1. From Death to Life: Immortality and Communion with God

 In its attempt to interpret the biblical theme of salvation theology uses various images of salvation. These images are modeled on the relationship that exists between God’s acts and man’s expectations. The Patristic era was marked by a desire for knowledge; human life was fraught with crisis and dominated by sin and death. The Fathers described Salvation as light and knowledge, life and immortality, divine sonship and sharing in the life of God in Jesus Christ. God frees man from sin, calls him from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge of the truth through Jesus of Nazareth, the logos of the world, made man for us. He will lead us to knowledge of God and communion with him. Salvation is understood as a new doctrine or a new teaching given us by Jesus. “Appearing in the world as truth he has taught us the truth” (Hypolitus). History is a kind of lesson that leads us to intimate knowledge of God.

 Salvation is also described as a passage from the precarious existence of a creature to immortality and eternal life. This idea is found in all the writers of the early Christian centuries. Christ has given us life and immortality, he has restored a gift we possessed before sin; he has given us a life that is radically new in union with Christ – the proof of this is immortality. With sin man chose mortality, with obedience Jesus brought immortality which he offers to all those who unite themselves to him. From this perspective salvation is a restoration to our original state of perfection and immortality. 

 Linked to the concept of immortal life is the theme of the divinization of human nature that God brings about through the person of Jesus Christ. For the Greek Fathers especially salvation was the elevation of human nature to a supernatural state. This teaching can be synthesized in a formula attributed to Athanasius: “The son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God … he is the son of God by nature, we are sons of God by grace.” For some Fathers the incarnation is the essential moment of this divinization, this contact between God and man; for other Fathers it is the resurrection and for others still it is the action of the Holy Spirit from whom believers receive the power to become sons of God.

 To be complete we must turn our attention to the Western Fathers; their understanding of salvation had a direct influence on the great theological syntheses of the middle ages. Christ freed us from those rights the Devil had acquired over us through sin and from the debt we had contracted with God. It was the doctrine of original sin and its importance in Western theology that led to this concept. Salvation was a liberation from the juridical and penal consequences of original sin, a restoration of an ancient order that had been irretrievably lost, a necessary reparation for the offenses done to God. This aspect of salvation is not immediately translatable into salvation – it is however the juridical premise of salvation.

2. Salvation as Redemption

 These different emphases on elements of salvation during the Patristic era reveal an evolution from what is found in Scripture. Classical theology treated this concept extensively in that part of Christology dedicated to soteriology – it comes up as well in ecclesiology, sacramental theology, anthropology and eschatology. The fundamental question though concerns Christology. Why is Jesus of Nazareth the Savior? How did he save us? We can give a résumé of the answers found in the Western theological tradition. 

 Above all Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. The term “redemption” is the one most often associated with salvation and is still a common element in our understanding of salvation. If we insist on the religious dimension of the salvation wrought by God through Jesus Christ, redemption is salvation from evil, it is pardon and remission of sin in virtue of God’s great goodness and benevolence. Its “onerous” aspect, as we used to say, is underlined by the sacrificial death of Jesus through which sin was expiated. Jesus “earned” salvation for mankind.

 Although this concept is typically biblical there are risks inherent in its use: we might somehow imply that “redemption” is synonymous with “buy back” as if God had to pay some sort of price to free his people. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus gives his life “as a ransom for many” (Mk 10,45); the evangelist explains this as a gift of love: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life” (Jn 3,16). As the Eucharistic formula says, the ransom paid by Jesus is his blood, which frees us from sin and establishes a new covenant with God. The Eucharist is a celebration of that saving sacrifice.

3. Salvation as Liberation

 The term salvation implies liberation. Salvation is a true and genuine liberation, an emancipation from the slavery and captivity of sin. “Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin” but if “the Son makes you free, you will certainly be free” (Jn 8, 34-36). Jesus knows the extent to which man can be enslaved to lies, evil and death and he works to free man. Nobody enjoys this freedom as a natural right, not even the chosen people of Abraham. Only the Son of God can assure man the fullness of liberty which will lead him to communion with God.

 In the light of this understanding of salvation liberation theology, and in Europe the so-called “political” theology have extended the meaning of liberation to something much broader and more complex. One speaks of global salvation, of liberation from those historical structures in which sin is incarnate, of promotion of the whole man and of all mankind. In other words one cannot speak of salvation and ignore the exploitation, marginalization and oppression which sin gives rise to in relationships between individuals, social groups and nations. We cannot reach fullness of life and the dignity of the human person created in God’s image unless we break free of those evil situations. 

