Salvation Outside the Church

navigating heaven

“There is no salvation outside the church”

What a frightful assertion. You have probably heard it, but do you know where it comes from? This maxim, as best we know, originates with St. Cyprian of Alexandria, who wrote in a letter that “not even the baptism of a public confession and blood can profit a heretic to salvation, because there is no salvation outside the Church.”

The heretics St. Cyprian is talking about here have made “a false confession of Christ,” that is, they have claimed the title of “Christian” but are affirming doctrines and practices that are distinctly not Christian. Perhaps, like the Albigensians, they drank powdered glass as a form of slow suicide in the name of Christ, or perhaps, like the Donatists, they held that sacraments get their power from human beings (and therefore can be easily invalidated) rather than by Christ (and therefore can never be invalidated).  These are not Christian things to do. You cannot commit suicide “for Christ” because Christ does not want you to kill yourself. You cannot deny the validity of a sacrament “in the name of Christ” because all Christ’s sacraments are valid.

St. Cyprian’s assertion, however, has been repeated and re-used in a variety of contexts, applied not just to obvious Christian heretics but also to atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Protestants, and just about anybody else. But what does the Church really teach? And what does that mean for my atheist best friend or the nice Muslim woman who chats with me about my pregnancy every week or my non-denominational, non-practicing, sorta-Christian father?

The answer I usually give to people (my students, strangers on the metro, acquaintances at cocktail parties) is a good phrase to remember and a geographical metaphor.

Here’s the phrase: The sacraments are tied to salvation; salvation is not tied to the sacraments.

In other words, participation in the sacramental life of the most holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church leads directly to salvation. If you are baptized and confirmed, if you die moments after receiving absolution in the sacrament of penance, with the taste of the Eucharist still on your lips and a lifetime of vocational practice behind you, you’re pretty much going to heaven. You might have to take some time in purgatory along the way, but you are going to heaven. Jesus said “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5)—the most obvious interpretation of this is that you have to be baptized in order to go to Heaven.

God, however, does not limit God’s own power to save. The Church knows that God offers salvation through the sacraments, but she is not so presumptuous as to think God is limited by the sacraments as the only means of salvation. God can arrange for any human being to be “born of water and the Spirit” in any way God pleases. Does that make sense? Perhaps in the midst of quiet meditation and the trials of seeking nirvana God reaches into the soul of a Buddhist and draws him into the “brilliant darkness”  that is God rather than the emptiness which he sought. If God wants to grant salvation to someone, and if that someone is open to salvation, the absence of baptism is not going to result in damnation.

Here’s the metaphor: If you want to drive from D.C. to Philadelphia, you can take I-95 the whole way. There might be traffic, your car might break down, but you will get there. Even if you get out of your car and walk part of the way, I-95 will take you to Philadelphia. Always, every time, just stay on that highway. The Catholic Church is like I-95 going from Earth to Heaven. As long as you stick to the road and follow the signs, you will get to Heaven. It might take a long, long time, it might be hard or boring or annoying, you might have arguments with the people you are carpooling with, but you will get there. Other Christian denominations and non-Christian faiths are like the other routes to Philadelphia.

Most other Christian churches are like Route 1, which runs parallel to I-95 but also takes you through some pretty sketchy parts of Baltimore and can be tricky to navigate. There are lots of ways to get from D.C. to Philadelphia which do not include Route 1 or I-95, too. You could go to Detroit first and then Philadelphia, or take all back roads, or turn off your GPS and try to navigate by the sun. These are the other religions, which provide more opportunities to get lost or side tracked but which still might eventually lead to Heaven. Taking I-95 (obedience to and conformity with the Catholic Church) will definitely get you to Philadelphia (note: it is NOT I-95’s fault if you pull over at a fast food place and never get back on the road, or if you just stop part way there and refuse to keep going, or if you purposely make a U-turn and go the other way).

I-95, however, does not pretend to be the only road to Philadelphia, and the Catholic Church does not pretend to be the only road to Heaven, just the most direct, clearly-marked, guaranteed road.

