Will Many Be Saved?: What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization

This book displays great resource as well as assent to the teaching of Scripture. Many since Vatican II have assumed that everyone (maybe minus persons like Hitler and Judas) will go to heaven--if someone died, now they are happy in heaven. Dr. Ralph Martin addresses this "false compassion" and compares it to what Scripture says: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matt. 13:7 RSV). Also he mentions Lumen Gentium, 16 which clearly does not say that "all" will go to heaven but that there are requirements for salvation. God does not force anyone into heaven.Furthermore, Martin addresses Karl Rahner's and Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology which express it is likely that all will be saved. Though he realizes these are great theologians and have great works adding to the world of theology, in this particular area of thought they have drifted from Scripture and Catholic teaching. "Will Many Be Saved?..." is an excellent and well thought out book for the topic of salvation.

My bishop was talking about this book the day that Pope Francis was elected. Martin looks at paragraph 16 of LumenGentium, Vatican II's document on the Church, an eloquent passage that talks about the possibility of salvation fornon Catholics, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even those who don't know God. But the last part, describedas paragraph 16c, talks about how often those outside the Church are not innocent and have sinned and turned againstGod as described in chapters one, two and three of Romans. In order to be saved, they must not only observe the naturallaw but respond to the grace that God offers even though they don't know it's Christ. Otherwise we wouldfall into the heresy of Pelagianism. The third part of paragraph 16 has been neglected terribly.Since Vatican II, it has been assumed that almost everybody, if not everybody is saved, whether inside or outsidethe Church. This has taken away the sense of the Church's mission. Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi and PopeJohn Paul II in Redemptoris Missio made evangelization a priority for the Church, but this was still in the postVatican II climate where most Catholics assume that everybody is saved so there is little motivation to convertthe unbaptized. Two of the key thinkers since Vatican II have been Karl Rahner, with the theory of anonymousChristians, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, with his book Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved? While Balthasaravoided stating explicitly that everyone is saved, his work leans far in that direction, at times with sarcasm.He uses texts like "I will draw all men to myself" but neglects others like the sheep and the goats. Balthasarcritiques Rahner for neglecting the centrality of the cross but is even more vulnerable to the charge ofuniversalism.Martin comes to a bold conclusion that much of Vatican II has neglected the importance of hell and it hasimpeded the Church's mission. So one might expect the book to be traditionalist or "right wing" but he'sworking from within a Vatican II framework, specifically paragraph 16 of the constitution on the Church.He uses Lutheran exegetes like Kasemann, as well as mainstream historical critical Jesuits like Fitzmyerand Brendan Byrne in his analysis of the first three chapters of Romans. Martin looks at a broad spectrumof postconciliar Catholic theology to develop his thesis, including Richard McBrien and Francis Sullivan.Two Dominicans I knew from the Angelicum in Rome are the Polish Wojciech Giertych, whom Martinconsulted, and the Swiss Charles Morerod, whom he cites frequently. Archbishop Allen Vigneron wasthe president of the seminary in Detroit before he went to Oakland and then went back to Detroit asarchbishop. He brought a lot of impressive conservative scholars, including Martin, Janet Smith whowas recently cited by Archbishop Vigano, and Ed Peters who helped with the Latin translations. Many arelaypeople but also the priests. There's also a Fr. Francis Martin, with the same last name, who is frequentlycited in this book.

Great refutation of the universalism fad floating around in the Catholic sphere as of late. Ralph Martin has proven to be a very reliable and orthodox writer. He do ew a an excellent job in conveying the Catholic theology of salvation and why universalism ("all will be saved") is just not tenable for Catholics to hold too. Very good book.

Since the Second Vatican Council, a wave of optimism concerning the salvation of everyone has swept the Catholic Church. Martin reminds me that this sort of optimism is not the same thing as the Christian virtue of hope. In the Bible, from Genesis right through to the book of Revelation, including in the New Testament, God's blessings and promise to be the savior of humankind is matched by reminders that God is also a God of justice. Salvation is offered freely to all, but it is possible to turn one's back on the one offering. There is an unneeded undertow of negative animus in regard to the optimists in Martin's book, but it is a very salutary reminder that we need to read the biblical and conciliar records carefully. What Martin points to, in my opinion, is the development of a soteriology that gives us meaningful images of salvation and the price one pays when one rejects God's offer.

