No Salvation Outside the Church
"Outside the Church there is no salvation" — an ancient axiom debated ever since
This axiom, voiced by Cyprian of Carthage, holds that salvation is found within the Church. Christians have understood it in various senses, and its meaning is contested. A strict reading would limit salvation narrowly to visible members, but that interpretation is debated, and modern Catholic teaching has significantly qualified it, allowing that God's grace may reach those beyond the Church's visible boundaries. How broadly or narrowly to read the phrase remains an open question.
How it traveled
- The Epistles of Cyprian.Carthage · 258explains
- The Letters of St. JeromeBethlehem · 420explains
- Letters of St. AugustinHippo Regius · 430explains
- On Baptism, Against the DonatistsHippo Regius · 430explains
- The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. NiceConstantinople (Istanbul) · 692explains
- Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic ChurchGeneva · 1564explains
Key passages(20)
Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man · Henri de Lubac
The Letters of St. Jerome · Jerome
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Treatises of Cyprian. · Cyprian
On Baptism, Against the Donatists · Augustine of Hippo
Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90) · Thomas Aquinas
Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90) · Thomas Aquinas
Letters of St. Augustin · Augustine of Hippo
A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin · Augustine of Hippo
A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin · Augustine of Hippo
Against Heresies: Book III · Irenaeus of Lyons
Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental · Augustine of Hippo
On Baptism, Against the Donatists · Augustine of Hippo
The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians · John Chrysostom
The Dialogue Against the Luciferians · Jerome
The Epistles of Cyprian. · Cyprian
Letters of St. Augustin · Augustine of Hippo