**Who goes to Heaven according to the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church?**
**Is the Catechism consistent and reliable?**

WHO WILL GO TO HEAVEN?

INTERNAL INCONSISTENCIES IN THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:

Exclusivism VS. Inclusivism/Pluralism/Universalism

Religious Exclusivism - doctrine or belief that only one particular religion or belief system is true

Religious Inclusivism - Jesus’ death also provide salvation for some who do not believe, salvation for people apart from conscious faith in Christ, but still only through Jesus; followers of other religions and even atheists can be saved by responding to God’s general revelation

Religious Pluralism - acceptance of the concept that two or more religions with mutually exclusive truth claims are equally valid

Religious Universalism - a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved

Religious Syncretism - blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system

Exclusivism - only one way, requires a response Is Jesus the only way? YES Do you have to respond? YES

Inclusivism - general revelation saves, must be sincere Is Jesus the only way? NO Do you have to respond? YES

Pluralism - many ways to God Is Jesus the only way? NO Do you have to respond? NO

Universalism – everyone is going to be saved Is Jesus the only way? NO Do you have to respond? NO

**Some Catholic claims to exclusivism in The Catechism of the Catholic Church:**

““The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter’s pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it. … This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.” (CCC 816)
“For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal hope toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained” (CCC 816)
“Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office…Hence the Church teaches that ‘the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ” (CCC 862)
“They could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse to enter it or to remain in it” (CCC 846)
“The second precept ‘You shall confess your sins at least once per year’ ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness” (CCC 2042)
“No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother” (CCC 181)
“Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God” (CCC 1445)
“For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal hope toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained” (CCC 816)
“It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” (CCC 95)
“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone”(CCC 85)
“the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. The Church is where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is ‘the world reconciled.’” (CCC 845)
MORAL EXCLUSIVISM vs. MORAL INCLUSIVISM: “to the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs” (CCC 2032)

**Some claims to inclusivism and pluralism in The Catechism of the Catholic Church:**

A Concerning Inconsistency within the CCC and with the Scripture…

PROTESTANTISM: “All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have the right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church” (CCC 818)
“Many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church…Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as a means of salvation” (CCC 819)
ISLAM: “The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. ‘The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.” (CCC 841)
OTHER RELIGIONS: “the Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for God who is unknown yet near…the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as a ‘preparation for the Gospel’” (CCC 843)
EVERYONE OUTSIDE CATHOLIC EXPOSURE:
“Those, who through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his church, but nonetheless seek God with a sincere heart, and moved by grace, try in their own actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation” (CCC 847)
“Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity” (CCC 1260)
“those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, can be saved even if they haven’t been baptized” (CCC 1280)