Salvation Outside the Catholic Church A Critical and Analytical Study

Abstract

The aim of the research: to study the concept of (salvation outside the church) in the Catholic Church, in the medieval period, and after the Second Vatican Council, in order to find out any change in the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the issue of salvation. Research Methodology: The researcher used the inductive analytical critical approach. Contents of the research: The research consists of an introduction, and eight sections, which are: The first section: the concept of salvation and its importance, the second section: salvation through the history of the Catholic Church, the third section: Signs of transformation in the position of the Catholic Church, the fourth section: the Catholic Church from the past to the Second Vatican Council, the fifth section: Examining the position of the Second Vatican Council towards the issue of salvation, the seventh section: What is new in the Second Vatican Council?, The eighth section: An evaluation of the position of the Catholic Church and Catholic theologians on salvation. The article has concluded that there is no real or fundamental change in the position of the Catholic Church on the issue of (salvation outside the church), and the author recommends to study the subject of (anonymous Christian) within the thought of Karl Rahner, a German Jesuit priest, and compare it with the Islamic concept of 'excuse because of unawareness'.