On the Articles: Article XVIII

The Third Sunday after Trinity

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.

It is a significant denouement to follow-up Article XVII’s controversial discussion of doctrines of predestination and election, both in terms of Article XVII’s complexity and the controversial nature of its theology and how it’s been interpreted over the years.

This Article essentially affirms two essential points. First, that salvation is not found in another law or sect of belief, even if it is framed in light of God’s law. Second, it claims that Holy Scriptures say that salvation is found only in the name of Christ. The second point is easiest to explore, and builds up the second.

The Gospels provide ample passages that prove salvation is found only through Christ. St Jn 3. 36 reads, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Again in St John’s Gospel goes on to record Christ’s own words saying, “I am in the way, and the trust, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (St Jn 14. 6). In the comfortable words read during every Eucharist in the Book of Common Prayer we read St Paul’s words, “This is a true saying, and worthy of all to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” The completion of that passage includes the words, “and not only for our own sins, but for the sins of the whole world.” There are many other passages that continue to make clear that salvation is found in Christ.

The first proposition on salvation outside of the Church is proved by the Scriptural witness as well. St Peter, at Pentecost, was filled with the Holy Spirit and preached to the masses. They were cut to the heart, by his preaching and asked what they must do to be saved. St Peter responded simply, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” (Acts 2. 38). This suggests that failing to repent and be baptised in the name of Christ will preclude one from salvation.

In the Early Church, this was completely understood. There was a clear consensus in the mind of the Fathers that salvation was found in the name of Christ and his Church. From Origen, “Let no one deceive himself; out of this house [the Church], no one is saved.” St Cyprian of Carthage similarly wrote, “Whoever is separated from the Church is separated from the promise of the Church; that if a man have not the Church for his mother, he hath not God for his father; and that as to be saved from the deluge it was needful to be in the ark, so to escape now we must be in the Church.” Pelagian heresy first raised concern over the question of salvation without Baptism, but again it can be seen that among the Fathers there was a consensus that salvation was found in Baptism, which is to say in Christ, given that Baptism represented adoption into sonship through the merits of Christ. St Cyril of Jerusalem argued that, “No one can be saved without baptism except the martyrs.” This theology was mirrored by many other fathers including most notably St Augustine of Hippo who was the great opponent of the Pelagian heretics. In Thomas Cranmer’s Catechism of 1548, his commentary on this article notes that, “if we have heathen parents and die without baptism, we should be damned everlastingly.”

This clear view also lines up with Article XIII on the role of works, which again affirms that salvation cannot be purchased through good deeds. It is not our adherence to the law in which salvation is found, because just as we are justified by faith in Christ (Article XI), our salvation is found in Christ and not in our own works, which properly are viewed as acts processing from our saving faith in Christ, the necessary results of true and lively belief that Christ is our saviour and thus that we are to follow the commandments he has given us and the teachings of his Father commended to us in the Holy Scriptures.

Given this overall clarity of believe in Scripture, the traditional teachings and understanding of the Church and also consistency with the other Articles of Religion, the question then becomes why was this article in particular written? Taking in its historic context, it is a firm statement of belief that opposes compromise that was being put forth.

The Roman Catholic Church in particular was extremely vehement in upholding these teachings, more so than the continental protestants. Rome eventually pushed in the direction of saying not only was there no salvation to be found outside of Christ, but also no salvation to be found outside of Christ’s visible Church, which Rome claimed to be exclusively. This led to consternation and arguments with reformers who attacked Rome’s claim as being an attack on Christ himself. In England, then, there were those who argued at that time that in order to avoid the conflicts that raged on the continent and which had also been visible during various turmoils in England, much of the English Church’s doctrines should be relativized. It is less important to embody the fullness of doctrines than to just be heading generally in the right direction of love and fellowship, they would argue. This Article helps to counter that by stating quite firmly that these doctrines are absolute and rooted in Scripture from which the authority of these Articles is derived.

It is interesting that today, these tendencies towards relativism have become more prominent. As Christians are increasingly exposed to more multi-cultural contexts, particularly in the developed Western world, there is a desire to say, “well my Muslim neighbour is a good person. Surely he will find salvation.” While God may do whatever he likes, his revealed and authoritative truth as we know it says that we cannot affirm there is salvation to be had apart from Christ and the Church. In the same way, this Article reminds us that Anglicanism does deal in absolute doctrines. The Church has authority to declare absolute truths when they are rooted in Scripture. Relativists today are keen to suggest that Anglicanism does not hold to absolute doctrines. It is not just Article VI on the sufficiency of Holy Scripture or Article XX on the Authority of the Church that respond to such suggestions, but the whole of the Thirty-Nine Articles which uphold the authority of Scripture and the absoluteness of Christian doctrine and belief.