Soteriology & Christian Salvation

Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation or the way of salvation and usually refers to the salvation of individuals. Different religions have varying views of salvation, of who will and will not be saved, of what it means to be saved, and of what relationship there may be among acceptance of doctrinal matters, behavior, and salvation. The Christian conception of salvation is very different from the Buddhist conception, with distinct historical roots and doctrinal assumptions. The consequences of each conception for followers are also dissimilar.

Some general notions of salvation are in order first. The idea that people need to be saved implies that there is a defective condition which is normally prevalent, and the major religions see this problem as having different roots. Many Indians systems see these problems as deriving from human ignorance, while the Christian conception is based on the doctrine of original sin in which the human race is implicated because of the primordial acts of Adam and Eve. Smart (1987) further notes: "In Western monotheisms the question is often whether there is an afterlife; in the Indian tradition the afterlife is a given, and the question is whether one can get out of it" (p. 418).

The conception of salvation also relates to the idea of some ultimate value or being, and it can be thought of as an identity with such an ultimate state or being. It is most frequently thought of as a kind of communion with a personal Lord in a heavenly pla

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of this doctrine and in effect to soften it. The official Catholic position now is expressed in the Constitution on the Church from the second Vatican Council, which states: "Men and women who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but who sincerely search for God and who strive to do his will, as revealed by the dictates of conscience, in deeds performed under the influence on his grace, can win eternal salvation" (in Kung et al., 1986: p. 25). The Eastern Orthodox Church broke officially with the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 A.D., and in most ways it still stands close to the Roman Catholic church in terms of form and doctrine. The Eastern Church leaves more points open to individual judgment than does the Roman Catholic Church. A tenet common to all Christian groups is the idea of the mystical body of Christ: "Just as the parts of a body are joined in a common well-being or malaise, so too are the lives of Christians interrelated" (Smith, 1986: p. 460). However, the Eastern Church has taken the idea more to heart than either Roman Catholicism or Protestantism. Each Christian works out his salvation not individually but with the rest of the Church: "Not only is the destiny of th

Category: Philosophy - S