Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-08-06
Who May be Saved.

The Cincinnati Gazette and the
Catholic Telegraph, Of the same city,
are engaged in the discussion of the
doctrine of salvation, or perhaps,
more strictly, the faith of the Roman
Catholic Church upon the point
The Telegraph undertakes to disabuse
the Protestant world Of the common
supposition and general reputation
that the Catholic Church holds that
salvation is possible only by a forms
al subscription to her doctrines and
| discipline, or an active membership
in the church, and that everyone
who is not by profession a Roman
Catholic must necessarily be lost
According to the Telegraph, and we
suppose their is no higher authority,
outside the hierarchy, insthe United
States, the Catholic Church teaches
that she is alone of Divine origin
and authority, and is the only
teacher of truth, and that all other
teaching inconsistent with her own
must=-necessarily be false. Claiming
thus to be the only exponent of Dr.
vine, and consequently the only true
faith, she insists that faith in that
truth, as taught by her, is essential
to salvation. In dealing with those
not Of the faith, she makes wide
distinction between those who are
non~Catholics through ignorance
and those who are heretics The
Telegraph defines hereto form the
Roman Catholic standpoint, to be
cone who having sufficient cause to
know the true Church, obstinatelyre
fuses to listen to and obey her, but
adheres to false and impious doctrin-
es." Heresy, like all other crimes,
must be wi1lfully and understanding
ly committed. For hereto, as thus
defined, the Church teaches there is
nosalyation. The other class Of non
Catholics who, education, association
and lack Of means or opportunity,
have not bad sufficient reason to
know t at the Catholic Church is the
only exp~ tor Of religious truth, and
who, theret e innoccntly and con
GENEROUSLY adhere to error, are not
condemned by the Church, the rule
being, "If you be inuocently igno-
rant you may be saved if you be
criminally ignorant you cannot be
saved" The question whether the
non,Catholc has had the opportuni-
ty required to know the truth is one
to be decided ultimately by God, the
Church teaching that if he has had
such opportunity, and willfully re-
jects the truth, he will be lost.
The Catholic Church teaches that
by baptism, no matter when or by
whom given, man becomes a Chris
tain, and therefore, Catholic and,
being ignorant Of the truth through
no fault of his own, he has never re-
fused to subscribe to any known ten
ct Of faith, and consequently has new
er ceased to be an actual though not
formal member Of the Catholic
Church, and is not a hereto, and will
be saved, not because of the false doc
trines he believes, but dispite item,
and because Of the true ones he does
believe in.
Under the Interpretation of the
Roman Catolic doctrine, we take it
that that Church comedies the possi>
bihty of salvation to all men who do
not "willfully and obstinately reject
the truth, and adhere to false and i'm
pious doctrines = and, as that class
of persons must necessarily be very
small, that the possibility Of saliva
ton is much more promising than has
been supposed. This is a matter per.
tanning to theologians, more particu-
larly, but laymen who are non Cath
olics, and who, if they do adhere to
false and impious doctrines, rejecting
the truth, do so innocently and un,
consciously. and not wilIully and OBJ
stinately, will feel relieved to know
that the "True Church" does
not exclude them from salvation, nor
regard them as certain to be damned,
but really claims them as her own
children.