the Fathers of the Church say about the salvation of those who die out of the Roman Catholic Church?
A. They all, without exception, pronounce them infallibly lost forever.
Q. What did St. Augustine and the other Bishops of Africa, at the Council of Zirta, A.D. 412, say about them?
A. “Whosoever,” they said, “is separated from the Catholic Church, however commendable in his own opinion his life may be, he shall, for the very reason that he is separated from the Union of Christ, not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John iii. 36.
Q. What does St. Cyprian tell us about the salvation of those who die out of the Roman Catholic Church?
A. He says that,”He who has not the Church for his mother cannot have God for his Father;” and with him the Fathers in general say, that “as all who were not in the ark of Noah perished in the waters of the deluge, so shall all perish who are out of the true Church.”
Q. Who are out of the pale of the Roman Catholic Church?
A. All unbaptized persons, unbelievers, apostates, excommunicated persons, and all heretics.
Q. How do we know that unbaptized persons are not saved?
A. Because Jesus Christ has said: “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John iii. 5.
Q. How do we know that unbelievers are not saved?
A. Because it is said of them that they do not please God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Q. How do we know that apostates are not saved?
A. Because to fall away from the faith is a great sin, which makes one lose the kingdom of heaven.
Q. How do we know that persons justly excommunicated, who are unwilling to do what is required of them before they are absolved, are not saved?
A. Because the sin of great scandal, for which they were as dead members expelled from the communion of the Church, excludes them from the kingdom of heaven.
Q. What is the meaning of the word heretic?
A. Heretic is a Greek word, and means simply a chooser.
Q. Who, then, is a heretic?
A. A baptized person who chooses among the doctrines proposed to him by the Roman Catholic Church, to accept such doctrines as please him, and to reject the rest.
Q. How do we know that heretics are not saved?
A. Because St. Paul the Apostle assures us that such a chooser or heretic is condemned. “A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid; knowing that he who is such an one is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment.” Tit. iii. 10, 11.
Q. Are there any other reasons to show that heretics, or Protestants who die out of the Roman Catholic Church, are not saved?
A. There are several. They cannot be saved, because
- They have no divine faith.
- They make a liar of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Ghost, and of the Apostles.
- They have no faith in Christ.
- They fell away from the true Church of Christ.
- They are too proud to submit to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ.
- They cannot perform any good works whereby they can obtain heaven.
- They do not receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
- They die in their sins.
- They ridicule and blaspheme the Mother of God and His saints.
- They slander the spouse of Jesus Christ–the Catholic Church.
Q. Why is it that Protestants have no divine faith?
A. Because they do not believe God in those whom He has appointed to teach.
Q. Who is the teacher among Protestants?
A. Every one is his own teacher, his own law-giver and judge in matters of religion.
Q. Was there ever a time when God left men to themselves, to fashion their own religion, to invent their own creed, and their own form of worship?
A. No; from the beginning of the world God established on earth a visible teaching authority, to which it was the bounden duty of every man to submit.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That Protestants, by refusing to submit to that divine teaching authority, cannot have divine faith.
Q. What is the act of faith of a Protestant?
A. O my God, I believe nothing except what my own private judgment tells me to believe; therefore I believe that I can interpret Thy written word–the Holy Scriptures –as I choose. I believe that the Pope is anti-Christ; that any man can be saved, provided he is an honest man; I believe that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; that good works, and works of penance, and the confession of sins are not necessary, etc.
Q. Is this an act of divine faith?
A. It is rather a great blasphemy against God; it is the language of Luther, who, according to his own avowal, learned it from the devil.
Q. But if a Protestant should say–“I have nothing to do with Luther, or Calvin, or Henry VIII., or John Knox; I go by the Bible” what would you answer him?
A. In that case you adopt and go by the principles and spirit of these men, and you change the written Word of God into the word of man.
Q. How so?
A. Because every Protestant interprets Holy Scripture in his own private manner, giving it that meaning which he chooses to give it, and thus, instead of believing the Word of God, he believes rather his own private interpretation of it, which is but the word of man.
Q. Now, what is man without divine faith?
A. Such a man is profane, and devoid of all religion; and for refusing all obedience to his Sovereign Lord, he will never enjoy His presence, or see clearly what he is not willing to believe humbly.