This book is badly needed in the Catholic world today. It is a very fine systematic treatment of the problem of universalism of salvation that is now in the air most Catholic breathe. The basic question we need to ask is this - if everyone is destined to be saved, then why have all the bother of religion; why dedicate one's life to religion when the contribution toi your own salvation of that of others is marginal at best? In such an atmosphere is it any wonder that vocations are drying up and missionary activity is near dead today compared to 100 years ago. Martin examines the theological and practical questions and does an excellent job of recalling the basis of the Church's teaching in Scripture and Tradition. I have a Doctorate in Theology, and I still learned a good deal from this little book. It's an easy read with a lot of insight.

I started this book with a certain reservation, due to some favorable reviews I had heard of von Balthasar's position on the hope of salvation for each person. I was nevertheless positively surprised by the careful and balanced approach Dr. Martin uses in his work, and the force and objectivity with which he evalues Church teaching on the subject.

Ralph Martin addresses the question of how much of mankind shall be saved by the Redeemer God with reference to the history of the Church's teaching and an in-depth analysis of the documents produced by Vatican II. Contrary to what many Roman Catholics both lay and religious now believe, Martin shows convincingly that the gate to heaven is still the narrow path which Our Lord spoke of, and many people have misinterpreted the Vatican II documents to their own eternal detriment. The world cares little or nothing for the eternal things of God and many Catholics have slipped into a casual attitude in their worship since Vatican II that is insulting, irreverent, worldly and sacreligious - and the sad part is many clerics let this go without confronting it and without teaching their congregations how to worship God worthily and how to live pious lives, which is essential for salvation. Perhaps if they read this book they would buck up their ideas and save souls for Jesus, including their own.

God's universal salvific will is abundantly clear in the scriptures - God does indeed will all to be saved and yet the sad reality is that many freely reject Him and the salvation he offers.This is a superb text which examines the Holy Scriptures and the perennial teachings of the Church on salvation and effectively dispels the myth that salvation is guaranteed and hell is in fact empty. A scholarly soteriological work which is also also wholly accessible.If you enjoy this book I recommend Martin's landmark text - The Fulfilment of All Desires.

Review comments on Will Many Be Saved by Ralph Martin I cringe with discouragement when I see that so many bishops and cardinals and Jesuit professors in the United States have endorsed this book. I do not want to diminish the seemingly good intentions which motivate the author, but I do wish to challenge his theme. I remember the hope that the opening sessions of Vatican II engendered. The fact that lay women were part of a committee examining the issue of family planning and reasonable contraception was an auspicious opening to the future church’s attitude towards women. What has happened since in that regard is shameful. The basic theme of the book is that the purpose of evangelization is the saving of souls. It places a new emphasis on a particular portion of one of the key documents of Vatican II. At the time I believed that the general thrust of a renewed evangelization was the spreading of the values preached by Jesus. Peace on earth, put away your swords, love your enemies, care especially for the poor, those who suffer and those who are exploited by earthly power. And the Council seemed open to other myriad ways that salvation might occur other than its own. But Martin’s book revives an old spin that places much of humanity outside of orthodox Christianity in fearful jeopardy. The author notes that it usually takes fifty years for a valid interpretation of a Council’s thinking and decisions. As a reader I suspect what takes fifty years is the stifling of the beating heart of a Council into the kind of minor heart murmur that the ensuing hierarchy can live with.Why would any human presume that God would willingly be bound by such a narrow view of the possibility of salvation? And even if it were so, how arrogant of any human to presume that it would be so. As I noted at the beginning of this review, I cringe with discouragement when I see that so many bishops and cardinals and Jesuit professors in the United States have endorsed the thrust of this book. But if one wants to know where the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is heading, this well-researched book will give one a considerable insight. From my perspective the direction is backwards, but readers can rightfully come to their own conclusions.David Waters. A lengthier critique of Will Many Be Saved is available at dwatersauthor.com

If one needs an explanation of Vatican II documents on salvation, and if one is confused on Kung and von Balthasar, this is a great book. Should be read by all theology students.