catholics please?

Question

i wonder if i am wrong or perhaps mislead , i somehow get the idea catholic believes that a non-believer not necessary get punished eternally etc , however i also somewhat remember a verse from Jesus saying something like those who have not seen but believe have been saved and those who doesnt believe are being burn , so how do you guys interpret that ?

Answer 1

The belief is if they truely deny Christ then the become "Sons and Daughters of Perdition" and lose all contact with the Trinity

Answer 2

The Catholic Church does teach that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation, but one must look at what this really means. Paragraph 3 of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio, 21 November 1964) says that our separated brethren "who believe in the faith of Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church."

It also says that "all who have been justified by faith in baptism are incorporated into Christ, they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church." Everyone is saved through the Catholic Church, either as faithful members of that Church, or as members of churches which contain some significant elements of truth and sanctification found in the Catholic Church, or as persons who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience. For this reason, a Bishop is responsible for every soul within his diocese, not just the Catholic ones.

Answer 3

As Dencel clearly pointed out, the Catechism - Catholic Guide to Life - states the Holy Roman Catholic Church believes some non-Christian can be saved.

Answer 4

The verse you cited pertains to Jesus telling Saint Matthew, "It is because you see Me, that you believe. Blessed are they who have not seen but still believe." Anyone who has not literally seen the Risen Christ with his/her own eyes. Remember, Thomas doubted the the Risen Christ until He saw Jesus for himself.

If one becomes aware of Jesus, and accepts Him, one starts down the road that, hopefully, leads to Salvation. Truth be told, some fall by the way as they walk this path.

But what about those who, through circumstances beyond their control, never learn about Jesus in their lifetime? These are the ones I believe you are eluding to in your question. There is what is called "invincable ignorance". We trust in God's Mercy when it comes to those who did not come understanding Christ by choice in this life.

Answer 5

people who believe and follow in the teachings of God thru Jesus will most probably have a more well guided path not necessarily to success but to righteousness and good well being. he is therefore/somehow saved.

While some people without religion or any "guide" in life are more vulnerable to crimes, adultery, theft, ..... (which they refer to as getting burned)

I am not an active catholic but from my own interpretation, a religion is a "Guidance to mankind"

Answer 6

What happens to unbaptized child?
What happens to a person who never read or heard about the bible because he was deprived by circumstances?
What happens to people of good will but atheist by education?
What happens to a good Buddhist or Hindi or Moslem who never met a missionary during his lifetime?

Is God unreasonable to punish them despite their innocence? Didn't Jesus said that at the end of time he will ask the final test: When I was thristy, did you give me drink?
When I was hungry, did you give me food?...etc. "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you did it to me..." "Come into the home of my Father."

Answer 7

You are confused.Jesus said to Doubting Thomas "blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe".In other words He was talking about people like us who have not seen Him rise from the dead,but yet believe.

Answer 8

you're right - Catholics believe (i paraphrase) that God is merciful & has His own agenda in who gets into heaven - regardless of whether they are Catholic or not --- but that Christians should still try to spread the gospel

Answer 9

The Church and non-Christians

839 "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."325

The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,326 "the first to hear the Word of God."327 The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ",328 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."329

840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.


841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."330

842 The Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:


All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .331

843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."332

844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:


Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333

845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood.334

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:


Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:


Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

Answer 10

ok....we don't need a book written, there is the bible