 This appreciation of new, socio-political dimensions of salvation is due to renewed interest in an important event of salvation history – the Exodus. The Exodus liberation marks the whole history of the Jewish people. Another motive for discovering new dimensions of salvation was the need to free mankind from the political oppression, economic exploitation and institutionalized violence caused by sin. The re-discovery of the historical Jesus contributes to this theology which presents the Gospel and the life of Jesus as a model for global salvation. It involves the whole human being and touches his whole life.

 Most theologians, including those in Europe and North America agree on the need to recover these aspects of salvation. The first Christian communities were aware of these aspects of salvation although they used other terms to describe them – fraternal charity. In the words of Paul VI: “The Church has the duty to proclaim the liberation of millions of human beings, many of whom are her own children- the duty of assisting the birth of this liberation, of giving witness to it, of ensuring that it is complete“ (Evangelii Nuntiandi 30). One cannot “ignore the importance of the problems so much discussed today, concerning justice, liberation, development and peace in the world. This would be to forget the lesson which comes to us from the Gospel concerning love of our neighbor who is suffering and in need" (Evangelii Nuntiandi 31).

 With a healthy dose of realism Paul VI notes the ever present temptation to reduce Christian salvation to something temporal and a man-centered goal: a promotion of purely material well-being that neglects spiritual and religious concerns. If this occurs, the Church’s message of liberation “would no longer have any originality and would easily be open to monopolization and manipulation by ideological systems and political parties. She would have no more authority to proclaim freedom as in the name of God” (Evangelii Nuntiandi 32). In other words, “The Church links human liberation and salvation in Jesus Christ, but she never identifies them, because she knows through revelation, historical experience and the reflection of faith that not every notion of liberation is necessarily consistent and compatible with an evangelical vision of man, of things and of events” (Evangelii Nuntiandi 35).

4. Salvation as Reconciliation

 Salvation can also be explained in terms of reconciliation. Like redemption, reconciliation has a New and Old Testament pedigree – and like liberation it too is patient of a social and political interpretation. By itself the word implies putting an end to separation, healing a rupture or repairing a break. In a religious and Christian context one thinks of sin, God’s pardon and reconciliation with God. According to Christian tradition sin makes man God’s rival, it establishes enmity between God and man. Reconciliation is necessary to re-establish the status that existed before sin. God reconciles himself with the man he saves; out of a unilateral, loving decision, he offers man a new and definitive covenant – a free and generous offer of friendship, communion and reciprocity.

 The offer of a new covenant presupposes a previous break; a previous break presupposes the need to rebuild or restore a lost image, an image that has been forgotten or disfigured. Sin always leaves a sign in man’s life. Reconciliation involves putting together a personality that has been shattered and re-creating a bond that has suffered wear and tear. Historically this was accomplished through the death of Jesus Christ which erased Adam’s disobedience, made peace in his blood on the cross, and reconciled men to God (cf. Rm 5, 10-11; 17-19). Paul creates a lively synthesis of mankind’s religious history against the dark background of sin and death – of which Adam’s sin is a sign. The destiny of man, steeped in sin with all mankind, was completely reversed through the abundant grace of Christ. Once reconciled with God men reacquire their sonship with all its prerogatives. Salvation consists of restoring God’s image, sharing God’s life, becoming sons in the Son with the right of inheritance (cf. Jn 1,12; Rm 8,15-17; Ep 1,5; 1 Jn 3,1).

 This reconciliation of men with God, Creator and Father and this sonship in Christ implies the brotherhood of man. “If God has loved us, we too must love each other” (1 Jn 4,11). Christ is the model and the teacher of the love that reconciles humankind. There can be no salvation if we are not reconciled with our brothers. God “has reconciled us to himself through Christ” and has “entrusted a ministry of reconciliation to us” (2 Co 5, 17-21). This ministry is for all mankind, without distinction of race or nationality. Salvation makes no sense, it is not full and complete, unless it involves human existence in all its dimensions and is accompanied by feelings of brotherhood and acts of reconciliation. War, violence, injustice and persecution separate man from God and therefore from salvation. In our times an increasing number of people are denouncing man’s inhumanity to man, social and economic inequality and the exploitation of natural resources. Salvation acquires new dimensions: reconciliation in justice, reconciliation with nature, freedom from anxiety, peace with oneself and with all others. If salvation is history it must encompass all those aspects of human existence that have Christian value and meaning.

5. Salvation as Justification

 Finally we cannot pass over the terms “justice” and “justification.” In letters to the Romans and the Galatians, Paul laid special emphasis on these words. In the Old Testament “justice” was not just concerned with respecting the rights of others, it constituted a “vision of the world”; it was an expression of that balance and harmony with which God governed the universe and everything in it. God is just; He is the source of harmony and balance. Not only is he just, but he confers justice on his people and intervenes on their behalf. The Justice of God, is a source of salvation for the people of Israel; it goes beyond human merit because it forgives sins, it is merciful – it is love (cf. Ps 51,16; 65,6; 145,17). One of the benefits of messianic times is that men are freed from sin and restored to a state of harmony called justice (cf. Is 9,6; 61,1-3, 10-11).

