Extra Ecciesiam Nulla Salus

                                                    The Dogma of Faith


"There is only one universal Church of the faithful, outside
of which no one at all can be saved." (Pope Innocent III, Fourth
Lateran Council, 1215. Denz. 802.)

"We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely
necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject
to the Roman Pontiff." (Pope Boniface VIII, in the bull, Unam
Sanctam, 1302. Denz. 875.)

"The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and
teaches, that none of those who are not within the Catholic
Church, not only pagans, but Jews, heretics and schismatics, can
ever be partakers of eternal life, but are to go into the eternal fire
'prepared for the devil, and his angels' (Mt. 25: 41)., unless before
the close of their lives they shall have entered into that Church;
also that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is such that the
Church's sacraments avail only those abiding in that Church, and
that fasts, almsdeeds, and other works of piety which play their
part in the Christian combat are in her alone productive of
eternal rewards; moreover, that no one, no matter what alms he
may have given, not even if he were to shed his blood for Christ's
sake, can be saved unless he abide in the bosom and unity of the
Catholic Church." (Mansi, Concilia, xxxi, 1739; Pope Eugene IV, in
the bull, Cantate Domino, 1441. Denz. 1351.)

The implications of these pronouncements, taken together, are as
follows:

1. All three of these statements are ex cathedra definitions of the
Church and of the Pontiffs who made them.

2. Being ex cathedra definitions, they must be taken literally,
unequivocally, and absolutely. Hence, to attempt to modify or qualify
them in any way is to deny them.

3. The doctrine says that only (Roman) Catholics go to Heaven;
all others are lost, that is, they do not go to Heaven, but to Hell. All
who are inclined to dispute this dogma should have the good sense to
realize that if this is not what the words of the definitions mean, the
Church would never have promulgated such a position. To give any
other meaning to these words is to portray the Church as foolish and
ridiculous; to quote Pope Pius XII, it is to reduce the Dogma of
Exclusive Salvation to a "meaningless formula."

4. The pronouncements indicate that, by divine decree, those
only will be saved who are members of the Church when they die.
This membership must be formal, real, explicit, and, in those of the
(mental) age of reason, deliberate. There is no such thing as "potential"
membership in the Church (except that which refers to everyone
outside the Church), or "implicit" membership, or "quasimembership,"
or "invisible membership," or anything of the kind.
Neither can those who are catechumens, that is, those who are preparing
to enter the Church, be considered members.

5. Excluded also from this real and necessary membership are
those who are unwilling to submit to the religious sovereignty of the
Pope, though their faith be otherwise Catholic, and their morals
laudable. All this means that the Church establishes the terms of
membership within itself-and is reasserting them by these
decrease-and no one else.

6. Similarly, the decrees exclude all exceptions whatsoever, and
implied in them is the sanctioning of all subterfuges and excuses such
as "invincible ignorance," "good will," "baptism of desire," and the
like.

7. Since the aforementioned formula (Extra Ecciesiam Nulla
Salus) is a doctrine of Catholicity, it is the standard of orthodoxy on
the subject of salvation; which is to say, all writers, whether they be
saints and/or Doctors, of old or of late, all popes and theologians, of
whatever era, and their pronouncements are reliable in their treatment
of this subject, if they accept and support it. Their testimony or
opinions are useless (at best), if they do not, this regardless of any
other contribution they may have made to Catholic erudition. The
same must be said of the works of all Catholic writers.

8. Such a dogmatic statement is the most certain knowledge that
men have, more certain than metaphysical principles, or mathematical
formulas, or historical accounts. It is the revelation and proposition of
God Himself.

9. Such a dogmatic statement is not to be colored, or reduced, or
altered, by reference to the Sacred Scriptures. On the contrary, it is in
terms of such a statement that all the Scriptures are to be read and un-
10. This doctrine is a mystery, as are all the sacred dogmas of
the Faith. This means that it cannot be fully understood, nor adequately
explained. As with other dogmas, were this truth self-evident, or
provable, or comprehensible, there would be little reason for the
Church to define it.

11. The negative tenor of these definitions is to warn that any
word, or artifice, or attentuation, which relieves every individual of
the human race from the obligation of joining the Roman Catholic
Church is condemned as contrary to divine prescription.

12. Let the reader accept the reasonable fact that the Pontiffs
who pronounced these decrees were perfectly literate and fully
cognizant of what they were saying. If there were any need to soften
or qualify their meanings, they were quite capable of doing so. They
were not regarded as heretics or fanatics at the time of their pronouncements,
and have never been labelled such by the Church to this very
day. It is an easy thing for the people of this "enlightened' age to fall
into the modern delusion that the men of former times, especially
those of the Middle Ages, were not as bright as we are, so that they
sometimes said they knew not what.