Q. How do Protestants make a liar of Jesus Christ?
A. Jesus Christ says: “Hear the Church.” “No;” says Luther and all Protestants, “do not hear the Church, protest against her with all your might.” Jesus Christ says: “If any one will not hear the Church, look upon him as a heathen and publican.” “No,” says Protestantism,” if any one does not hear the Church, look upon him as an apostle, as an ambassador of God.” Jesus Christ says: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church.” “No,” says Protestantism, “Tis false; the gates of hell have prevailed against the Church for a thousand years and more.” Jesus Christ has declared St. Peter, and every successor to-St. Peter–the Pope–to be his Vicar on earth. “No,” says Protestantism, “the Pope is anti-Christ.” Jesus Christ says: “My yoke is sweet, and my burden light.” Matt. xi. 30. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “it is impossible to keep the commandments.” Jesus Christ says: “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. xix. 17. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “faith alone, without good works, is sufficient to enter into life everlasting.” Jesus Christ says: “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke iii. 3. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “fasting, and other works of penance, are not necessary in satisfaction for sin.” Jesus Christ says: “This is My Body.” “No,” said Calvin, “this is only the figure of Christ’s Body, it will become His Body as soon as you receive it.” Jesus Christ says: “I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.” Matt. xix. 9. “No,” says Luther and all Protestants, to a married man, “you may put away your wife, get a divorce, and marry another.” Jesus Christ says to every man: “Thou shalt not steal.” “No,” says Luther to secular princes, “I give you the right to appropriate to yourselves the property of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Q. How do Protestants make a liar of the Holy Ghost?
A. The Holy Ghost says in Holy Scripture: “Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred” (Eecles. ix. 1); “Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin “? (Prov. xx. 9); and “Work your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philip, ii. 12). “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “but whosoever believes in Jesus Christ, is in the state of grace.”
Q. How do Protestants make liars of the Apostles?
A. St. Paul says: “If I should have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Cor. xiii. 2. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “faith alone is sufficient to save us.” St. Peter says that in the Epistles of St. Paul there are many things “hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as also the other Scriptures, to their own perdition,” 2 Eph. iii. 16. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “the Scriptures are very plain, and easy to be understood.” St. James says: “Is any sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray, over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord.” Ch. v. 14. “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “that is a vain and useless ceremony.”
Q. Now, do you think God the Father will admit into Heaven those who thus make liars of His Son Jesus Christ, of the Holy Ghost, and the Apostles?
A. No; He will let them have their portion with Lucifer in hell, who first rebelled against Christ, and who is the father of liars.
Q. Have Protestants any faith in Christ?
A. They never had.
Q. Why not?
A. Because there never lived such a Christ as they imagine and believe in.
Q. In what kind of a Christ do they believe?
A. In such a one of whom they can make a liar, with impunity, whose doctrine they can interpret as they please, and who does not care about what a man believes, provided he be an honest man before the public.
Q. Will such a faith in such a Christ save Protestants?
A. No sensible man will assert such an absurdity.
Q. What will Christ say to them on the Day of Judgment?
A. I know you not, because you never knew Me.
Q. Can a man be saved who has left the true Church of Christ–the Holy Catholic Church?
A. No; because the Church of Christ is the kingdom of God on earth, and he who leaves that kingdom shuts himself out from the kingdom of Christ in heaven.
Q. Have Protestants left the true Church of Christ?
A. They have, in their founders, who left the Catholic Church either through pride or through the passion of lust and covetousness.
Q. Who were the first Protestants?
A. 1. Martin Luther, a bad German priest, who left his convent, broke the solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which he had made to God, married a nun, and became the founder of the Lutherans.
Henry VIII, a bad Catholic king of England, who murdered his wives, and founded the Episcopalian or Anglican Church.
John Calvin, a wicked French Catholic, who was the founder of the Calvinists.
John Knox, a bad Scottish priest, who was the founder of the Presbyterians or Puritans.
Q. What great crime did these wicked men commit?
A. They rebelled against the Church of Jesus Christ, and caused a great number of their Catholic countrymen to follow their bad example.
Q. What will be the punishment of those who willfully rebel against the Holy Catholic Church?
A. Like Lucifer, and the other rebellious angels, they will be cast into the everlasting flames of hell.
Q. Who has assured us of this?
A. Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God.
Q. What are His words?
A. “He who will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.” Matt, xviii. 17.
Q. What does Jesus Christ tell us in these words?
A. He tells us plainly that he who is out of His Church, and does not obey her, is before Him as the heathen and publican.
Q. What follows from this?
A. It follows that, as the heathen is damned, so, also, all those will be damned who die out of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Q. Can a man be saved who is too proud to submit to the Head of the Church of Christ, and despises Jesus Christ in His representative–the Pope?
