Having explored this profound theme, he concluded that ultimately all judgment is God’s and God’s alone. The Catholic Church has never made any declaration about who it thinks will be finally dammed but prays that every human person will be saved.
The Scripture scholar Origen caused a stir in the early church by suggesting that so immense was Jesus’ saving death on the cross that even Lucifer, Satan himself, would be redeemed. Interestingly, despite being arguably the greatest scripture scholar the Church has ever known, he was never made a saint. The late Pope Francis provoked controversy when he suggested that atheists could be redeemed through their good works. We, for our part, look to Scripture and the wisdom and light they offer.
In his teaching Jesus made it clear that each one of us needs to make every effort to enter through the narrow door and that salvation involves having a living, vital, dynamic relationship with God. The opposite – a cold, distant, dysfunctional relationship with him – invites the rather harsh rebuke: ‘I do not know where you come from.’ The response to this rebuke is interesting: ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ People rejected Jesus then and they reject him now.
Christian Salvation is not about being good moral or worthy, because we are none of these. Salvation is about believing Jesus of Nazareth is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Through having faith in him, knowing him and walking with him in this life, we inherit eternal life.
