Sunday, June 10, 2012

CCC 1257 ‘God is not limited to the Sacraments’ does not contradict itself, Ad Gentes 7 or the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus

If someone is in Heaven it is with the baptism of water.If someone is saved with implicit desire it does not exclude the baptism of water.However since we are dealing with possibilities, in rare cases, definitely not the ordinary means of salvation, I do not argue with someone who says God can save a person even without the Sacraments (CCC 1257),God being God.

In reality we proclaim that every one needs the baptism of water for salvation and there are no known exceptions. I cannot meet anyone who will be saved without the baptism of water.

The possibility of someone being saved with implicit desire, with or without the Sacraments, in some rare case known only to God, does not exclude the necessity of every one with no exception in 2012 needing the baptism of water for salvation.

If someone is saved without the Sacraments (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257 ‘God is not limited to the Sacraments’) and this person is saved ‘ in certain circumstances’ (Letter of the Holy Office 1949) still everyone on earth needs the baptism of water for salvation and there are no known exceptions.

That someone can be saved without the Sacraments,‘God is not limited to the Sacraments’(CCC 1257) is a possibility.It is cited in the Catechism as only a possibility known to God. It is not a reality that we know of on earth. So it does not contradict the literal interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

CCC 1257 does not contradict Ad Gentes 7 which says all need Catholic Faith and the baptism of water for salvation. CCC 1257 does not contradict itself when it  says that the Church knows of no means to eternal beatitude other than the baptism of water. It does not contradict the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.-Lionel Andrades