How Many Will be Saved? (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)

I am very much a Roman Catholic, very conservative theologically, and I read (and appreciate) receiving the daily readings.

When I was studying theology way back in the 1970s, the priest who taught Eucharistic Theology often said that the Son of God did not die in vain. Repentance is necessary, belief in the Jesus as the Son of God is necessary, for salvation, but who knows what graces are poured out upon individuals when they die, when the Shepherd calls their names in His loving attempt to turn their hearts to Him, even at the last moment of free will decision.

The great saints quoted in this thread are an inspiration to repentance, but theirs are personal statements, not dogmatic tenets.

While I understand the pessimistic tone and context of these quotes, I’m convinced that those who are a part of His Church and sincerely try to follow Christ aren’t in danger of Hell. Given the number of people who are now or who since the founding of the Church have been in His Church, minus those who were only in His Church because it was expected of them or for some other reason, that’s still going to be a pretty small percentage of the entire population of the world throughout history. The reference to purgatory is especially noteworthy because the fires that purge away the chaff are capable of sparing even a very, very, small grain of faith buried in a great deal of chaff. Given the will of God that all men be saved and what little is required of us in order to receive His Grace through faith in Christ, why would comparatively few be saved?

It seems to me the main reason a great many people don’t ever come to Salvation is the very same reason Eve sinned. Eve was disobedient because she relied on her own understanding rather than doing as she was commanded whether she understood the reasons and details or not. Disobeying was just the natural consequence of Eve deciding that her own understanding was sufficient. The first step in accepting Christ is to surrender, not to reach an understanding that your own carnal mind is comfortable with. “I believe, forgive my unbelief” is very real acceptance while “now I understand”is most often no more than the same sort of acknowledgment Christ says the demons make. One of the very real burdens we have to accept if we really want to follow Christ is the burden of not understanding everything up front, a burden most people cannot accept and many avoid by only accepting those things they’re comfortable with. Unfortunately, in doing so they’re refusing to follow Christ while at the same time fooling themselves into believing they are following Him.

The Apostles didn’t know in advance and couldn’t possibly have understood all that they would learn by following Christ when He called them. That’s the same way we have to follow, by taking up our cross and following even though we cannot know and understand everything before we follow Him. Only when people put following Christ first rather than putting their own understanding first can they do His will and accept Salvation. It seems to me that’s why there may be comparatively few who will be saved, only a comparative few are willing to follow first and understand later.

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