Catholic and Eastern Orthodox texts on the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation

 Catholic and Eastern Orthodox texts on the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation

By the end of the Middle Ages, it appears that the belief that baptism in this life in the 'right denomination' is absolutely essential to be saved in the Catholic Church.

In the texts of the Council of Florence (sources: https://www.catholic.com/qa/the-council-of-florence-on-hell , https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum17.htm )

“The souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go down straight away to hell to be punished, but with unequal pains” (Session 6 — July 6,1439).

“[The holy Roman church] firmly believes, professes, and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Catholic Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church”(Session 11 — Feb. 4, 1442)

So also, the earlier papal bull Unam Sanctam (source: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htmv ):

“This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven‘ etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302)

However, these statements aren't found only in the Roman Catholic documents, but also in an important text for the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Confession of Dositheus (source: https://www.crivoice.org/creeddositheus.html ):

"We believe Holy Baptism, which was instituted by the Lord, and is conferred in the name of the Holy Trinity, to be of the highest necessity. For without it none is able to be saved, as the Lord says, “Whoever is not born of water and of the Spirit, shall in no way enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens.” {John 3:5} And, therefore, baptism is necessary even for infants, since they also are subject to original sin, and without Baptism are not able to obtain its remission." (Confession of Dositheus, Synod of Jerusalem held in 1672, decree 16)

Interestingly enough, it appears that both Augustine of Hippo (venerated as saint in both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church) and Thomas Aquinas (venerated as saint in the Roman Catholic Church) allowed for exceptions for this rule that baptism is 'absolutely necessary'. For, Hans Urs Von Balthasar reports the following about Augustine:

“ One other remarkable aspect of Augustine’s speculations should be noted here. From the passage in the Vulgate in which it is said that God raised Christ up “having loosed the pangs of hell” (Acts 2:24), he concludes “that even the soul of Christ made its way into that region in which sinners are tormented, in order that he might redeem as many of them from their tortures as he, in his justice that is hidden from us, saw fit to redeem”.  He clearly distinguishes this region from what we call limbo and he calls the bosom of Abraham, where there are no torments whatsoever. This place of rest cannot be called the “netherworld” (inferi), since, as such, it cannot be in the netherworld. (Note 8: De Genesi ad litt. XII, 33, 63-64. On all this, cf. Augustine, Psychologie und Mystik (De Gen. ad litt. 12), translated with introduction by E. Korger and Hans Urs von Balthasar (Einsiedeln: Johannesverlag, 1960).” (Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Dare We Hope that All Men be Saved, chapter 8, p. 80)

Here is the Latin text translated roughly by Balthasar:

"Quae si ita sunt, ideo sub terris dicuntur inferi vel creduntur, quia congruenter in spiritu per illas corporalium rerum similitudines sic demonstrantur, ut quoniam defunctorum animae inferis dignae, carnis amore peccaverunt, hoc eis per illas corporalium similitudines exhibeatur, quod ipsi carni mortuae solet, ut sub terram recondatur. Denique inferi eo quod infra sint, latine appellantur: sicut autem secundum corpus si ponderis sui ordinem teneant, inferiora sunt omnia graviora; ita secundum spiritum inferiora sunt omnia tristiora: unde et in graeca lingua origo nominis quo appellantur inferi, ex eo quod nihil suave habeant, resonare perhibetur. Nec ipsam tamen rerum partem noster Salvator mortuus pro nobis visitare contempsit, ut inde solveret quos esse solvendos secundum divinam secretamque iustitiam ignorare non potuit." (De Genesis ad Litteram, Liber XII, source: https://www.augustinus.it/latino/genesi_lettera/index2.htm )

ChatGPT translation of the same passage:

"If this is so, then the infernal regions are said or believed to be beneath the earth because, in accordance with spiritual realities, they are represented through likenesses of bodily things. Since the souls of the dead who deserve the infernal regions sinned through their attachment to the flesh, what is fittingly presented to them through these bodily likenesses is what ordinarily happens to dead flesh: that it is buried beneath the earth.Hence the infernal regions are called inferi in Latin because they are “below.” Just as, according to the body, if things follow the order of their own weight, everything heavier is lower, so, according to the spirit, everything lower is sadder. Hence it is said that in the Greek language the origin of the name by which the infernal regions are called is said to echo the idea that they contain nothing pleasant.Yet even that part of creation our Savior did not disdain to visit when He died for us, so that from there He might release those whom, according to the hidden and divine justice, He could not fail to know ought to be released."

Of course, this shows that Augustine thought that God can and does save at least some people after their death who apparently didn't formally convert to the Church.

Regarding Aquinas, we find this passage:

“Reply Obj. 5: Concerning the incident of Trajan it may be supposed with probability that he was recalled to life at the prayers of blessed Gregory, and thus obtained the grace whereby he received the pardon of his sins and in consequence was freed from punishment. The same applies to all those who were miraculously raised from the dead, many of whom were evidently idolaters and damned. For we must say likewise of all such persons that they were consigned to hell, not finally, but as was actually due to their own merits according to justice: and that according to higher causes, in view of which it was foreseen that they would be recalled to life, they were to be disposed of otherwise.” (Supplement of the Third Part, Summa Theologica, question 71, article 5, objection and reply 5, source: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.IIISup.Q71.A5.Rep5  )

So, it appears that both Aquinas and Augustine were less 'stringent' about the fate of the dead than the later documents that I quoted above. I can't see how the later sources do not contradict what Augustine and Aquinas say here. Indeed, any exception from the rule of the absolute necessity of entering in formally entering in the right Church seems to contradict the later sources quoted above. 


Comments

  1. boundless93September 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM

    On this specific topic, I'm now reading the book 'Salvation Outside the Church: Tracing the History of the Catholic Response' by Francis A. Sullivan, SJ. I'll maybe make a post about it in the future.

    ReplyDelete

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