Salvation
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[edit] Etymology
Salvation is a 13th century English word c.1225, originally contributed to the
[edit] Soteriology
Soteriology is the study of salvation. Soter, meaning savior, and logos meaning word, reason or principle. Many religions give emphasis to salvation of one form or another, and as such have their own soteriologies. Some soteriologies are primarily concerned with relationships to, or unity with, gods; others more strongly emphasize cultivation of knowledge or virtue. Soteriologies also differ in what sort of salvation they promise.
[edit] Soteriologies
Christian soteriology focuses on how people can take advantage of the Christ event. Islamic soteriology focuses on how humans can repent of and atone for their sins so as not to occupy a state of loss. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God, meant to bring one in union with God. Hinduism, which teaches that we are caught in a cycle of death and rebirth called samsara, contains a slightly different sort of soteriology devoted to the attainment of moksha, meaning liberation. For some this liberation is also seen as a state of closeness to Brahman. Jainism emphasizes penance and asceticism meant to lead to a liberation and ascendance of the soul. Buddhism is in a real sense devoted primarily to soteriology (as Buddha famously said, "I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering"); the essentials of the Buddha's soteriology are given in the Four Noble Truths, and his method for attaining liberation from suffering is given in the Noble Eightfold Path. Epicureanism is primarily concerned with temperance and simple life as a means to the absence of pain or freedom from anxiety (αταραξία) and Stoicism is concerned with the cultivation of virtues such as fortitude and detachment to improve spiritual well-being. Shinto and Tenrikyo similarly emphasize working for a good life by cultivating virtue or virtuous behavior, and many practitioners of Judaism also emphasize morality in this life over concern with the afterlife.
[edit] Catholicism
Catholics believe[1] "Man stands in need of salvation from God,"[2] and "Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him and the grace that sustains him."[3] It was for our salvation that "God loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins; the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world, and he was revealed to take away sins."[4] "By his death (Jesus, the Son of God) has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation to all men."[5]
Jesus has provided the Church with "the fullness of the means of salvation which [the Father] has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession"[6]. Baptism is necessary for salvation.[7] And the
However, because of the freedom with which he is endowed, man can refuse God's offer of salvation in Christ, what the
The Catholic Church thus teaches that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people, and that God grants it as a free gift, a grace, through the sacrifice of Christ. Man cannot, in the strict sense, merit anything from God.[12] It is God who justifies, that is, who frees from sin by a free gift of holiness (sanctifying grace, also known as habitual or deifying grace). Man can accept the gift God gives. Man can also refuse the gift. Human cooperation is needed, in line with a new capacity to adhere to the divine will that God provides.[13] The faith of a Christian is not without works, otherwise it would be dead.[14] In this sense, "by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone,"[15] and eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for good works and merits.[16] Faith, and subsequently works, are a result of God's grace - thus, it is only because of grace that the believer can be said to "merit" salvation.
The Catholic Church teaches that through the graces Jesus won for humanity by sacrificing himself on the cross, salvation is possible even for those outside the visible boundaries of the Church. Christians and even non-Christians, if in life they respond positively to the grace and truth that God reveals to them through the mercy of Christ may be saved. This may include awareness of an obligation to become part of the Catholic Church. In such cases, "they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it."[17]
[edit] The Catholic Church, the Bible and tradition
The
[edit] Protestants
Protestants, in response to perceived contradictions between the traditions of the Catholic Church and the Bible, have for the most part become entirely book-based denominations, many subscribing to the doctrine of "scripture alone" (
[edit] Protestants and Sola scriptura
The
[edit] Salvation, Sola scriptura, Sola fide and Sola gratia
Some Protestants hold to a similar Catholic “faith plus works” salvation theology. Others believe that the Bible proclaims a rigidly "faith-alone" (
[edit] New Testament passages
- Belief in Jesus: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (
- God's love: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) "God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved)." (Ephesians 2:4-5) "When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared ..." (Titus 3:4)
- Sin separates mankind from God. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23) "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)
- God gives eternal life because Jesus Christ atoned for our sin: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
- Saved (from sin) by our own forgiveness of others: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
- Confession and believing: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." — "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10) "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
- Saved at Baptism: "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 3:20-21; "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:" (Romans 6:3-5)
- Saved by God's grace: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- Saved by Works: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." (James 2:24), see also
- Judged by Works: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." (Revelations 20:12-13). All Protestants do not agree with this type of interpretation of this verse. Some believe there will be the judgment all unsaved people go through called the "white throne judgment" (Revelation 20:10-15), but for all those who are saved they will appear before the “judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). In that judgment, believers will get rewards based on what they have done, whether they are good or bad. If they are not saved, Christ will proclaim,"Depart from me, I never knew ye," and they will be thrown into hell. They do not believe eternal life is a reward that is going to be given out in consequence of works done. Others understand it in the same way as the "Saved by Works" verses, in the sense that those who will not have done good proved they were not saved, because their works did not correspond to their 'saved' status. See also Romans 2:6.
- Salvation as already achieved: "When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love towards man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).
- Salvation as an on-going process: "To us who are being saved, (the word of the cross) is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). The original text of this passage in Greek has present-tense σῳζομένοις (being saved), not perfect-tense σεσῳσμένοις (having been saved) or past-tense (aorist-tense) σῳθεῖσιν (saved); ambiguous translations such as "us which are saved" (KJV) cover up this fact.
- Salvation as yet to be obtained: "Since, therefore, we are now justified by (Christ's) blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Romans 5:9).
[edit] Other passages
The book of
There are some verses which use salvation outside of faith in Jesus Christ and the works of man. These passages are considered examples that refute sola fide but have a meaningful context in God's relationship with mankind.