13. The dates of these definitions are extremely important. They
mark the time when the Church terminated speculation and discussion
among theologians on the subject of the conditions of salvation. All
writings on this subject, therefore, which predate these definitions
have value only in so far as they corroborate these definitions.

14. The Doctrine of Exclusive Salvation is described as fundamental
or "foundational" to Catholic theology. It is called the
"Dogma of Faith," because, of a truth, unless a person accepts it in all
its momentous absoluteness, he really does not accept the Catholic
Faith, howsoever he protests that he does. Conversely, he who dilutes
this doctrine to any degree, so radically distorts the Faith that he
renders it null and void, and his own faith in the bargain. For he who
denies this doctrine makes Catholicity hardly more than a nicety, as if
membership in the Church were like the first-class compartment on a
commercial airliner, in which the majority of others will arrive at the
same destination, really none the worse for their second-class
transport.

15. Almost everybody who writes or comments on this subject
explains the doctrine by explaining it away, as we shall see further on.
He begins by affirming the truth of the axiom, Extra Ecciesiam, etc.,
and ends by denying it-while continuing to insist vigorously that he
is not doing so. He seems to think it a clever thing to state the formula,
then to weasel out of it. What he ought to do is one of two
things: either admit that he does not believe this dogma (and also in
the same breath, that he does not believe in the Dogma of the
Church's Infallibility); or he should allow for the possibility that there
is something about the Catholic Doctrine of Salvation of which he is
unaware, or which he refuses to accept, or has been misled into denying.

16. The doctrine determines who has good will and who has bad
will. Those who have bad will are in the state of sin. In rejecting of
God's accredited word and work, they reveal their true selves: They
choose not to be among those of whom Christ spoke when he said: "I
know mine, and mine know me." (Jn. 10:14). When it is responded
that certain individuals do not know that what they are hearing is
God's word, the reply is: What is being said demands that careful
inquiry be made. If the inquiry is made with the disposition of
humility, integrity, and courage, the inquirer will find that the word
cannot be denied. No argument or evidence has ever been discovered
which will leave the honest man free of the revealed word's imperative

17. It important that the reader who thinks he disagrees with the
literal reading of these decrees not throw his hands up in indignation
and put this book aside with the exclamation of "Heresy!" It should be
obvious that the reason Catholics, himself included, regard heresy
with such horror and alarm is this very doctrine. For if there is salvation
outside the Church, what difference does it make whether one is
in the Church or out of it, whether one is a heretic in the judgment of
the Church or not? Really, if to deny this doctrine is not heresy, there
is no such thing as heresy, and it would have been pointless, as well
as illogical, for the Church to attach such severe censures to the denial
of this or any other doctrine.

18. This doctrine is the basis for the labors of all who seek to
maintain and restore traditional Catholicity, though most of those who
are engaged in this struggle have yet to realize the fact. Without this
doctrine, assented to absolutely, Traditionalists have no cause and no
argument against the current "reform" in the Church, as it is called.

19. From this point on, instead of protesting either internally or
audibly against a position which seems altogether rash, callous,
and/or indefensible, let the reader quietly and humbly submit his mind
to the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth. (Jn. 14:17). Let him be convinced
that the language used does not imply a personal attack upon
him, but is for the glory of this holy doctrine, and in opposition to the
heresy which denies it.

20. Since we hold the Doctrine of Exclusive Salvation, we hold
all modifications, qualifications, attenuations, and denials of it to be
heresy, and those who defend these positions to be material heretics at
least. It is contrary to Catholic tradition to treat heresy amicably, or
heretics as brothers in Christ, but rather, as His enemies. If in places
the language of this writing seem acidic, it is so in order to brace
dissenters with their true standing with respect to Christ, Who is the
Truth.

21. The effort herein will be to affirm the eminent and radical
objectivity of the Catholic Faith. Every dogma is a statement by the
Church of a rock-like truth which is immovable and immutable. It is
in no way subject to human plebiscite, and, like God Himself, about
Whom it speaks, must be recognized as greater than man, because it is
true.

