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Download - Is Explicit Faith in Christ and the Trinity Necessary for Salvation? (PDF)
Once revelation has been given, faith becomes necessary for salvation, as taught by the Vatican Council:
'Since man is wholly dependent on God as his Creator and Lord, and since created reason is completely subject to uncreated truth, we are bound by faith to give full obedience of intellect and will to God who reveals [can. 1]. But the Catholic Church professes that this faith, which "is the beginning of human salvation" [cf. n. 801], is a supernatural virtue by which we, with the aid and inspiration of the grace of God, believe that the things revealed by Him are true, not because the intrinsic truth of the revealed things has been perceived by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God Himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived [can. 2]. For faith is, as the Apostle testifies, the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.' [Heb. 11:1]. (D. 1789)
'If anyone shall have said that human reason is so independent that faith cannot be enjoined upon it by God: let him be anathema.' (D. 1810)
1. Faith is necessary either by necessity of means or by necessity of precept:
Necessity of means (necessitas medii):
Something is
necessary by necessity of means if it is an essential means for
justification. Without it, even if omitted inculpably, salvation cannot be
obtained.
In this case, neither ignorance nor inability can provide an excuse.
The necessity of means is two-fold:
Intrinsically: It is something that, by its very nature, is required as an essential means of salvation. In this case, no substitutes are possible, as with Faith, the love of God, and Sanctifying Grace.
Extrinsically: When something is a means of salvation because it was instituted by God. It can be supplied by other means. (e.g., baptism by water).
Necessity of precept (necessitas praecepti)
A precept is necessary
if it is prescribed in such a way that it cannot be freely omitted without sin.
A precept is
necessary if it is prescribed in such a way that it cannot be freely omitted
without sin. If the omission is culpable, it leads to damnation; however, if
the omission occurs inculpably due to ignorance or inability, salvation can
still be attained despite it.
Faith is necessary both by necessity of means, concerning certain objects, and by necessity of precept, concerning others.
2. Faith is required
by necessity of means:
Faith is absolutely
necessary for salvation by necessity of means; no one can be saved without it.
Justification is not conferred without faith, hope, and charity. Therefore,
whoever lacks the habit of faith necessarily lacks sanctifying grace.
This applies to the act of faith, particularly in the case of adults. However, infants and others who lack the use of reason can be saved without an explicit act of faith through the habit of faith received in their baptism.
3. The necessity of faith for salvation is proved by Divine revelation and confirmed by reason.
The necessity of faith demonstrated by Divine revelation:
Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium affirm that faith is required as a necessity of means: 'Without faith, it is impossible to please God and to attain the fellowship of His children.'
Sacred Scripture conveys this in several ways:
It states that
faith is the beginning and foundation of human salvation. Thus, Christ, in His
discourse with Nicodemus, says:
Likewise, when sending the Apostles into the world, He addresses them thus:
'Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned.' (Mark 16:16)
Similarly, when the deacon Philip is asked for baptism, he responds:
'If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' (Acts 8:37)
And the Apostles
always required faith in Christ from new converts. When the Philippian jailer
asked Paul and Silas, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' they
responded:
'But they said: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' (Acts 16:30-31)
Scripture also declares that the works of the Law and natural works are insufficient without faith. This is repeatedly emphasised by the Apostle, especially in his letters to the Romans and Galatians:
'For we account a
man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.'(Romans 3:28)
'But knowing that
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ;
we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law no
flesh shall be justified.' (Galatians 2:16)
(c) Finally, it asserts that faith is a necessary means for spiritual life and for pleasing God:
'The just man shall
live by faith; but if he draws back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him...
Without faith, it is impossible to please God; for whoever approaches God must
believe that He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him.' (Hebrews 10:38; 11:6)
The necessity of
faith for salvation is confirmed by reason
Since this end so
surpasses our natural capacities that we cannot even know it by natural
reason—let alone the means to attain it, such as Christ’s sacrifice and the
sacraments He instituted—it was necessary for these things to be made known to
us through faith.
Moreover, the end
towards which we strive is the perfect vision of God. It was fitting,
therefore, that we should be led towards this perfect knowledge through faith,
which is, as it were, the beginning of the vision of divine things, inasmuch as
it makes us share in divine knowledge:
"Relying on
divine testimony, we believe those things which He Himself sees, and which we
shall later see."
4. Is explicit belief
in Christ the Redeemer and the Most Holy Trinity necessary for salvation?
There is debate as
to whether explicit faith in the Most Holy Trinity and Christ the Redeemer is
necessary as a necessity of means.
It is commonly held
that before Christ's advent, it was not necessary as a necessity of means to
explicitly believe in the mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity and the Incarnate
Word; for these had not yet been sufficiently revealed to mankind.
On the other hand,
some theologian, supported by the authority of St Augustine and St
Thomas, hold that after Adam’s fall, it was necessary for justification, as a
necessity of means, to explicitly believe in some mediator through whose merits
salvation could be obtained.
They cite the words
of Scripture: "For there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12), and from this, they infer that no
one can be saved without faith in Christ, or at least in some mediator.
many theologians
today teach as the more probable opinion that explicit faith in the mysteries
of the Most Holy Trinity and the Incarnation, or even in Christ as mediator, is
not necessary as a necessity of means. And this for several reasons:
So grave a necessity should not be posited without compelling reason; yet such a reason is lacking. Indeed, when the Apostle speaks of the necessity of faith in the passage cited above, he speaks only of faith in God as the rewarder. Moreover, the acts of faith, hope, charity, and penance required for justification can be elicited without faith in the Trinity and the Incarnation. As soon as we believe that God exists and is supremely good and perfect, rendering to each according to his works, nothing prevents such acts from being performed, either as an implicit necessity of means or in the sense that no one is saved except through the merits and satisfactions of Christ.