A. He cannot; because Jesus Christ says: “He who despiseth you (the Apostles and their successors) despiseth me.”
Q. Do Protestants despise Jesus Christ in the person of St. Peter and his successors?
A. They do; for Luther taught them that whoever does not oppose the authority of the Pope cannot be saved. 1 Vol. Germ. Edit., f. 353.
Q. Do you think Christ can admit into Heaven him by whom He is despised?
A. This is impossible, and of such a one is true what St. Paul says: “He that resisteth the power that is from God, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist purchase to themselves damnation.” Rom, xiii. 1, 2.
Q. Can any one enter into the Kingdom of Heaven without good works?
A. No.
Q. How do we know this?
A. Because on the last day of judgment Christ will say to the wicked: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. For I was hungry and you gave me not to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me not to drink.” Matt. xxv. 41, 42.
Q. Do not Protestants perform such good works?
A. Many of them do.
Q. Will they be saved on account of such good works?
A. By no means; because works, however good in themselves, performed outside of the church established by Jesus Christ, are not accompanied and vivified by divine faith, without which it is impossible to please God, and, therefore, they do not, they cannot merit the everlasting joys of Heaven. As faith without works is dead, so also works without faith are dead and cannot save the doer from damnation.
Q. What does Jesus Christ say of those who do not receive His Body and Blood?
A. Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood, you shall not have life in you. John vi. 54.
Q. Do Protestants receive the Body and Blood of our Lord?
A. No, because their ministers are not priests, and consequently have no power from Jesus Christ to say Mass, in which, by the words of consecration, bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That they will not enter into life everlasting, and deservedly so, because they abolished the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
Q. What was the consequence of the abolition of Mass?
A. By abolishing the Mass, they robbed God the Father of the infinite honor which Jesus Christ renders Him therein, and themselves of all the blessings which Jesus Christ bestows upon those who assist at this holy sacrifice with faith and devotion. “Wherefore the sin of the young men (the sons of Heli) was exceeding great before the Lord, because they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord.” 1 Kings ii.
Q. Do you believe that God the Father will admit into heaven these robbers of His infinite honor?
A. By no means; because if those are damned who steal the temporal goods of their neighbor, how much more will those be damned who deprive God of His infinite honor and their fellow-men of the infinite spiritual blessings of the Mass.
Q. Can a man be saved who dies in the state of mortal sin?
A. He cannot; because God cannot unite Himself to a soul in heaven who, by mortal sin, is His enemy.
Q. Do Protestants commit other mortal sins besides those above mentioned?
A. Very many besides.
Q. How do you prove this?
A. If it is a mortal sin for a Roman Catholic willfully to doubt only one article of his faith, it is also, most assuredly, a mortal sin for Protestants willfully to deny not only one truth, but almost all the truths revealed by Jesus Christ.
Q. Do they die in the sins of apostasy, blasphemy, slander, etc.?
A. They do, because all die in mortal sin who, having grievously offended Almighty God, are not willing to confess their sins.
Q. How do we know this?
A. Because Jesus Christ assures us that those sins which are not forgiven by His apostles and their successors, by means of confession, will not be forgiven. “Whose sins you retain they are retained.” John xx. 22, 23.
Q. Are Protestants willing to confess their sins to a Catholic Bishop or priest, who alone has power from Christ to forgive sins?” Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.”
A. No, for they generally have an utter aversion to confession, and therefore their sins will not be forgiven throughout all eternity.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That they die in their sins and are damned.
Q. If any one loves God, will he also love the Mother of God and all His Saints?
A. He will, undoubtedly.
Q. Do Protestants love the Mother of God and the Saints?
A. They do not, or they would not ridicule and blaspheme the Mother of God and the Saints.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That Protestants will never be admitted into the company of the Saints in heaven, whom they have ridiculed and blasphemed on earth.
Q. Would a great king of this world punish most severely one who slanders the queen?
A. He would.
Q. Is the Catholic Church the Spouse of Jesus Christ, the King of heaven and earth?
A. She is, and St. Paul assures us that “Jesus Christ loves His church, that He died for her in order that He might have a glorious church, having neither spot nor wrinkle, but holy and without blemish.” Eph. v. 25-27.
Q. Have Protestants ever ceased to slander her?
A. Never.
Q. How do they slander the Spouse of Jesus Christ?
A. The Protestant Episcopalian book of homilies, for instance, says: “Laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages and degrees of men, women, and children of entire Christendom had been drowned in abominable idolatry.”
