I'm gonna take a wild guess that Rahner and von Balthasar are not representative of how the Magisterium means Vatican II to be interpreted. (Indeed, it's probably a knock on the latter that he's in the same sentence with Rahner, and an unfair one at that.) In fact, according to my friend, Dr. Lawrence Feingold, a leading scholar and Catholic theologian, those views are almost entirely contrary to what Vatican II actually taught, assuming the hermeneutics of continuity. More investigation is certainly warranted. Even in the best form, the concept of "invincible ignorance" is a real stumbling-block to Protestants, whose missionary impulse and understanding of Jesus' exclusive claims prevents even the suggestion that a person might be declared just by God without hearing and accepting Jesus.
I once had a friend, a dear friend, who helped me with personal care needs in college. Reformed Presbyterian to the core. When I was a Reformed Presbyterian, I visited their church many times. We were close. I still consider his siblings my friends. (And siblings in the Lord.) Nevertheless, when I began to consider the claims of the Catholic Church to be the Church Christ founded, he took me out to breakfast. He implied--but never quite stated--that we would not be brothers, if I sought full communion with the Catholic Church. That came true; a couple years later, I called him on his birthday, as I'd done every year for close to ten of them. He didn't recognize my number, and it was the most strained, awkward phone call I have ever had. We haven't spoken since. We were close enough that I attended the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. His wife's uncle is a Catholic priest. I remember reading a blog post of theirs, that early in their relationship, she told him of the p
Comments