Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Epigraph: “Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.”  (Al Quran 2:63)

Christian emphasis on Original Sin and the story that goes with it

Huffington Post reported on May 22, 2013 in an article titled, Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics:

Atheists should be seen as  good people if they do good, Pope Francis said on Wednesday in  his latest urging that people of all religions – or no religion  – work together.
The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics made  his comments in the homily of his morning Mass in his residence,  a daily event where he speaks without prepared comments.
He told the story of a Catholic who asked a priest if even  atheists had been redeemed by Jesus.
‘Even them, everyone,’ the pope answered, according to  Vatican Radio. “We all have the duty to do good,” he said.
‘Just do good and we’ll find a meeting point,’ the pope said  in a hypothetical conversation in which someone told a priest:  ‘But I don’t believe. I’m an atheist.’
Francis’s reaching out to atheists and people who belong to  no religion is a marked contrast to the attitude of former Pope  Benedict, who sometimes left non-Catholics feeling that he saw  them as second-class believers.

This reminds me more of Islam, with emphasis on our works rather than traditional Christianity, with its dogma of Original Sin, which needs to be overcome by Baptism and belief in Jesus’ death on the cross.

St. Paul will not be happy with the Pope Francis’ apparent denial of the Original Sin.

The concept of the Original Sin was first alluded to in the 2nd century by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in his controversy (written in Greek) with certain dualist Gnostics.^[2] Its scriptural foundation is based on the New Testament teaching of St. Paul (Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22).

Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose and Ambrosiaster considered that mankind shares in Adam’s sin, transmitted by human generation.

Traditionally, Christianity has emphasized belief in Jesus’ dying on the cross for our sins, as a necessary condition for salvation.  For St. Paul, the Original Sin and death and ‘Resurrection’ of Jesus and hence salvation, are closely interwoven.  As he is quoted in the New Testament:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

There was a time, when even the unbaptized innocent children could not go to heaven and the Catholic Church had to coin the concept of Limbo.

But, at any rate, Pope Francis’ flexibility is a welcome change, as the original Christianity or the teachings of Jesus, may peace be on him, were similar to Islam, as are reflected in the Book of James, in the Bible:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-26, New International Version)

For 20 centuries these passages from the Book of James have been ignored in favor of what St. Paul had to say:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—  for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12-19)

Also see Romans 4:1-5, Galatians 3:1-7, and Genesis 15:6.

The Protestants took St. Paul’s teachings to one extreme, by making good works completely redundant in their teaching of Sola fide.

Sola fide (Latin: by faith alone), also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith alone, is a Christian theological doctrine that distinguishes most Protestant denominations from Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and some in the Restoration Movement.

The doctrine of sola fide or “by faith alone” asserts God’s pardon for guilty sinners is granted to and received through faith, conceived as excluding all “works,” alone. All mankind, it is asserted, is fallen and sinful, under the curse of God, and incapable of saving itself from God’s wrath and curse. But God, on the basis of the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ alone (solus Christus), grants sinners judicial pardon, or justification, which is received solely through faith.

Epilogue

The Huffington Post article also highlighted:

Of course, not all Christians believe that those who don’t believe will be redeemed, and the Pope’s words may spark memories of the deep divisions from the Protestant reformation over the belief in redemption through grace versus redemption through works.

One wonders what has motivated the Pope to trigger a huge controversy not only with the Protestants but also with the Catholic tradition, stretching over centuries?

It may be that with large segments of European society, especially the younger generations becoming agnostic or atheist, the Catholic Church is coming out with a new music, a new liberal symphony, to retain some control over them.

But, would the Church extend this courtesy to other religions also, like Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, remains to be seen?

Islam promises salvation to all, based on their good works and inner truth, as highlighted in the verse quoted, as an epigraph to this article:

Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.  (Al Quran 2:63)

How the Church will reconcile the past dogmas and doctrines stretching over twenty centuries with this new found liberal outlook, would be an even greater challenge?

May be this equivocation and hedging of bets by Pope Francis will eventually throw the whole of Christianity, into the lap of Islam, which does not teach any irrational dogma and has always preached the balance between belief and actions.  (Al Quran 2:1-6 & 103:1-4)