Salvation (Christianity)

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The branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation and redemption is called Soteriology. It is derived from Greek sōtērion (salvation) (from sōtēr "savior, redeemer") + English -logy.[1]

Speaking only within the scope of Christian theology in this article, soteriology examines the role of Jesus Christ as saviour [2], and redeemer[3]. Soteriology often concentrates on redemption and justification [4] (justification) but is also the study what the entirety of God's rescuing undertaking(s) toward human beings is. Soteriology can even include the future of creation in its scope[5], since this is also thought of as a rescue, a saving, a setting free, though it does not often remember to do such widening of its scope.

Variant views on soteriology are among the main fault lines dividing the various Christian denominations, both between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and within Protestantism, notably in the Calvinist–Arminian debate, and the fault lines include conflicting definitions of depravity, predestination, atonement, but most pointedly justification.

Traditional focus

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Soteriology traditionally focuses on studying aspects of the various saving acts of God, namely, how God ends the separation that sinners (Rom 5:8) have from him due to sin. In Christian soteriology, God reconciles sinners to himself through the death of his Son (Rom. 5:10), and that reconciliation, once received[6], can be thought of as having now been received (Rom 5:11), even individually (Galatians 2:20). All branches of Christianity, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, teach that salvation is the work of God [7], through the death of his Son, and that there are living human beings today who are in a state of reconciliation with God. Yet reconciliation is not the whole of the vocabulary of soteriology. Christians all believe they receive the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), life (Rom. 8:11), and the obtaining of future salvation (1 Thess. 5:9) through Jesus also, through his innocent suffering and death (Matthew 20:28), and through his resurrection from the dead the third day (Luke 24:46).

Christ's death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit, is called Paschal Mystery. Christ's human birth is called the Incarnation. Either or both might be weighted differently, in the different traditions of soteriology. One school of thought believes salvation is brought more by the Incarnation itself, while not neglecting the Paschal Mystery (2 Peter 1.4). As Athanasius put it, God became human so that we might become divine (De inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B.), or as Peter similarly put it, so that you may become partakers of the divine nature, 2 Peter 1.4.

In the Protestant tradition of Sola gratia, the belief is not just that salvation is offered by divine grace, i.e., God's attribute of grace. (Protestantism shares that with the rest of the traditions.). It is also that the salvation of individuals (Eph 2:8), is solely creditable to acts of God's grace. 'Sola' and 'gratia' is in the ablative in Latin, meaning 'solely', and 'through grace'. (The slogan, being a Latin slogan, loses something in translation to English.) Thus, Sola gratia is not just the idea that God has grace, but that salvation is given solely through His grace[8]. See Cambridge Declaration, soli Deo gloria.

Yet, irrespective of all questions of choices and actions done by which and by whom, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy, which all view the same books as the New Testament, view justification in the sight of God, the standing upright before God (Romans 5:1-2), as a gift of God (Romans 3:24) that cannot be merited by works done prior to God so giving it. This is versus Pelagianism.

To complete the discussion of the Protestant tradition view, justification sola fide means that justification comes solely through faith (more ablatives in Latin). Faith is brought about by hearing the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).

Catholic teaching on Salvation

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The Catholic Church teaches that human beings exist by a free act of creation by God, because he desired that they should partake of his divine life. In this sense, every human being is God's child. In a fuller sense, to come to salvation is to be reconciled to God through Christ in the Church and to be united with His divine Essence via divinization (or theosis) in the beatific vision of the Godhead. The graces of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection are found in and acquired through the seven sacraments. Baptism is the beginning of salvation, because it is by the sacrament of baptism that the Catholic Church "gives birth" to the soul, making it Christian and remitting its sins, both original and actual.