- 1Ti 2:15
- Yet she shall be saved through child bearing; if she continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
[edit] Arminianism
Like Calvinists, Arminians agree that individuals are born sinners and in need of salvation. They also agree that one is saved by accepting Jesus Christ's gift of salvation. However, they argue that the believer has free will and that one can lose one's salvation if one does not maintain it by continued faith in Jesus. Arminians distinguish between loss of faith and sin and believe that sin alone cannot result in the loss of salvation. However, John Wesley taught that that continued backsliding could inevitably lead to loss of faith, and consequently salvation, if left uncorrected.
Arminian belief suggests an emphasis on maintaining faith by outward signs such as through communion with fellow believers. In that sense, it is similar to Catholicism in that Catholics do not overtly recognize the salvation of any who are not in communion with the Catholic Church. Arminianism may lend respectability to faithful churchgoers who have not accepted salvation while disparaging some who have but who have "lost their faith" by disagreeing with church leadership.
The Arminian emphasis of free will, or more properly, free choice is important in salvation. If one has free choice, it is important for each individual to choose to accept the gift of salvation. The fact that an individual is baptized or associates with saved people does not mean that he has accepted salvation. Calvin wrote of predestination as though some groups were predestined to be saved while others were not. Such belief implies that being part of an allegedly predestined group saves one.
Free choice is also an important Protestant concept in establishing the authority of the believer. It allows one to decide on one's own what the Scriptures say. One does not have to accept what the Pope or Calvin or another church authority says.
[edit] Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity was much less influenced by Augustine, and even less so by either Calvin or
The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church, known also as The Catechism of St. Philaret [5] includes the questions and answers: "155. To save men from what did (the Son of God) come upon earth? From sin, the curse, and death." "208. How does the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross deliver us from sin, the curse, and death? That we may the more readily believe this mystery, the Word of God teaches us of it, so much as we may be able to receive, by the comparison of Jesus Christ with Adam. Adam is by nature the head of all mankind, which is one with him by natural descent from him. Jesus Christ, in whom the Godhead is united with manhood, graciously made himself the new almighty Head of men, whom he unites to himself through faith. Therefore as in Adam we had fallen under sin, the curse, and death, so we are delivered from sin, the curse, and death in Jesus Christ. His voluntary suffering and death on the cross for us, being of infinite value and merit, as the death of one sinless, God and man in one person, is both a perfect satisfaction to the justice of God, which had condemned us for sin to death, and a fund of infinite merit, which has obtained him the right, without prejudice to justice, to give us sinners pardon of our sins, and grace to have victory over sin and death."
[edit] Christian Science and Salvation
The Christian Science textbook defines "Salvation" as follows: "Life, Truth and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed." (
[edit] New Church
In the
"He who would be saved, must confess his sins, and do repentance. To confess sins is to know evils, to see them in oneself, to acknowledge them, to make oneself guilty and condemn oneself on account of them. Done before God, this is to confess sins. To do
[edit] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Joseph Smith describes a vision of the degrees of glory in Doctrine and Covenants 76, wherein he sees that those who have done good works, comprising many of mankind who lay claim to the mercy of Jesus Christ, will receive higher glories in eternity than those who committed murder or did not repent of other major sins during this life. This latter group will suffer anguish and torment because they did not avail themselves of Christ's atonement, but they will eventually be redeemed from the torment of hell after they fully repent and call upon Christ to save them; yet, such salvation is to a lesser glory than they might otherwise have received, comparative to the brightness of stars versus the brightness of the moon or of the sun. (D & C 76:71-112)
[edit] Judaism
The Christian concept of salvation is not a Jewish concept, as it implies that people are born condemned (
Some
See also Jewish Encyclopedia: Salvation,
[edit] Islam
In Islam, the concept of salvation is fairly simple. Islam holds every human responsible for his own deeds.
Quran gives the purpose of creation as:
"Blessed is He (Allah) in Whose hand is the Sovereignty, and He is Able to do all things. Who hath created life and death that He may try you, which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, Forgiving." (67: 1-2)
Quran declares salvation in the obedience of the contemporary prophet. Islam completes the concept of creation of life and death by the concept of final judgement. According to Islam the deeds of every human being are recorded and will be weighed on day of judgement for compliance with the will of Allah.
"...Those who obey Allah and His Apostle will be admitted to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath to abide therein (for ever) and that will be the Supreme achievement. But those who disobey Allah and His Apostle and transgress His limits will be admitted to a fire to abide therein: and they shall have a humiliating punishment." (4:13-14)
Quran further says that prophets (including Abraham and Jesus) have nothing to do with what other human beings do except that they were messengers of Allah:
"Those are a people who have passed away; theirs is that which they earned and yours that which ye earn. And ye will not be asked of what they used to do." (2:141)
[edit] Eastern Religions
Adherents of Hinduism,
Eventually, however, one is able to escape from the cycle of death and rebirth and achieve salvation through the attainment of the highest spiritual state. This state is called
[edit] Hinduism
Salvation is the
- In
- In
In Hinduism,
[edit] Buddhism
The
[edit] Redemption
- For other uses of the word, see Redemption
Redemption is a religious concept referring to forgiveness or
[edit] See also
- Atonement
- Sin
- Compare:
[edit] External links
- Doctrine of Salvation (A soteriological studies course featuring audio and video from an Evangelical perspective)
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Jewish encyclopedia: Salvation
- "Salvation by Faith" by
- "The Scripture Way to Salvation", a sermon by
- "God's Plan of Salvation" (conservative Evangelical perspective)
- Theopedia: Salvation (Protestant Christian - conservative
- "Salvation: How do I get to Heaven?" (The Christian Gospel from a
- God's Plan of Salvation (Protestant Christian)
- Everlasting Life Assurance Policy PDF