 In Paul’s controversy with Judeo-Christians justice linked to the works of man is opposed to the justice of God which is mercy and salvation (cf. Rm 10,3). The eschatological kingdom is pure grace (cf. Rm 1,17; 3,24). God confers divine justice on man gratuitously – because of the death and resurrection of Christ and in virtue of man’s faith and baptism (cf. Rm 3, 21-25). Paul proclaims the gratuity of justification. There is only one way to acquire it: faith in Christ Jesus (cf. Ga 2,17; 3,24). While the Pharisee may boast that his works have averted the wrath of God, the Christian seeks sanctification as a preparation for his future glorification (cf. Rm 8,30).

 There is a relationship between Christian life here below and the total possession of God. The contradiction of James’s epistle – justification “through works” (Ja 2,21-24) is only apparent. Paul never really considered faith without works. He is only opposed to those who attribute justification to the “works of the Law.” The justification which comes from God can never be a legal right, it is always a gratuitous gift of God. James is protesting those whose adherence to the faith is purely intellectual and abstract and demanding that it become a way of life.

6. God Does Not Save Us Without Our Cooperation

 The various ways God saves men through Jesus Christ make it clear that Christian salvation does not depend on our seeking it out – we can only wait and hope. Everything Christian faith proclaims about salvation can be expressed in this brief statement: Salvation comes from God and God saves us in Jesus Christ whom he has constituted the author of our salvation. In this statement we find the earliest and most important example of what the apostles preached. They proclaimed their experience of the dead and risen Lord (cf. Rm 4,25; 8, 29), and invited their listeners to recognize Jesus as the one through whom God saved (cf. Ac 1,22; 2,14-39; 3,12-26, etc.).

 Christian salvation is by its very nature “grace.” It derives from the goodness and initiative of God “who wills that all men be saved and arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2,4). Christian salvation does not depend upon human beings. It is completely gratuitous. In Christianity – and in the entire biblical tradition – it is impossible to talk about salvation without talking about God. Christianity and Judaism know no salvation apart from that which comes from God; they know no God apart from the God who saves. This is because they only know God as he has revealed himself in past events. God’s revelation is never confined to empty and abstract words. His words move through history and become events. Biblical revelation tells us that these events are occasions of salvation for mankind.

 We must note that the gratuitous nature of grace does not imply a devaluation or annihilation of man and his humanity. Nothing that is human is extraneous to salvation. Man is not just the beneficiary of salvation, he waits and longs for it from the very depths of his being. In some way God himself predisposes and ordains this longing in man. Not only that, but God asks that man collaborate. There is an old adage – “Dio non ci salva senza di noi” (God doesn’t save us without our collaboration – God helps those who help themselves). It is not easy to explain exactly what this adage means. One thing is certain: God does not impose salvation upon us – he offers it to us for our free acceptance. Biblical revelation expresses it well when it says that God invites mankind to enter into a covenant with him. It is an offer, a gift – but a gift that presupposes that men are worthy and responsible recipients. They are asked to reply and their reply is free, so very free that they can refuse the gift.

 This is a concept of salvation which considers man responsible, which does not close his eyes to the rejections and failures of the past. It creates an active and responsible relationship between man and the God who saves, between man and the society in which he lives, the world which surrounds him.  The Christian vision of salvation is linked to profession of faith in God the Creator and Savior. It is also closely related to a concept of human life which overlooks neither its greatness nor its baseness; it is neither radical pessimism nor unwarranted optimism. It embraces those elements that constitute man’s dignity along with his personal and social responsibilities.

7. Jesus Points Out the Way to Salvation

 What we have said about God the Savior and our participation in salvation is true because and in virtue of Jesus Christ. First of all because of his teaching. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God: salvation is an encounter and definitive communion of God and man. The time is at hand. Men must be converted and turn to the living God. Dry legalism and formal rites are no longer enough. God wants men’s hearts. Worship of God cannot be separated from service to one’s brothers. Whoever observes the commandment to love God and to love his neighbor can be certain that his life will be fruitful and he will possess the words of eternal life. The gates of salvation are open to him.

 Everyone did not accept or agree with this particular teaching of Jesus. Neither the political and religious authorities nor the crowds accepted the path to salvation that he proposed. Jesus was rejected, condemned and crucified. But God did not abandon him. God raised him up from the dead and made Jesus share in his glory. It is not just through his teaching that Jesus points out the path to salvation but through his destiny, his life and his death. He is an example, a witness , the first fruits. Everyone who follows him and is willing to entrust his fate to God can hope that what happened to Jesus – crucifixion and resurrection – will happen also to him.