My best friend, the nice Muslim woman, and my father are all on their way to Heaven via various routes, and I hope they get there, just like I hope I don’t do anything stupid like stop for gas and never finish the journey. Ultimately salvation is offered to the individual human person who cooperates with God’s will, and you do not have to be non-Catholic to be uncooperative. If you do believe in the Catholic Church and her Triune God and you choose not to follow the Church’s teachings, you are not on any road, not on I-95 or Route 1 or anything else toward Heaven, you have specifically chosen to avoid salvation. This is not the same as being atheist or Muslim or non-denominational non-practicing Christian, this is maliciously choosing against God.


For a more scholarly formulation of my phrase and metaphor, check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church 846-848, Nostra Aetate (all), and Lumen Gentium 14.

Siobhan Benitez

Siobhan Benitez

After growing up near Kennett Square, PA, the Mushroom Capitol of the World, Siobhan knew she would always live in a bustling capitol city. She earned a B.A. in Theology, History, and Classics at Mount St. Mary's University and an M.A. in Theology (specializing in Systematics) at Villanova University. Now she lives in Washington, D.C. with her wonderful husband where she is still getting used to living with a boy, right down to playing video games and watching football. When she's not hanging out with him or reading novels, she uses her spare time to earn a PhD in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America.

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40 thoughts on “Salvation Outside the Church”

  1. Lest you be assailed by any people who can recite the Council of Florence on this, the people who are saved outside I-95 nevertheless are saved through the treasury of graces contained within I-95 because Christ works with His Bride to save even those on Rt.1. not always through her sacraments but through Her store of graces. Justin Martyr saw any pre Christ Gentiles who strictly followed rationality and conscience as implicitly following Christ without knowing it…ergo Karl Rahner probably knew the passage in the Apology, Bk. one. Also, fatal crashes of the soul are more likely in various other highways to Philly…..some more, some less dangerous. Evangelicals vote better than Catholics against pro choice candidates and Amish in PA probably have a far better record against real divorce ( not including real annullment cases) than Catholics do. That’s kind of like Christ finding at His time that the heretical Samaritans often had superior behaviour to that of His own people ( not always…those in Luke 9 were inhospitable to Him since He was in transit to Jerusalem).

  2. I would stick to the explanation from the Catechism. There is a reason Catholic churches are churches and other denominations are called ecclesial communities.

  3. Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus is a dogma of the Catholic Church, which means has been revealed by God and therefore is an Eternal Truth which nobody has the power to change or alter, not even the Pope himself. To deny a dogma you imperil your soul, heaven is no longer the final reward. This dogma is very hard for many Catholics to believe. However it does not change the fact extra ecclesiam nullus omnino salvatur, Outside of the Church there is positively no Salvation!!

    1. Yes, but we must be clear on what the phrase means.

      “The only seemingly objectionable doctrinal development was Pope Boniface VIII’s declaration, ‘Outside of the Church, there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins’, but even this originates with St. Cyprian! The teaching relates to: 1) the fact that baptism (whether by water, blood, or desire) brings one into the Church (even if done within a Protestant community), because the sacrament was entrusted to Her and She allows anyone with the right intent to perform it, and 2) the importance of conscience and the dangers of apostasy. Nothing worthy of damnation here!”

      http://answeringprotestants.com/2014/01/27/when-was-it/

  4. ” If you do believe in the Catholic Church and her Triune God and you choose not to follow the Church’s teachings, you are not on any road..”

    Impossible. But the rest is right on.

    1. Demons believe in the Catholic Church and her Triune God. They just choose rebellion against Him and warfare against her.

      And any faith without works (including the “work” of persevering in belief, the work of forgiving those who have trespassed against oneself, and the work of eliminating all idolatries from one’s soul and habits until one truly loves God with one’s mind and emotions and muscles and intentions over all creatures) is a “dead” faith, such as the demons have (according to St. James).

      So, I think you’re a mite too quick to say “impossible” in this case. I think it’s not only possible, but even a serious concern mentioned in a New Testament epistle.

