Dear Catholic Exchange:
Hi. I'm a Protestant Christian and travelling minister who doesn't oppose Catholicism but does not embrace some of the teachings. That's not why I am writing. I've e-mailed to ask you if it is believed by Roman, Eastern Orthodox, and Traditional Catholics that if one is not a member of one of the Catholic denominations then he will not be born again. Is it a teaching if one is not of a Catholic denomination then he is unsaved or not born again?
My teaching is that Catholics, Protestants, Episcopalians, Muslims, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, pagans, Jews, and atheists must be born again to be saved. Does this stance agree with Catholicism?
I believe that one must abandon paganism, Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, atheism or whatever, after he is born again. I was e-mailed recently by some Catholics who told me that there is no hope of being saved unless I am part of a Catholic congregation. I would say that church membership is meaningless and being born again is a must.
Jeremy
Dear Jeremy:
You ask a number of questions and I can't speak to them all.
For instance, I can't speak to Eastern Orthodox ideas because I'm not EO. As to “Traditional” Catholics, there are two basic meanings to this term. One refers to Catholics who are in communion with and obedient to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and who happen to prefer older forms of piety such as the Latin Mass. Another meaning is “reactionary dissenters and schismatics” who reject the magisterial teaching of the Church (particularly of Vatican II and of our current pope). I can't speak for this latter group either, since I am a Catholic in communion with and obedient to both this pope and the teaching of Vatican II (as well as the other councils).
That said, let me address your first question, “Is it a teaching if one is not of a Catholic denomination then he is unsaved or not born again?”
No. On the contrary, any Christian who is validly baptized, no matter what denomination he belongs to, is regarded by the Church as being in real, albeit imperfect, communion with the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The normative way in which we are born again, according to Scripture, is through sacramental baptism. But since baptism is administered by Christ through the words and actions of a human agent, it does not matter if a Catholic or a priest does it. A validly baptized Presbyterian is united with Christ and therefore with his body, the Church.
Obviously, things are complicated by the fact that people are divided from the Catholic communion in various ways and degrees. They are further complicated by the fact that the Church does not teach a “once saved, always saved” doctrine. We believe in the possibility of radical rejection of grace and in the possibility of persisting in that till death. So even a Catholic can choose hell after baptism. But the central fact, everything else being equal, is that a Protestant is united with the Catholic Church in baptism (and often in many other ways as well, since most Protestants believe the bulk of what the Church teaches concerning the person and work of Jesus).
It sounds as if the people who e-mailed you were part of a reactionary dissenting sect of Catholics who teach, contrary to the Church, that only those in visible communion with the Church can be saved. The Church rejects this notion.
At the same time, the Church never ceases to call all people to full communion. For the reality is, it is impossible to separate the Church from being born again and call the former unimportant and the latter crucial. Both are crucial. To be born again is to not only be united with Christ the Head, but with his Body as well. Bodies are not invisible and therefore the Church is not either. The Church is the Body of Christ and in it the fullness of Christ's revelation subsists. That is the basic claim the Church makes and it needs to be considered. In its own way, it is as shocking as the claims Christ made about Himself, and for the same reason: it is a divine institution founded by a divine person.
Thanks for writing!
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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