Salvation: A Matter of Personal Choice

Abstract

SALVATION is a key concept within Christianity, as it is indeed within all the various religions. Salvation in some form or other is what people seek in and through the practice of religion. Yet, pervasive as the concept is in religious literature and in the thoughts of men and women everywhere, there does not seem to be much agreement even among Christians as to what in the concrete salvation really means. As Gustavo Gutierrez remarks in his Theology of Liberation, one of the great deficiencies of contemporary theology is the absence of a profound and lucid reflection on the theme of salvation. Gutierrez himself then tries to remedy this situation by linking the biblical theme of salvation with the striving of oppressed peoples throughout the world for political, economic, and social development—in a word, for growth in human personhood. What remains ambiguous in his presentation, however, is the connection between this new incarnational approach to salvation and traditional Christian eschatology—above all, the traditional concepts of and hell as the final destiny of every human being. Other theologians have been alert to this deficiency. men and women, for example, gathered in 1975 at the Hartford Seminary Foundation in Connecticut condemned the following thesis: To realize one's potential and to be true to oneself is the whole meaning of salvation. In all likelihood, this condemnation was not aimed directly at Gutierrez or any other advocate of liberation theology as such, but rather at an implicit orientation in their thinking which might have negative consequences for traditional Christian belief. Yet, despite its obvious shortcomings, liberation theology has awakened contemporary Christians to the need for a fresh perspective on many points of doctrine which might otherwise be falling into desuetude for lack of attention. Chief among these is surely the doctrine of the last things. As John Shea points out, there is not much enthusiasm today for the Church's teaching on eschatology, even among fervent, churchgoing Roman Catholics: The religious man does not pine after eternity but labors to build the earth. He leaves the afterlife to afterwards. So caught up in the agony and bliss of this world he is beyond the egocentric worries of a future reward and punishment. But, as Shea also points out, heaven and hell G. Gutierrez, Theology of Liberation, tr. C. Inda and J. Eagleson (Maryknoll, N.Y., 1973) p. 149. 2 Time, Feb. 10, 1975, p. 149. 3 J. Shea, What a Modern Catholic Believes about Heaven and Hell (Chicago, 1972) p. 9.