Salvation and World Religions

Ok, so here we go . . . I'm on an email discussion list (where I'm the only Catholic - pray for me!), and right now we're talking about salvation through Jesus. I have some thoughts on that, but I want to start from a slightly different angle.

In Catholicism, participation in the sacramental life of the church is a normative way of achieving salvation. The only way to participate in the sacramental life of the church is through baptism, the "first" sacrament. The normal way that baptism is received by an individual is through a baptismal ceremony that takes place during Mass. The priest will pour or sprinkle water on your forehead (or dunk you three times under water, according to parish/diocesan custom and age), and baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

And poof! - you're a new member of the church (whether you're 1, 10 or 100).

However, the church recognizes that there may be times when being baptized by a priest is an impossibility. At numerous times and in numerous places priest have been in short supply or outlawed, and baptism by a priest is nigh impossible. In circumstances where it's a life or death situation, any baptized person can validly baptize another . . . any - doesn't even have to be Catholic! :-)

So if a busload of pregnant Catholic women is stranded in the desert aboard a bus that's about to be hit by a meteor, and they all give birth at the same time, and there's no priest to baptize them, any of them can validly perform a baptism on all of the new babies. And if they're too tired (for some weird reason) to perform the baptism, then the Lutheran bus driver or the Methodist husband could also perform the baptism as well. And there would be no need to have the babies "rebaptized" in a Catholic church because they would have already received the sacrament of baptism.

But it gets better. If you're studying to become a Catholic, and sincerely want to be baptized into the Catholic church, but you die before you get baptized, you're considered baptized by desire. Remember our bus? If there's a fellow sleeping in the corner, and he's a catechumenate (someone studying to become Catholic - don't you love fancy words?!), and he's on his way to be baptized in his home town, and he dies when the meteor hits, he's still considered to be validly baptized - a fully practicing member of the Catholic faith - he's already 7/12th of the way to heaven because of his baptism by desire.

But wait - there's more! (I remind myself of a late night TV commercial trying to sell you <>) If you're even thinking about joining the church (you haven't even started taking classes yet!) and you die protecting the faith, or you die practicing the faith, then you're considered baptized by blood - your martyrdom becomes the gateway to your (admittedly extremely brief) sacramental life. Back on the bus, an agnostic young lady who's been reading my (pre-quiz) blog and who was thinking of calling up a priest to set up classes selflessly sacrifices herself when rabid jackelopes enter the bus, throwing herself in harm way so that the herd of demonic critters eats her instead of the new babies - she's had a valid baptism by blood. (One of the reasons that so many saints are martyrs is because the church has for centuries recognized that dying for your faith pretty much means you get an all-access backstage pass once you hit the afterlife!)

So the sense I get is that the Catholic church, far from trying to narrowly define who gets into heaven, is actually trying to show that the doors are thrown pretty wide open - God is waiting with open arms, and God, it seems, has set things up for us to get in . . . because for some weird reason he loves us and wants us with him for all of eternity! :-)

On a quick note before I change topics: I think that one of the things that this sacramental stance implies is that you don't have to be Catholic to enter heaven (I know - all of you just took a sigh of relief!) - since the church recognizes all Trinitarian baptism as valid, you're pretty much good to go!

Having said that, let's go on to my stance regarding salvation for people who aren't Christian (of any denomination). . .

I have heard it said, and there are many Scripture quotes supporting this, that if you don't confess that Jesus is Lord and Savior you don't get saved - period - no ifs, ands, or buts. But I have a problem with this stance. Part of it is my Catholic faith - as you can see from everything else I wrote, we're trying hard to get everyone in. :-) Part of it, I know, is my own personality - I tend to err on the side of gentleness, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, etc. The last part of it, though, is where I jump back to Scripture - Matthew 25:31-46.

Here, Jesus tells the story about the sheep and the goats . . . the sheep are out feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those who are sick and in prison, welcoming strangers, etc. . . . and Jesus says that they're blessed by his Father and that they will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Now, these people are pretty confused . . . Jesus says that they did this for him. So they speak up (never being ones to just quietly follow along) - when did we do this, they demand? And he says "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." And the people are pretty shocked . . . "you mean, that guy on the subway . . . the pregnant high school kid I helped out . . . my crabby aunt who was in the hospital . . . the gang member who was hurt . . . my ex-wife . . . that guy who never blogged very much" and on and on and on . . . every single good deed, every single helpful, kind and compassionate act - that brought about their salvation . . . nowhere does Jesus say "those who called on my name for salvation - single file line here . . . everyone else . . . sucks to be you!" (I'm roughly paraphrasing, of course) :-)

I believe that God saves through Jesus Christ . . . I wouldn't call myself a Catholic Christian if I didn't believe that. But I also believe that the Paschal Mystery (Jesus' incarnation, birth, life, passion, death, resurrection and ascension) redeemed the cosmos - every atom, every person, every planet, every solar system, every dimension - everything . . . and that salvation is available to everyone because of that, through their own faith, and not just because a person happens to belong to the right club (Christian one).

One last thought: I also like the parable in Matthew 20:1-16, in conjunction with Matthew 25 . . . This parable talks about a landowner who needs workers in his vineyards. He goes out at 6 AM, finds some unemployed people, and agrees to pay them a day's wages for their work. At 9 AM, realizing they'll never finish in time, he goes and gets some more people to work. He does the same at noon, at 3 PM, and then at 5 PM. When quitting time comes around at 6 PM, he tells people to line up to receive payment, those who came in at 5 PM at the front of the line, the rest in chronological order. The last batch of people are paid a full day’s wage . . . you can imagine how happy they were (I sometimes wish my principal would follow this Scriptural example!). Everyone else gets a bit excited - they're expecting more. By the time the last batch of people gets there, everyone is angry - everyone got paid the exact same thing. So they complain - what the *&#($ is going on? We worked our assets off all day, and these bums who only worked an hour get the same pay we did?!?!? (Sorry for the rough language!)

The point of the parable is telling: My friend, the landowner says, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?

I think God may have that problem with many Christians on the day we enter heaven - we'll look around, see the pagans, the heretics, the agnostics, the atheists, the lost, the broken, the not-so-faithful, the twice-a-year Christians, the abortionists, the Muslims, the Hindus, the rock and roll guys, the promiscuous, the greedy, and on and on and on and on . . . and we'll complain: God, we followed all the rules, we stayed within the lines, we fasted and we read and we prayed and we tithed and we called on Jesus and we went to Church and we held hands with people we really didn't like . . . why are all these other people here?

And God'll answer: I don't understand . . . you're in heaven . . . with me . . . for all eternity, for ever and ever and ever . . . that’s not enough? Can't I be generous, compassionate, loving, forgiving, merciful . . . do you really think my love is limited? You have your reward . . . please don't be envious because I am generous.

That’s the God that I believe in, that’s the faith that I proclaim, and that’s my hope for the salvation of the world. My prayer is that we’ll all see each other at that great, final banqueting feast in the awe-some and awe-filled presence of God.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo