The Church and the World Religions (Contd):
Subjective Salvation: If objective salvation is all pervasive, the humans have nothing to do for their own salvation may be the immediate thought that might crop up in our minds. Objective salvation provides us with all necessary conditions and aids coming from God alone, which we may appropriate freely for our own salvation. It is not our efforts that lead us to our own salvation , but our co-operation with the graces offered to us by God Himself. Not to harden our hearts when we hear the voice of God, especially that of our conscience, is an important milestone in this kind of co-operation expected from us. At his address in the house of Cornelius, Peter was very clear on the availability of subjective salvation for all. "Peter began: 'I now see how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation the man who is god-fearing and does what is right is acceptable to him' " (Acts, 10: 34-35). At his first address on the day of Pentecost, Peter had applied the same thought even to the day of the Lord at the end of the world. "And then, everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans, 10: 13). One of the main themes of Paul's letters is that faith in the living God is that which justifies us. He also stresses that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the most appropriate means of fostering true faith in the living God. Thus both objective and subjective salvation find a common ground in the belief in Jesus Christ.
Explicit Belief in Jesus Christ: The Apostles exhorted those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit on hearing the Word of God to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Baptism and the other sacraments of the Church are the most visible and explicit ways of professing the belief in Jesus Christ. Baptism is not a means for mere membership of the Church, but is incorporation into the Body of Christ by death and rising with him. A baptized person is a new creature in the image of Jesus Christ and is expected to represent him in this world. It is a free gift of God and does not depend on the merits of the candidate and therefore even infants could be baptized in the name of the Church's faith. It is the duty of the Church, represented by parents and God-parents assisted by priests and catechists under the control of Bishops to foster the faith of the baptized infants into the full-fledged faith in Jesus Christ in tandem with their growth and development.The ultimate aim of this exercise is not to create fanatics and communalists, but to form disciples of Jesus Christ who would be able to break all barriers created by us and reach out to all in the name of humanity. True explicit belief in Jesus Christ is meant to embrace all human beings without any distinction, under the banner of humanity for which the true benchmark is instituted in and by Jesus Christ himself. Even in the most explicit belief in Jesus Christ constituted through baptism, an element of implicit belief in him is present and is acknowledged by the Church by its doctrine of baptism by desire. That baptism is possible not only by water but also by blood, like in the martyrdom of a neophyte, or by desire, as in the case of people who fear God and do what is right, brings to the fore the fact that it is the Holy Spirit of God who is active in all those cases. Baptism by the Spirit is the underlying reality of all other kinds of baptism and that being invisible corresponds to implicit belief in Jesus Christ.
Implicit Belief in Jesus Christ: The main obstacle in understanding the concept of implicit belief in Jesus Christ is our narrow definition of the reality of Jesus Christ unjustifiably limited by the prejudices inherent in our explicit belief in him. For, it is the faith of the Church ringing out very loud and clear from the Bible that Jesus Christ is constituted by God the Father as the universal savior of all mankind and judge of the whole universe. That being the case, the Church cannot afford to be satisfied with a narrow definition of the reality of Jesus Christ resulting from its own incomplete self-understanding. The self-understanding of the Church serves as the underlying benchmark for understanding all the other religions. Therefore, if the Church failed to grasp the salvific significance of all religions, it was due to its own failure in understanding the universal salvific significance of Jesus Christ in God's own plan of salvation for the whole world. Fortunately, after the Second Vatican Council, there has been a marked difference in perspectives in this matter, although much more is to be done for the benefit of the present 21st century.
We have already discussed above the nature of the implicit belief in Jesus Christ. It is further corroborated by the teachings of Peter and Paul about the acceptability to God of all those who fear Him and do what is right. If we wonder how it is connected to Jesus Christ, we must remember that anything that is good comes from God alone as He alone is good (See Luke, 18: 19). Jesus Christ is the human face of God and he cannot but be present anywhere there is goodness, righteousness, justice, truth, etc. In this manner, he does not go by religions as God through His Spirit permeating the risen body is not bound by any restrictions. Further, anyone who follows the instructions of Jesus in Matthew, chapters 5-7 has faith in Jesus that is salvific and sanctifying irrespective of religious affiliations. Stunned by the contradictions in practical life of those who proclaim faith in God and Jesus Christ, if someone were to consider oneself an unbeliever and yet follow the instructions of Jesus in daily life, such a person is a true believer in him with the tag of implicit belief. (To be Contd).
Subjective Salvation: If objective salvation is all pervasive, the humans have nothing to do for their own salvation may be the immediate thought that might crop up in our minds. Objective salvation provides us with all necessary conditions and aids coming from God alone, which we may appropriate freely for our own salvation. It is not our efforts that lead us to our own salvation , but our co-operation with the graces offered to us by God Himself. Not to harden our hearts when we hear the voice of God, especially that of our conscience, is an important milestone in this kind of co-operation expected from us. At his address in the house of Cornelius, Peter was very clear on the availability of subjective salvation for all. "Peter began: 'I now see how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation the man who is god-fearing and does what is right is acceptable to him' " (Acts, 10: 34-35). At his first address on the day of Pentecost, Peter had applied the same thought even to the day of the Lord at the end of the world. "And then, everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans, 10: 13). One of the main themes of Paul's letters is that faith in the living God is that which justifies us. He also stresses that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the most appropriate means of fostering true faith in the living God. Thus both objective and subjective salvation find a common ground in the belief in Jesus Christ.
Explicit Belief in Jesus Christ: The Apostles exhorted those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit on hearing the Word of God to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Baptism and the other sacraments of the Church are the most visible and explicit ways of professing the belief in Jesus Christ. Baptism is not a means for mere membership of the Church, but is incorporation into the Body of Christ by death and rising with him. A baptized person is a new creature in the image of Jesus Christ and is expected to represent him in this world. It is a free gift of God and does not depend on the merits of the candidate and therefore even infants could be baptized in the name of the Church's faith. It is the duty of the Church, represented by parents and God-parents assisted by priests and catechists under the control of Bishops to foster the faith of the baptized infants into the full-fledged faith in Jesus Christ in tandem with their growth and development.The ultimate aim of this exercise is not to create fanatics and communalists, but to form disciples of Jesus Christ who would be able to break all barriers created by us and reach out to all in the name of humanity. True explicit belief in Jesus Christ is meant to embrace all human beings without any distinction, under the banner of humanity for which the true benchmark is instituted in and by Jesus Christ himself. Even in the most explicit belief in Jesus Christ constituted through baptism, an element of implicit belief in him is present and is acknowledged by the Church by its doctrine of baptism by desire. That baptism is possible not only by water but also by blood, like in the martyrdom of a neophyte, or by desire, as in the case of people who fear God and do what is right, brings to the fore the fact that it is the Holy Spirit of God who is active in all those cases. Baptism by the Spirit is the underlying reality of all other kinds of baptism and that being invisible corresponds to implicit belief in Jesus Christ.
Implicit Belief in Jesus Christ: The main obstacle in understanding the concept of implicit belief in Jesus Christ is our narrow definition of the reality of Jesus Christ unjustifiably limited by the prejudices inherent in our explicit belief in him. For, it is the faith of the Church ringing out very loud and clear from the Bible that Jesus Christ is constituted by God the Father as the universal savior of all mankind and judge of the whole universe. That being the case, the Church cannot afford to be satisfied with a narrow definition of the reality of Jesus Christ resulting from its own incomplete self-understanding. The self-understanding of the Church serves as the underlying benchmark for understanding all the other religions. Therefore, if the Church failed to grasp the salvific significance of all religions, it was due to its own failure in understanding the universal salvific significance of Jesus Christ in God's own plan of salvation for the whole world. Fortunately, after the Second Vatican Council, there has been a marked difference in perspectives in this matter, although much more is to be done for the benefit of the present 21st century.
We have already discussed above the nature of the implicit belief in Jesus Christ. It is further corroborated by the teachings of Peter and Paul about the acceptability to God of all those who fear Him and do what is right. If we wonder how it is connected to Jesus Christ, we must remember that anything that is good comes from God alone as He alone is good (See Luke, 18: 19). Jesus Christ is the human face of God and he cannot but be present anywhere there is goodness, righteousness, justice, truth, etc. In this manner, he does not go by religions as God through His Spirit permeating the risen body is not bound by any restrictions. Further, anyone who follows the instructions of Jesus in Matthew, chapters 5-7 has faith in Jesus that is salvific and sanctifying irrespective of religious affiliations. Stunned by the contradictions in practical life of those who proclaim faith in God and Jesus Christ, if someone were to consider oneself an unbeliever and yet follow the instructions of Jesus in daily life, such a person is a true believer in him with the tag of implicit belief. (To be Contd).
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