  5. Pingback: Extra Ecclesiam Nullus Omnino Salvatur! | Catholic4Life

  6. I like the logic presented here. Especially the obvious wisdom of the statement “God does not, however, limit God’s own power to save”. Of course you will get commenters here that will not agree with this (will not let God out of the box where they have Him safely secured, defined and held responsible for….). But, I like this and I’m most often not that easy to please.

  7. Nannon would rather the Church had defined “Without the Church there is no salvation,” which is a truism, if the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. However, the infallible magisterium of the Church has defined three times that “There is no salvation OUTSIDE the Church” If the Church wanted to use the Latin word “sine” instead of “extra” it would have. Sorry if I am assailing anyone but Saint Justin the Martyr was speaking about gentiles of the Old Testament who could (and some did) believe in the one true God. Some of them were called “pagans” meaning “outside the empire” beyond the frontier. Saint Justin was not speaking of idolaters, but believers, like Job and other just who were not Jewish. No saint ever held a non-Catholic could be saved who rejected the Catholic Faith. Moslems and Jews must become Catholic to be saved, so, too, Buddhists, Hindus, and every other non-Catholic. That is the Faith that the doctors and all the saints held and taught. Comparing a naturally virtuous Protestant to a bad Catholic begs the question; it is the fallacy of arguing outside the point and around it, and drawing a false or invalid conclusion. The author of this piece, Siobhan Benitez, bases her view on the opinion that God is not bound by the sacraments. This is, of course, true, when it comes to the justification of a true believer prior to baptism. But to be justified one must believe in Christ, after the time of Pentecost, so teaches Trent and, it is clear in Saint Paul, and many other places in the gospels and epistles. But, with Baptism, God has BOUND HIMSELF to HIS WORD, for salvation (John 3:5) Does a Catholic who does not challenge friends and close relatives to become Catholic in which Church there is salvation, really love them as Christ intends his faithful to love. Jesus disturbed consciences, so did His Precursor. We are commanded with the apostles to teach the Faith. That includes disturbing consciences, always with prudence and charity, and good example. The truth must be heard: “Faith cometh by hearing;” giving good example is also necessary.

    1. Brain Kelly,
      You’re breathtakingly confident about St. Justin Martyr but incorrect.

      Here are your words: ” Sorry if I am assailing anyone but Saint Justin the Martyr was speaking about gentiles of the Old Testament who could (and some did) believe in the one true God. Some of them were called “pagans” meaning “outside the empire” beyond the frontier. Saint Justin was not speaking of idolaters, but believers, like Job and other just who were not Jewish.”

      You could have at least read Justin Martyr prior to speaking on his behalf.

      St. Justin Martyr Apology Book 1, chapter 46
      “we have declared above that He is the Word of whom every race of men were partakers; and those who lived reasonably are Christians, even though they have been thought atheists; as, among the Greeks, Socrates and Heraclitus, and men like them.”

  8. Ah, the classic question, will many be saved,or few? The words of Jesus Christ (and his Apostles) are pretty clear on this point. Just a few examples:

    MK 16:16: “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”

    MT 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

    MT 10:32-33: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”

    God is a strange combination of justice/judgment and mercy/forgiveness. The thing is, we can have confidence that the Chuch established by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit provides a sure path to salvation. As to those outside the Church, all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say “Who knows? Anything is possible for God.” And pray for them. I tend to think few outside the Church will be saved and that many within it will be lost as well. But it is a mystery; I don’t think we will ever reason our way to a definitive answer.

    1. ” I tend to think few outside the Church will be saved and that many within it will be lost as well.”
      One can only hope, Don.

      1. Or one can read the Holy Spirit in Revelation 7:9….

        ” After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hand.”

        which no man could number

      2. I just finished a study of Revelation. I don’t see how anyone could read it and walk away with a Universalist or semi-Universalist view. There is a lot of judgment in that book. A lot. And a lake of eternal fire, into which souls will be thrown who’s names are not written in the book of life. It’s pretty scary stuff. But yes, Rev. 7:9 is one of the most hopeful passages in the entire Bible.