Salvation is understood as a trinitarian economy. God the Father, desiring the world, which had been corrupted by the Original Sin of the first parents, to be reconciled to himself, sent Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to become incarnate of the Virgin Mary to redeem mankind through his perfect oblation on the cross. The divinization of redeemed humanity is further accomplished by his resurrection and glorification. Human members of the Church are aided in this supernatural process by the Holy Spirit, who abides within the Catholic Church as a soul does a body. The Church has clarified this trinitarian pattern of Salvation through its creeds.[9] Within the Trinity, the Son proceeds from the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and [from] the Son. Out of the Trinity and from our perspective, the economy of salvation operates in reverse, so that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit sanctifies the human person and Christ incorporates the person into His mystical body, the Catholic Church. In this way, the human person is reconciled to God the Father and becomes integrated into the very life of God through sanctifying grace. The perpetual sacrifice of the Mass, constructed throughout the world on all the Catholic Church's altars, was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper according to Catholic dogma, and represents the salvific sacrifice of the cross to the Father until the consummation of the world.

Catholic teaching affirms that the Roman Catholic Church is the singular and exclusive "one true church", founded by Christ in the first century. ‘Extra ecclesiam nulla salus’ ("outside the Church, no salvation") is the traditional shorthand phrase which conveys the doctrine of the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation. The Second Vatican Council re-affirmed in Dignitatis Humanae that "the one true religion exists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church", and also stated in the decree Lumen Gentium that "they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary for salvation by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it." Similarly, in Singulari Quidem, Pope Pius IX taught that "outside of the Church, nobody can hope for life or salvation unless he is excused through ignorance beyond his control"— that is, unless he had no way of knowing the Catholic Church was the true Church and such lack of knowledge on his part was not due to his own neglect in searching for the truth. Thus the Church also teaches that anyone who is saved is saved through the Catholic Church but that people can be saved extraordinarily ex voto and by pre-baptismal martyrdom as well as when conditions of invincible ignorance are present,[10] although invincible ignorance in itself is not a means of salvation.

Distinct Protestant schools

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Protestant originating with Martin Luther teaches that salvation is received by grace alone and that one's sole necessary response to this grace is faith alone. Catholic and Orthodox teach that salvation is received by grace alone, but that one's necessary response to this grace comprises both faith and works (James 2:24,26; Rom 2:6-7; Gal 5:6).

The different soteriologies found within the Christian tradition can be grouped into distinct schools:

Comparison between Protestants

This table summarizes the classical views of three different Protestant beliefs about salvation.[11]

Topic Lutheranism Calvinism Arminianism
Human will Total Depravity without free will until spiritual regeneration Total Depravity without free will permanently due to the nature of divine sovereignty Total depravity, with prevenient grace, does not preclude free will
Election Unconditional election to salvation only Unconditional election to salvation and damnation (double-predestination) [12] Conditional election on the basis of foreseen faith or unbelief
Justification Justification of all people completed at Christ's death Justification is limited to those predestined to salvation, completed at Christ's death Justification made possible for all through Christ's death, but only completed upon placing faith in Jesus (hypothetical universalism)
Conversion Monergistic, through the means of grace, resistible Monergistic, through the inner calling of the Holy Spirit, irresistible (synergism), resistible due to the common, sufficient grace of free will
Preservation and apostasy Falling away is possible, but reflection on one's faith provides assurance of preservation Perseverance of the saints: the eternally elect in Christ will necessarily persevere in faith and subsequent holiness until the end Preservation is conditional upon continued faith in Christ; reflection on one's faith provides assurance

See also

References

  1. ^ soteriology - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  2. ^ Luke 2:1
  3. ^ 1 Peter 1:18-19
  4. ^ Romans 3:24
  5. ^ Romans 8:21
  6. ^ Leon L. Morris, "Reconciliation", Illustrated Bible Dictionary, vol 3, p. 1321, 1980 (orig. New Bible Dictionary, 1962)
  7. ^ Benjamin B Warfield, The Plan of Salvation, pp. 16-17
  8. ^ www.reformed.org/documents/cambridge.html
  9. ^ Nicene Creed
  10. ^ Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium chapter 2". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  11. ^ Table drawn from, though not copied, from Lange, Lyle W. God So Loved the World: A Study of Christian Doctrine. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2006. p. 448.
  12. ^ http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/

External links

Christian Soteriology
Related Theology: Eschatology • Christology • The Trinity • Hamartiology
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