Illuminator
Well-Known Member
You are grossly mistaken. There were no Protestants in 1302, so Unam Sanctum did not apply to non-existing Protestants.Thanks. I guess I was under the mistaken impression that the church taught that salvation is only possible through them.
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Outside the Church there is no Salvation (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus) Archives
“Outside the Church there is no salvation” (extra ecclesiam nulla salus) is a doctrine of the Catholic Faith that was taught By Jesus Christ to His Apostles, preached by the Fathers, defined by popes and councils and piously believed by the faithful in every age of the Church. Here is how the...catholicism.org
“There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)
“We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)
The Apostles taught no salvation outside the church, and the CC does not have the authority to change what the Apostles taught.
"outside which no one at all is saved" has to be understood the way the Church understands it, not the way anti-Catholics force it to mean something it doesn't 700 years after the fact.
One of the most misunderstood teachings of the Catholic Church is this one:
“Outside the Church there is no salvation” (Extra ecclesiam nulla salus).
Those trying to grasp the meaning of this teaching often struggle with its formulations by various Church Fathers and Church Councils down through history. Of course, to understand an isolated formulation of any Church teaching,
- one must study the historical context within which it was written:
- why it was written,
- what was going on in the Church at the time,
- who the intended audience was, and so on.

What "No Salvation Outside the Church" Means
One of the most misunderstood teachings of the Catholic Church is this one: “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (Extra ecclesiam nulla salus)...

Is There Really "No Salvation Outside the Catholic Church?"
The Catholic Church teaches infallibly, “extra ecclesiam nulla salus,” or, “outside the Church there is no salvation.” But as with all dogmas of the Faith, this...

What the Early Church Believed: Salvation Outside the Church
The early Church held the same position as the contemporary Church does—that is, while it is necessary to be a Catholic to be saved, there are exceptions.