Comments Elsewhere

“Even in the most strict interpretation, the statement by Jesus does not preclude Protestants from reaching salvation.”

Neither does Cardinal Ratzinger’s statement. Church teaching since Vatican II (Unitatis Redintegratio) has been that trinitarian churches other than the Roman Catholic Church are doctrinally and liturgically “deficient” (which is why the Pope’s Catholic rather than Baptist) but that they participate in the small-c catholic church of Christ and that members of them can be saved.

The brethren divided from us also use many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These most certainly can truly engender a life of grace in ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community. These liturgical actions must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation.

It follows that the separated Churches and Communities as such, though we believe them to be deficient in some respects, have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church.

Ratzinger’s line in Dominus Iesus doesn’t contradict this; it repeats it. The emphasis is shifted to the deficiency rather than the grace, to be sure, but emphasis can shift depending on your purpose, and it’s important to note that in Christian theology saying a person can receive divine grace commits you to saying that they can receive salvation.

Not that I don’t think he’s wrong. I do. But I think he’s wrong because I think God doesn’t exist, not because I think there’s some antagonism here between Ratzinger and Jesus as we find him in the Gospels.