      3. I think as Christ says that many will seek to enter and will not be able. But many and majority are not identical. Notice other percents from Christ Himself which means the broad road/ narrow road could have been hyperbolic rather than empirical. In the ten virgins parable which is about judgement, 5 are saved and five are lost. That’s fifty fifty. No one mentions it. In the parable of the wedding feast, only one man of the replacement group is thrown out for not having a wedding garment. Now the damned are fifty percent plus one….those killed plus only one man from the replacement group. Could it be that Christ was ćhanging percents for a reason….so as to tell us that many will perish but the percent is not our business and we can save many of our generation by intercession made valuable by morality at work and elsewhere. I’m morally certain many criminals throughout history who died trying to kill law enforcement are in hell….but it’s not my business who in particular. Is everyone in the Mexican cartels glory bound? I think not but which of them repent in their final seconds and which don’t is closed off to me and to all men. I know Judas is in hell as is Jezebel and Herod Agrippa for biblical reasons that I think the last two Popes missed when they said we can’t be sure…ditto for von Balthsar and Rahner. Christ used past tense prophecy about Judas perishing prior….prior to Judas sinning and Justin Martyr noted that past tense prophecy is unconditional and certain unlike future tense prophecy…ie Jonah about Nineveh.

      4. If we want animists, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims to be saved, we have to pray for them, fast for them, do penance for them, preach to them. In short evangelize them.
        We have to do our part and then God will do his. What we cannot do is sit around and say everybody is okay because God’s mercy is infinite.
        cf http://prophetamos3m.com/2.html

      5. The Christian faith is unique. Without the daily prayers of so many faithful Catholics life on this earth would have been “short, nasty and brutish” not to talk of life in the here-after.
        Lets get up folks and fulfill the Great Commission.

      6. If a person does not have to repent and believe in the gospel to be saved then there is no Great Commission to fulfill.

  9. nannon, Thank you for posting the quote from Justin Martyr. I am quite familiar with it and my statement stands. Socrates was accused of being an “Atheist” because he did not believe in the pagan gods, not because he did not believe in one God. Justin says as you quote “they have been thought atheists.” The Word of God (Logos) “enlighteneth every man that comes into the world, in every age. Therefore, does Justin call the just prior to Christ “Christians” if they cooperated with the Light and rejected idolatry and lived by the natural law. No other saint used this language, but I accept that it is “Catholic” in the sense that all truth, in any age, comes from God. Religious truth preeminently as an actual grace, without the revealed word of scripture.

  10. How can your statement “These are the other religions, which provide more opportunities to get lost or side tracked but which still might eventually lead to Heaven” be true in light of Matt 7:13-14: 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

    Those who do not believe in Christ are on the broad road to destruction.

    Where did Jesus or His apostles mention a sacrament?

    1. Where did Jesus or the apostles use the word “Trinity”? He and they didn’t….but the reality of the Trinity is implied in passages that don’t use the word “Trinity”. And no…I won’t be recounting explanations you can readily find in books or courses on the sacraments were you deeply serious.

      1. So we agree that there is no such thing as a sacrament i.e. “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.”? In other words we don’t see Jesus or any of the apostles teaching this kind of thing.

      2. ” Well the danger on the rocks has surely past,
        Still I remain tied to the mast,
        Could it be that I have found my home at last,
        Home at last….”
        Steely Dan/ Aja/ Home At Last

  11. it seems so simple, but what of St. Faustina who spoke of a prayer she made to God in which she asks: Jesus I beg you, by the inconceivable power of YOur mercy, that all the souls who will die today escape the fire of hell, even if they have been the greatest of sinners.
    To this prayer Christ responds: …I will do what you ask, but unite yourself continually with My justice… (Divine Mercy in My Soul, par. 873)
    absolutely no one is bound to accept what the good saint wrote, but what if what she wrote is true and salvation and your prayers and my prayers matter even for the souls of the most wicked.
    What if God isn’t bound by time and in the moment of death in what feels like an instant to you and me, Christ offers the atheist, muslim, hindu, or baptist one more chance, and what if they, seeing Truth accept with all their heart, just like the thief on the cross. they have been saved through the Church, for it is no doubt that it is the prayers of the Church and her saints that allowed for Christ’s interaction to occur in the moment before their death.
    I would never be so hateful to assume what i have written above occurs for every soul, for to do so would be gravely evil. i must pray pray pray and plead with God for his mercy on the souls of those i love, those who are lost, those i dislike, and even a drop for my own wretched self.
    Phillip

