CONGREGATION
FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION
"DOMINUS IESUS"
ON THE UNICITY AND SALVIFIC UNIVERSALITY
OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
III. UNICITY AND UNIVERSALITY
OF THE SALVIFIC MYSTERY OF JESUS CHRIST
13. The thesis which denies the unicity
and salvific universality of the mystery of Jesus
Christ is also put forward. Such a position has no
biblical foundation. In fact, the truth of Jesus Christ,
Son of God, Lord and only Saviour, who through the
event of his incarnation, death and resurrection has
brought the history of salvation to fulfilment, and
which has in him its fullness and centre, must be
firmly believed as a constant element of
the Church's faith.
The New Testament attests to this
fact with clarity: “The Father has sent his
Son as the Saviour of the world” (1 Jn
4:14); “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). In
his discourse before the Sanhedrin, Peter, in order
to justify the healing of a man who was crippled from
birth, which was done in the name of Jesus (cf. Acts
3:1-8), proclaims: “There is salvation in no
one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts
4:12). St. Paul adds, moreover, that Jesus Christ
“is Lord of all”, “judge of the
living and the dead”, and thus “whoever
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through
his name” (Acts 10: 36,42,43).
Paul, addressing himself to the community
of Corinth, writes: “Indeed, even though there
may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth —
as in fact there are many gods and many lords —
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom
are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord,
Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through
whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:5-6). Furthermore,
John the Apostle states: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him” (Jn 3:16-17). In the New
Testament, the universal salvific will of God is closely
connected to the sole mediation of Christ: “[God]
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth. For there is one God; there is also
one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ,
who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1
Tim 2:4-6).
It was in the awareness of the one
universal gift of salvation offered by the Father
through Jesus Christ in the Spirit (cf. Eph
1:3-14), that the first Christians encountered the
Jewish people, showing them the fulfilment of salvation
that went beyond the Law and, in the same awareness,
they confronted the pagan world of their time, which
aspired to salvation through a plurality of saviours.
This inheritance of faith has been recalled recently
by the Church's Magisterium: “The Church believes
that Christ, who died and was raised for the sake
of all (cf. 2 Cor 5:15) can, through his
Spirit, give man the light and the strength to be
able to respond to his highest calling, nor is there
any other name under heaven given among men by which
they can be saved (cf. Acts 4:12). The Church
likewise believes that the key, the centre, and the
purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found
in its Lord and Master”. 42
14. It must therefore be firmly
believed as a truth of Catholic faith that the
universal salvific will of the One and Triune God
is offered and accomplished once for all in the mystery
of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the
Son of God.
Bearing in mind this article of faith,
theology today, in its reflection on the existence
of other religious experiences and on their meaning
in God's salvific plan, is invited to explore if and
in what way the historical figures and positive elements
of these religions may fall within the divine plan
of salvation. In this undertaking, theological research
has a vast field of work under the guidance of the
Church's Magisterium. The Second Vatican Council,
in fact, has stated that: “the unique mediation
of the Redeemer does not exclude, but rather gives
rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a participation
in this one source”. 43
The content of this participated mediation should
be explored more deeply, but must remain always consistent
with the principle of Christ's unique mediation: “Although
participated forms of mediation of different kinds
and degrees are not excluded, they acquire meaning
and value only from Christ's own mediation, and they
cannot be understood as parallel or complementary
to his”. 44 Hence, those
solutions that propose a salvific action of God beyond
the unique mediation of Christ would be contrary to
Christian and Catholic faith.
15. Not infrequently it is proposed
that theology should avoid the use of terms like “unicity”,
“universality”, and “absoluteness”,
which give the impression of excessive emphasis on
the significance and value of the salvific event of
Jesus Christ in relation to other religions. In reality,
however, such language is simply being faithful to
revelation, since it represents a development of the
sources of the faith themselves. From the beginning,
the community of believers has recognized in Jesus
a salvific value such that he alone, as Son of God
made man, crucified and risen, by the mission received
from the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit,
bestows revelation (cf. Mt 11:27) and divine
life (cf. Jn 1:12; 5:25-26; 17:2) to all
humanity and to every person.
In this sense, one can and must say
that Jesus Christ has a significance and a value for
the human race and its history, which are unique and
singular, proper to him alone, exclusive, universal,
and absolute. Jesus is, in fact, the Word of God made
man for the salvation of all. In expressing this consciousness
of faith, the Second Vatican Council teaches: “The
Word of God, through whom all things were made, was
made flesh, so that as perfect man he could save all
men and sum up all things in himself. The Lord is
the goal of human history, the focal point of the
desires of history and civilization, the centre of
mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment
of all aspirations. It is he whom the Father raised
from the dead, exalted and placed at his right hand,
constituting him judge of the living and the dead”.
45 “It is precisely this
uniqueness of Christ which gives him an absolute and
universal significance whereby, while belonging to
history, he remains history's centre and goal: ‘I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end' (Rev 22:13)”. 46
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