Non-christians and salvation

This is still a difficult subject for me to explain. I'm having a discussion on another forum, and this is what i'm replying to..

Atheist: In other words... atheists and agnostics don't go to hell (because they obviously don't willfully offend God, nor do they want hell), only ridiculously stupid theists who somehow knowingly land themselves in hell on purpose?
That's great news! The amount of people in hell must be incredibly small.

Me: I meant willful defiance of God..as in choosing to not follow Christ's teachings, and not repenting. The degree of knowledge differs from person to person, and they'll be judged according to that. For example.. An agnostic who isn't sure of what the truth is, but tries his best regardless and repents upon finding the truth, would be judged less severely compared to a Catholic who neglects his faith and repeatedly sins and throws away his graces, knowing the church teaches against it."


Would I be correct in my response? How possible is it for a non-christian, or non-religious even..to find salvation? There are people who are atheist or agnostic, live as they please, and still hold those beliefs. They've been exposed to christianity, but reject it as they don't believe it's the truth.

God will search the secrets of the hearts of men.

Remember also, dying in original sin will land one in Hell also. It's not abstaining from willfully offending God that gets you saved, but rather positively coming to Him. Baptism, or the explicit or implicit desire for it, is needed. Neutrality will lead to damnation.

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1691-1787) Moral Theology - (Bk. 6): "But baptism of desire is perfect conversion to God by contrition or love of God above all things accompanied by an explicit or implicit desire for true Baptism of water, the place of which it takes as to the remission of guilt, but not as to the impression of the [baptismal] character or as to the removal of all debt of punishment. It is called 'of wind' ['flaminis'] because it takes place by the impulse of the Holy Ghost Who is called a wind ['flamen']. Now it is de fide that men are also saved by Baptism of desire, by virtue of the Canon 'Apostolicam De Presbytero Non Baptizato' and the Council of Trent, Session 6, Chapter 4, where it is said that no one can be saved 'without the laver of regeneration or the desire for it.'"

As we can see here, there is an impulse of the Holy Spirit that must be responded to. This really does not bode well for atheists. God knows though who has responded to His prompts and in what way. We also do not know if someone responds or not at the split second preceding death, so we cannot judge.

Likewise, we ALL have the natural law on our hearts so anyone can die in mortal sin too and without perfect contrition or the sacraments, that means hell (likewise, St. Paul and the First Vatican Council say God can be known naturally through the created universe and reason without divine revelation).

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excellent post QC

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Thanks, that's what I needed. I always have trouble with this issue, but it becomes clear once I remember the need for baptism, presence of original sin and lukewarmness/neutrality.

In the end we don't know. The judgement of God is for God and we can't pretend to understand how it works. All you can do is pray for people.

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