      1. It’s interesting you should mention that, remember that St. Faustina asked especially that the greatest of sinners be included; furthermore, in light of the article, there were people who died that day who weren’t Catholic. In the past i’ve actually done google searches to see who died that day, January 8th 1937, just to see the people, that if I persevere by God’s unfathomable Divine Mercy, I’ll meet in heaven. Again, no one has to believe in St. Faustina’s visions, but, I do. Just think the American financier Charles Hayden, two victims of a car crash in Seattle Leo Bow and W.A. Court, the composer Felix Korling, frank duarte and joe joven were both executed that day. the point is that it’s a ineffable miracle, but we have to think like saints, we have to hunger for souls to be covered under the mercy of God, not heretically in a universalist way, but with the sweat and blood of our prayers and the prayers of the saints. peace.
        Phillip McWethy

      2. These are difficult things to understand. Even Jesus could not save Judas (assuming he is damned). We are told that God does not violate free will. Many factors to consider which are just not accessible to us, and I don’t like to speculate much.

        We should do all we can for ourselves and for others with regards to salvation and speculate less. By the way I am really confused about this newly spreading movement where so called “Catholics” believe that all or nearly all are saved. When and how did this idea start, and how could it get any traction at all?

      3. you couldn’t have said it better, it is a mystery, difficult to understand for sure. There is no question that hell is very real and very terrible and that from the moment of our birth it is a real possibility for every one of us, and there is no heresy more dangerous than that which would lull people into believing that hell isn’t a possibility for them, but it is with that awful reality in mind that the mercy of God becomes so thrillingly apparent. I have spent much time contemplating the prayer of St Faustina and especially the vision I referenced above because hell IS SO REAL. Because hell is such a possibility the mercy displayed on the Cross, throughout Church history, the day of my baptism and yours, and on 1/8/1937 is just awe inspiring. If heaven were just the end of the road for everyone because God just couldn’t be that mean, then it don’t mean much does it, but I would ask you to consider this, what if its nearly impossible to get to heaven, which we know it is from the words of Christ himself, but what if heaven is absolutely filled to the brim with the vast majority of humans, then the ony answer would be the ineffable, all powewrful, mercy and love of God.
        The greatest miracle ever was the death and resurrection of God, and that incredible miracle was needed because hell is our just deserts, but my friend it is possible that St. Augustine was right and our hearts are restless for God, so that even if we are the worst of sinners, which i am, ignoring God our whole life, when we are confronted by his mercy in that last moment, we see that to which our hearts have always hungered and plead for mercy just as the thief on the Cross did. Now with that said, how foolishly presumptive of us if we were to presume for ourselves the scenario i’ve just imagined; i certainly hope it is true for all, but I beg God to save me from presuming it would happen to me. Finally, i would ask that you notice i am saying we plead for mercy, not demand a right, I am a wretch and i deserve an eternity in hell, the only way that doesn’t happen is if Jesus Christ saves me every day through the end of my life, my argument to you is that if heaven is full it doesn’t mean that we don’t all deserve eternal damnation, but rather, it means we have an incredible Savior.
        Peace
        Phillip

      4. There is a new movement, particularly among American Catholics, where people don’t believe anyone will go to hell. I find American Catholics are very protestanized in their thinking and behavior. Isn’t this protestant belief once saved always saved?

  12. Hi Siobhan. I like your metaphor, but like any metaphor it eventually breaks down and can lead to heresy. Be sure to insert words that make it clear that those who come into the full knowledge of Christ and the Catholic Church, but STILL voluntarily, deliberately and willfully reject it do reserve their place in Hell. I might also make room in the metaphor to talk about Catholics who think they are on Route I-95, but are actually aren’t.

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