8. God Saves Through Jesus Christ

 There is still more! In the Christian faith Jesus is not just the messenger and first beneficiary of salvation, he accomplishes salvation for all men. He is the mediator of salvation par excellence, in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews (cf. 5,9), he is its cause. In spite of men’s neglect and stubbornness God did not hesitate to send his own Son to point out that the path to salvation was still open. Jesus is that path. The fact that Jesus was rejected changes nothing. His resurrection confirms the authenticity of his mission. Through the gift Jesus has made of himself, through the service he performed for God, and through his unconditional love for us, God continues to manifest his will that all receive grace and that all be saved. Christian faith calls us to believe that God saves us through Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ must be recognized and proclaimed as “the Savior of the World” (Jn 4,42).

9. The Church, the Universal Sacrament of Salvation

 Those who profess and practice this faith make up the Church, a visible and liturgical community established by Christ himself at the Eucharistic table. In this interpretation the Church presents to the world and to history God’s offer of salvation and gives witness that God continues the work he accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. For this reason the Church is in the words of Lumen Gentium ”the universal sacrament of salvation” (48). It is the gift and the sign of Christ in history for the salvation of all mankind. The Church is a reflection of the Kingdom of God and must proclaim and celebrate that kingdom everywhere. The Church is the necessary sign and instrument of the salvation God offers mankind. It makes it possible for all men to discover the love of God in the face of Christ, who was obedient to the extent of dying on the cross and was exalted and given a name above every other name (cf. Phi 2,8-9). The message the Church proclaims for the world is the salvation God has worked and continues to work through Christ as Lord and Savior. The Word of God reveals the mystery of Jesus Christ. Without the Church Christ would not be known or proclaimed (cf. Rm 10, 10ff).

10. Proclaim Jesus Christ as Savior

 The Council decree Ad Gentes describes the Church’s evangelizing mission with these words: “Divinely sent to the nations of the world to be unto them a universal sacrament of salvation, the Church, driven by the inner necessity of her own catholicity, and obeying the mandate of her Founder (cf. Mark 16:16), strives ever to proclaim the Gospel to all men.” (1) According to Ad Gentes the Church’s message to the world proclaims God’s plan for the salvation of the human race that was accomplished in Jesus Christ, the Mediator

between God and man. This is the task to which the Church is called. The Church has the duty to proclaim “with confidence and constancy” the mystery of Christ, “the living God, and He Whom He has sent for the salvation of all, Jesus Christ “ (13).

 Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi likewise affirms the indispensable place the proclamation of Christ occupies in evangelization. Even the most beautiful witness, he writes, is insufficient and ineffective, if it is not accompanied, enlightened and justified by the clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus. “There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed“(EN 22). The heart and center of this proclamation is: Jesus Christ, the son of God, crucified, died and risen for the salvation of all mankind. Through him there is full and authentic liberation from evil; through him God has given “new life” to men. This is the good news that changes mankind and human history – all peoples have a right to know this.

 The divine and eternal salvation God offers men through Christ Jesus is at the very center of this message. It is a salvation that begins with absolute certainty in this earthly life but finds its completion in eternity (cf. EN 27). Paul VI invites us to reflect on the salvation worked by Jesus – it goes beyond all old dichotomies. In Jesus the spiritual and material aspect of his Gospel form one Gospel. There is no room for other interpretations. He came into the world to heal souls and lead them to God, he heals bodies in order to heal souls (cf. Mt 9,21-22). Jesus is interested in total healing. There is no opposition between the vertical dimension of faith and the horizontal dimension of love.

 In his encyclical on the missions, Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II mentions various forms of evangelization and notes that immediately after personal witness – which is often the only way to evangelize (42) – there must be the proclamation of Christ, the Savior (cf. 44). This proclamation is a “permanent priority in missions.” It can neither be overlooked or forgotten; the Church “cannot deprive men and women about the good news that they are loved and saved by God” in Christ Jesus. This proclamation is central and irreplaceable because “Christ is the one Savior of all, the only one able to reveal God and lead to God” (5). All forms of missionary activity are directed to this goal.

POINTS FOR REFLECTIONS

- Which of the theological images described in this chapter best fit the proclamation of salvation in the environment in which you work? How could you present these images effectively?

- Which aspects do you regard as indispensable to an authentic “theology of salvation” – while at the same time making every effort to respond to the real hopes and longings of your people?

- God’s salvation is gratuitous but it requires human commitment: how can these apparently contradictory elements be reconciled in your own missionary ministry?

- Are faith in Christ and his centrality in the mystery of salvation a fundamental element in your preaching and catechesis? What teaching method do you employ to make your proclamation of Christ more effective?