Extra Ecclesiam
The Fathers of the Church on Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus Let us examine how “the Church over the centuries” has explained the dogma, Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus . This study will not only give us the “context of the entire teaching of the Church on this matter,” but will also enable us to pinpoint the exact point in time when revisionists began “to explain it” differently. The following quotations are presented in chronological order so that the continuity of the Church’s understanding of the dogma may be clearly shown. (In the interest of space, we give only general source references.) First, we will hear from some of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and various saints: Saint Irenaeus (died A.D. 202): “[The Church] is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. On this account we are bound to avoid them… We hear it declared of the unbelieving and the blinded of this world that they shall not in...