— On Mon, 2/16/09, 383838 383838 wrote:

Q2. In the book “salt of the Earth” by our Pope (in the Forward), when asked how many ways are there to God, he said “as many as there are people”. My question is, can we go to God directly, without going through the Church (exclusive agent, using a secular term).

Dear Thirty Eight,

As promised, in this email I will answer your second question (copied above). There are two ways to understand your question:

(1) If the Church is only one of the many ways that lead us to God, you want to know whether it is possible to go to heaven without doing so through the Church.

(2) Since there are so many different ways to approach and worship God, why does the Church expect people to do so INDIRECTLY through her, following her teachings and practices? Why, for example, do we need the sacrament of reconciliation? Why can’t I confess my sins DIRECTLY to God?

Both understandings above are challenging and interesting. Not knowing which one you had in mind, I will answer your two-part question in two separate emails, beginning with the first part – Catholic Church vs. world religions.

I am not familiar with the book you mentioned. Therefore I don’t know the context in which the Pope’s comment was made. My take is that he was referring to the many ways that are available for people to find God. I have no problem with his statement if that is what he meant.

There are indeed many different ways to find God: the Buddhist, the Muslim, the Greek Stoic, the Platonist, the empiricist, the rationalist - you name it. This is a fact demonstrated clearly in the existence of many religions in the world. How does the Church see these religions that claim to have the truth as she does? The Church recognizes the merits of other religions and “rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions”. She has “a high regard” for their manners of life and teachings (Nostra Aetate, n.2). For them, “salvation is accessible” (Dominus Iesus, n.20). In short, it is possible for the people of other religions to be saved.

If that’s the case, why do we need the Church? To go one step further, one may even ask, “Why do we need Christ?” You know that whole ordeal of crucifixion – wouldn’t it be just a pointless tragedy if people could be saved through other religions that do not even believe in Christ? This I suspect could be what you had in mind when you asked, “Can we go to God directly, without going through the Church”?

To begin with, let me affirm in no unclear terms: make no mistake, Jesus is “the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [him]” (John 14:6). His sufferings, death, and resurrection, and the salvation that he brings are the ONLY reason that man is saved. He is the ONLY mediator between God and man (cf. John 1:51, 1 Tim 2:4-6). “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).

While this position is very scriptural, isn’t the Church contradicting herself and the Scripture when she teaches that salvation is also accessible to other religions?

Not at all. We must understand that although the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using the non-Catholic faith communities and religions as means of salvation, their efficacy is derived “from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church” (Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 3). These faith communities “are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation” (Dominus Iesus, n.22). Yes, the Church recognizes that they also possess some elements of goodness and truth. However, “all of these (elements), which come from Christ and lead back to him, belong by right to the one Church of Christ” (Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 3).

If the Pope referred to in your question was Pope Benedict XVI, the same Pope also said in his former self as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “It is clear that it would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen as complementary to the Church or substantially equivalent to her” (Dominus Iesus, n.21).

Stay tuned! I will reply to the second part of your question – why not receive grace directly from God; why go through the Church – in a separate email.

Peace,
Edmond Lo