22. Contrariwise, every heresy is the denial of a divinelyrevealed
truth, the denial of a divine act and dispensation. And, as
such, it is the denial of a supernatural mystery and concrete reality. It
is, in other words, a non-reality, a nothing presented as a reality. And
being a nothing, it can effect nothing. And regardless of the fervor, or
sincerity, or joyful assurance of those who are deluded by it, it can do
nothing for them. There is no power in a negation of reality, there
is no substance in error. If the reader bears this truism in mind while
reading the pages that follow, he will find them more digestible.

23. Let all know that they have no choice but to accept this
doctrine-if they would be saved. We are not proposing a theory here,
or a merely stricter interpretation. This matter is already closed, and
the author has the obligation of propounding it for no other reason
than that it is Catholic truth.

24. The fact that this all-important doctrine is unknown, or
misunderstood, or misinterpreted, by most Catholics points up the
need that all have to re-learn the truth that Catholicity is an objective
religion, whereas Protestantism (to say nothing of other "religions') is
for the most part subjective; and the tenets of Humanism which
underlie the Liberalism of Conciliar Catholics are totally subjective.
When we say that our religion is objective-something that should
not have to be said, and must be said simply because the thinking of
most believers is woefully twisted-we mean that, with respect to
religion in general, and the matter of salvation of souls in particular,
there is an objective truth about these matters which is perfectly
knowable, but not subject to human opinion or sentiment. All is
governed by what God has established, and that is all there is to it. As
Fr. Denis Fahey said, "To the Divine Plan for order there neither is
nor can be any man-made alternative. Man has not even got the right
to propose an alternative. His duty is simply to try to grasp what God
has instituted and bow down his head in humble acceptance."

25. This dogma rules out the possibility of simple invincible
ignorance concerning the matter of salvation; those who die in
ignorance of the Church as the only course of salvific grace must be
adjudged to have been culpably so. In a word, they did not know
because they did not want to know. (A discussion of invincible
ignorance will come in due course.)

26. As far as the reader may think us to be from Catholic truth
on account of our uncompromisingness concerning this doctrine is he
himself for want of it. If he judges us to be in heresy, and for that very
reason to some degree estranged from the Church, this writing will
seek to convince him that to that very degree is he. This means that he
must prepare to re-think and even to re-learn his Faith in the light of
this holy doctrine.


Having said these things, this writer's task, in one respect, is
completed, even though, obviously, there are many pages to follow;
that is, no matter how poorly he deals with the objections to this
dogma hereafter, and no matter whether he contributes anything to its
elucidation, its truth will remain unimpaired, and a major part of the
thesis of the book has been established. In other words, he delights in
his assignment of betting on a sure winner.



Taken from the book:
Who Shall Ascend?
by Fr. James Wathen

You've got Wathan, the Dimonds and Feeney, I got Aquinas, Bellarmine and Alphonsus.  I'm feeling pretty good right now.  

Quote from: Stubborn

Quote from: Lover of Truth

You've got Wathan, the Dimonds and Feeney, I got Aquinas, Bellarmine and Alphonsus.  I'm feeling pretty good right now.  With all due respect to Father Wathan.  

This amounts to invoking the saints in behalf of one' s errors.

This amounts to calling the Saints erroneous in order to support your errors.

Because you are the final arbiter of all doctrinal questions, and you disguise this arrogation of doctrinal authority by referring all of your inventions to the Church, as though you had been taught them by her. But you weren't. If you were taught them by anybody, it was a Feeneyite. This is a matter of historical fact which you seem uanble to face.

Your arrogance is without peer. The theologians - ALL OF THEM - failed to see your difficulty, so in your mind this is because they didn't understand various dogmas. You, of course, understand all these matters. We all ought logically therefore to put aside St. Thomas and St. Alphonsus and Billot and Van Noort and all those other non-infallible teachers, and sit at your feet. That is the only logical conclusion to your insane position.

Yes, those poor schools full of theologians, approved by the Church and the princes of which were named as Doctors of the Universal Church - they were either stupid or blinded by their sins. Unlike you, apparently.

Don't say a word about how ugly these comments are - they are a pure reflection of your own, with the mask ripped off.

Actually, some of us are saying that we trust not in ourselves, but, in the Divine law of the Church which is the direct expression of Christ's will, and we do not err, in placing that above the opinions of men, even those who have been declared Saints.

You've got Wathan, the Dimonds and Feeney, I got Aquinas, Bellarmine and Alphonsus.  I'm feeling pretty good right now.  With all due respect to Father Wathan.  

Quote from: Lover of Truth

You've got Wathan, the Dimonds and Feeney, I got Aquinas, Bellarmine and Alphonsus.  I'm feeling pretty good right now.  With all due respect to Father Wathan.