Q. Is idolatry a grievous sin?
A. It is one of the most grievous sins that can be committed.
Q. Could Protestants ever prove that the Catholic Church, the Spouse of Christ, became guilty of this sin?
A. Never; on the contrary, all know that the Catholic Church has abolished idolatry and has always held it in abomination.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That Protestants commit the great sin of slander against the Spouse of Christ.
Q. Can they commit this great sin without accusing Jesus Christ at the same time of having abandoned that glorious Spouse, whom He loves so ardently?
A. They cannot.
Q. What follows from this?
A. That the vengeance of Jesus Christ shall sooner or later overtake Protestants for committing the sins of a horrid blasphemy and slander.
Q. But is it not a very uncharitable doctrine to say that none can be saved out of the Church?
A. On the contrary, it is a very great act of charity to assert this doctrine most emphatically.
Q. Why?
A. Because Jesus Christ Himself and His apostles have taught it in very plain language.
Q. Is it not great charity to warn one’s neighbor when he is in danger of falling into a deep abyss?
A. It is, indeed.
Q. Are not all those who are out of the Church in very great danger of falling into the abyss of hell?
A. They are.
Q. Is it not, then, great charity to warn them of this danger?
A. It would be as great a cruelty not to warn them.
Baptism of Desire and Invincible Ignorance
Now that we have a full, complete, cohesive understanding of this important dogma, we can address the exceptions which are Baptism of Desire and Invincible Ignorance. The false ecumenism of Protestantism and Modernism has really cast a shadow of confusion for so many people, and efforts at evangelism have taken a toll, as a result. Many Catholics want to turn Invincible Ignorance into its own dogma, and then apply it almost across the board to just about everyone who seems like a person of good will. This is due to the false ecumenism that is rampant today.
The Church has never dogmatically declared how far reaching Invincible Ignorance applies to those outside of the Catholic Church. The consensus, however, from the data we do posses from infallible sources (all listed above) seems to indicate that it would be a very rare occurrence and a low number. We never want to assume somebody is invincibly ignorant, because what happens if they stand before the Judgment, and they did know better? We ought to always proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord and the truth of the necessity of belonging to the Christian Religion, via the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that He founded, since she is where we have access to the Sacraments!
Could there be an aboriginal individual living on some island somewhere who has never heard the name of Jesus or heard about His Holy Religion and Church? It is theoretically possible. But is that also possible for anyone living in the 21st century modern West? That seems like a stretch. And yet so many want to hope that just about every non-Catholic is invincibly ignorant, which is the most uncharitable thing we can do. And it is rooted in a slothful and petrified attitude toward evangelism. May we have fortitude, diligence, and genuine charity towards the souls of others!
The Council of Trent allowed for the (rare) exception of Baptism of Desire when it proclaimed, “If anyone shall say that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that although all are not necessary for every individual, without them or without the desire of them, men obtain from God the grace of justification, let him be anathema.” Trent went on to teach, “This justification, however, cannot, since promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the laver of regeneration [Baptism] or its desire, as it is written: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'”
So Trent does make a provision for the desire of the Sacrament, meaning one who has approached the Church with the desire for conversion and full incorporation into the Body. Consider, for example, one going through RCIA, awaiting the day of their Baptism, who then is killed tragically in an accident. This would be one who desired Baptism, thus Baptism of Desire.
Pope Pius IX taught, “It is known to Us and to you that they who labor in invincible ignorance of our most holy religion and who, zealously keeping the natural law and its precept engraved in the hearts of all by God, and being ready to obey God, live an honest and upright life, can, by the operating power of divine light and grace, attain eternal life, since God Who clearly beholds, searches, and knows the minds, souls, thoughts, and habits of all men, because of His great goodness and mercy, will by no means suffer anyone to be punished with eternal torment who has not the guilt of deliberate sin.”
So here the Holy Pontiff speaks on Invincible Ignorance, which is an exception to the general rule. Who qualifies for this state of ignorance? The Pope does not say. Thus, we keep to the general principle, out of love for others and a desire for the salvation of souls. And we entrust such rare matters regarding ignorance to God alone. We dare not assume that just about everyone we know who seems like a nice person is invincibly ignorant. Objectively speaking, no one can be saved outside the Church. And so we labor for souls, as the Apostles and Saints and Martyrs did.
One thing that is certain is that exceptions to the rule are not a means of salvation. As St. Thomas Aquinas noted, “Their inculpable ignorance will not save them; but if they fear God and live up to their conscience, God, in his infinite mercy, will furnish them with the necessary means of salvation, even so as to send, if needed, an angel to instruct them in the Catholic faith, rather than let them perish through inculpable ignorance.”
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.
The Cup of Joe 