Is Believing That Christ is The Son of God Essential for Salvation?
by Jody L Apple

    There were many significant exchanges that took place during the course of last week's debate in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The following, however, easily ranks as the most significant one.

    On Wednesday night, Edward Connolly, a priest who serves the local parish in Pottsville, was answering a question about the essentiality of the Catholic church for salvation. In the context of his answer, Mr. Connolly referred to Mr. Hazelkorn, a local Rabbi in Pottsville, and the moderator for the evening's discussion.

    Mr. Connolly and Mr. Hazelkorn have been friends for about ten years, the length of time Connolly has worked in Pottsville. Though Hazelkorn, like most Jews, doesn't believe in Jesus as the Messiah, Connolly asked the question: Can he be saved, see God face to face, be in his presence, etc?

    He answered the question by saying: "Who am I to deny salvation to anyone? Do I open salvation to him? Yes, and I think he opens it for me. On 'Good Friday' we pray a prayer for the salvation of Jews that they may come to God in the way they know how."

    Within a few minutes, Jerry Moffitt, a gospel preacher from Texas, answered the question Connolly asked relative to Mr. Hazelkorn and salvation by simply citing John 14:6, which says: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.' " He turned toward Mr. Hazelkorn and said: "I love you sir, but there is no way that you can be saved if you deny that Jesus is the Messiah." Brother Moffitt also alluded to John 8:24, which says: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

    In a few moments, Mr. Hazelkorn, taking the "moderator's prerogative," moved to the podium and said that the participants were to be dignified, but that brother Moffitt had not demonstrated dignity in his remarks. He said there was no excuse for being offensive, and then demanded an apology from brother Moffitt.

    Jerry said that he would never apologize for quoting the words of Christ to a Jew, at which point the Rabbi left the stage saying: "I've heard enough from you."

    After a scheduled break in the question and answer session, another Catholic priest, Paul Rothermel of Bethlehem, addressed the context of John 14:6 by saying that Jesus' reference to "the way, the truth and the life" meant that Jesus was our model of love, nothing more. He made it clear that he did not think the issue of the deity of Christ was a necessary prerequisite for salvation, and stood with his compatriots in allowing the salvation of people outside the Catholic church, even those who denied the divinity of Jesus.

    Is this what the Scriptures teach? The answer, obviously, is no! The two passages alluded to by Jerry Moffitt are but two of hundreds that not only teach the deity of Christ, but which also teach the centrality of Christ's deity relative to the kingdom of God and the divine plan of salvation. In view of what is obviously a flagrant contradiction of Biblical teaching, how did the Catholic priests defend their position. Easy. They simply affirmed that this has been the official position of the Catholic church for years.

    When people maintain a greater love for tradition than for truth, that's the position they allow themselves to maintain. Contradictory, yes, but through it all tradition reigns supreme. And isn't that what really matters?

[Note: This debate occurred in June 1996. One of the Catholic disputants quoted in the article sent me an e-mail threatening a lawsuit if I did not remove the above article from the site.]