St. Alphonsus rejected the idea of salvation for the invincibly ignorant

 

By Bro. Peter Dimond, O.S.B.

 

Here’s a very interesting new quote from St. Alphonsus which refutes the heresy that people can be saved who are ignorant of the Gospel, the Trinity and the Incarnation (the essential mysteries of the Catholic faith).  This is important because many baptism of desire heretics in our day – who believe that souls can be saved in false religions and without belief in Christ – falsely assert that saints such as St. Alphonsus agreed with them.  This is totally false. 

 

This is obviously not to suggest that saints, such as St. Alphonsus, were correct about everything; rather it is prove, once again, that not one saint held the heresy of “invincible ignorance,” the idea that ignorant non-Catholics can be saved in false religions or without belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation.  This heresy of invincible ignorance is held by almost all people who believe in “baptism of desire” today.  Here’s the quote from St. Alphonsus’ book, The History of Heresies.

 

St. Alphonsus, The History of Heresies, Refutation 6, #11, p. 457: “Still we answer the Semipelagians, and say, that infidels who arrive at the use of reason, and are not converted to the Faith, cannot be excused, because though they do not receive sufficient proximate grace, still they are not deprived of remote grace, as a means of becoming converted.  But what is this remote grace?  St. Thomas explains it, when he says, that if anyone was brought up in the wilds, or even among brute beasts, and if he followed the law of natural reason, to desire what is good, and to avoid what is wicked, we should certainly believe either that God, by an internal inspiration, would reveal to him what he should believe, or would send someone to preach the Faith to him, as he sent Peter to Cornelius.  Thus, then, according to the Angelic Doctor [St. Thomas], God, at least remotely, gives to infidels, who have the use of reason, sufficient grace to obtain salvation, and this grace consists in a certain instruction of the mind, and in a movement of the will, to observe the natural law; and if the infidel cooperates with this movement, observing the precepts of the law of nature, and abstaining from grievous sins, he will certainly receive, through the merits of Jesus Christ, the grace proximately sufficient to embrace the Faith, and save his soul.”

 

As we see, St. Alphonsus is clearly making reference to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas below (which is cited in my book), in which he denies that any soul who is ignorant of the Gospel can be saved.  Rather, if there is a person who is completely ignorant of the faith but who is of good will, God will make sure that he comes to a knowledge of the faith. 

 

St. Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, 14, A. 11, ad 1: Objection- “It is possible that someone may be brought up in the forest, or among wolves; such a man cannot explicitly know anything about the faith.  St. Thomas replies- It is the characteristic of Divine Providence to provide every man with what is necessary for salvation… provided on his part there is no hindrance.  In the case of a man who seeks good and shuns evil, by the leading of natural reason, God would either reveal to him through internal inspiration what had to be believed, or would send some preacher of the faith to him…”[i][256]

 

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. II, 28, Q. 1, A. 4, ad 4: “If a man born among barbarian nations, does what he can, God Himself will show him what is necessary for salvation, either by inspiration or sending a teacher to him.”[ii][257]

 

St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. III, 25, Q. 2, A. 2, solute. 2: “If a man should have no one to instruct him, God will show him, unless he culpably wishes to remain where he is.”[iii][258]

 

In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas further taught the truth that all men above reason are bound to know the principal mysteries of Christ for salvation with no exceptions for ignorance.

 

St. Thomas, Summa Theologica:  “After grace had been revealed, both the learned and simple folk are bound to explicit faith in the mysteries of Christ, chiefly as regards those which are observed throughout the Church, and publicly proclaimed, such as the articles which refer to the Incarnation, of which we have spoken above.”[iv][259]

 

Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica:  “And consequently, when once grace had been revealed, all were bound to explicit faith in the mystery of the Trinity.”[v][260]

 

Therefore, St. Alphonsus and St. Thomas, like all of the fathers of the Church, rejected the modern heresy of “invincible ignorance” saving those who die as non-Catholics.  Their speculation and erroneous teaching on baptism of blood/desire only regarded those who believe in the Trinity and Incarnation (the most essential mysteries of Catholic faith).  And this point really shows the dishonesty of modern heretics, who like to quote St. Alphonsus and St. Thomas Aquinas on baptism of desire to somehow justify their heretical idea that members of false religions can be saved by “baptism of desire.” 

 

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Here is another important quote that I’m just now getting around to citing on our website.  This important quote absolutely proves that St. Alphonsus, like all the Doctors of the Church, rejected the false idea that souls who are “invincibly ignorant” of the essential mysteries of the Catholic Faith can be saved.

 

St. Alphonsus, quoted in Fr. Michael Muller’s The Catholic Dogma: “‘Some theologians hold that the belief of the two other articles - the Incarnation of the Son of God, and the Trinity of Persons - is strictly commanded but not necessary, as a means without which salvation is impossible; so that a person inculpably ignorant of them may be saved. But according to the more common and truer opinion, the explicit belief of these articles is necessary as a means without which no adult can be saved.’ (First Command. No. 8.).”

 

Notice that St. Alphonsus is explicitly discussing the concept of invincible ignorance.  He is explicitly addressing the question of whether souls who are “inculpably ignorant” of Our Lord and the Trinity can be saved, AND HE DENIES IT.  He affirms that only those who believe in these absolutely necessary mysteries of Catholic Faith (the Trinity and Incarnation) can be saved.  This is a very important quotation because the heretical idea that souls can be saved in other religions is rampant in Traditional circles, and is taught by the SSPX, SSPV, CMRI, etc.  These groups teach the false and heretical idea that explicit belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation is not necessary as a means without which no adult can be saved.

 

St. Alphonsus: “See also the special love which God has shown you in bringing you into life in a Christian country, and in the bosom of the Catholic or true Church.  How many are born among the pagans, among the Jews, among the Mohometans and heretics, and all are lost.”Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Tan Books, 1982, p. 219.)

 

[…to be continued, as time permits]

 

 

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