Are the Unbaptized Also Children of God?

 

ARE THE UNBAPTIZED ALSO CHILDREN OF GOD?

On October 26, 1985, Mother Teresa of Calcutta addressed the United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of its 40th Anniversary, saying:

“God loved the world so much that he gave Jesus his son to come among us, to give us that good news, that God loves us. And that he wants us to love one another as he loves each one of us. That he has created us for that one reason: to love and to be loved. No other reason. We are not just a number in the world. We are children of God.

“Last time I was in China they asked me, ‘What is a communist to you?’ I said, ‘A child of God, my brother my sister.’ And exactly that is what you and I are meant to be: brother, sister. [boldface mine] Because the same loving hand of God has created you, created me, created [the] man of the street, created that leper, that hungry man, that rich man, for that same purpose: to love and to be loved.”

https://www.piercedhearts.org/purity_heart_morality/mother_teresa_address_united_nations.htm

—“Blessed Mother Teresa’s Address to the United Nations on the occasion of its 40th Anniversary, Verbatim Transcript by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, New York, January 14, 2004,” Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Mother Teresa’s declaration that everyone, every human being, is a child of God is explicit and unequivocal. Is her claim consistent with Roman Catholic doctrine?

According to Roman Catholic teaching, the grace of becoming an adopted child of God is bestowed only through the administration of the sacrament of baptism.

Baptism brings about an ontological change in the baptized—they become a “new creation,” of which the instantaneous formation of a filial relationship with God is only one of the transforming effects of the sacrament.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

1277 Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord’s will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.

…1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, [boldface mine] a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.

1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated (cf. DS 1609 and DS 1624).

1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, can be saved even if they have not been baptized (cf. LG 16). [boldface mine]

Baptism is necessary for salvation, the Church teaches, but in the absence of baptism by water, the Church declares that a person can also be saved by baptism of blood or by baptism of desire.

The meaning of baptism of blood is straightforward.

“Martyrdom in the case of a person who died for the Christian faith before he or she could receive the sacrament. The effects of martyrdom of blood are the complete remission of sin and the title to immediate entrance into heaven. The expression entered the Christian vocabulary during the first three centuries when many catechumens awaiting baptism and pagans suddenly converted to the Christian faith were martyred before they could receive formal baptism of water.”

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32084

—“Baptism of Blood: Definition,” Catholic Culture

The meaning of baptism of desire, on the other hand, is problematic because it can even entail the repudiation of membership in the Church.

Baptism of desire is defined as follows:

“The equivalent sacramental baptism of water, which in God’s providence is sufficient to enable a person to obtain the state of grace and to save his or her soul. According to the Church's teaching, ‘Those who through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictate of their conscience—those too may achieve eternal salvation’ (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, I, 16).”

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32085

—“Baptism of Desire: Definition,” Catholic Culture

Saint John Paul II, in a General Audience on May 31, 1995, explains the teaching on baptism of desire as follows:

“Since Christ brings about salvation through his Mystical Body, which is the Church, the way of salvation is connected essentially with the Church. The axiom ‘extra ecclesiam nulla salus’—‘outside the Church there is no salvation’—stated by St. Cyprian (Epist. 73, 21; PL 1123 AB), belongs to the Christian tradition. It was included in the Fourth Lateran Council (DS 802), in the Bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII (DS 870) and the Council of Florence (Decretum pro Jacobitis, DS 1351). The axiom means that for those who are not ignorant of the fact that the Church has been established as necessary by God through Jesus Christ, there is an obligation to enter the Church and remain in her in order to attain salvation (cf. LG 14). For those, however, who have not received the Gospel proclamation, as I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, salvation is accessible in mysterious ways, inasmuch as divine grace is granted to them by virtue of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, without external membership in the Church, but nonetheless always in relation to her (cf. RM 10). It is a mysterious relationship. It is mysterious for those who receive the grace, because they do not know the Church and sometimes even outwardly reject her. [boldface mine] It is also mysterious in itself, because it is linked to the saving mystery of grace, which includes an essential reference to the Church the Savior founded.

https://ronconte.com/2015/02/01/roman-catholic-teaching-on-implicit-baptism-of-desire/

—Ron Conte, “Roman Catholic Teaching on Implicit Baptism of Desire,” the reproach of Christ, February 1, 2015

Are the ontological effects of baptism of desire the same as those of baptism by water?

We agree with the following exposition of the teachings of the Council of Trent on justification, which says, yes.

begin

[boldface mine]

Canon four of Trent’s Canons on the Sacraments in General states, “If anyone shall say that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that although all are not necessary for every individual, without them or without the desire of them . . . men obtain from God the grace of justification, let him be anathema [i.e., ceremonially excommunicated].”

This is confirmed in chapter four of Trent’s Decree on Justification, which states that “This translation [i.e., justification], however, cannot, since promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the laver of regeneration [i.e., baptism] or its desire, as it is written: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5).”

Trent teaches that, although not all the sacraments are necessary for salvation, the sacraments in general are necessary. Without them or the desire of them men cannot obtain the grace of justification, but with them or the desire of them men can be justified. The sacrament through which we initially receive justification is baptism. But since the canon teaches that we can be justified with the desire of the sacraments rather than the sacraments themselves, we can be justified with the desire for baptism rather than baptism itself.

…in the same chapter that it states that desire for baptism justifies, Trent defines justification as “a translation . . . to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God” (Decree on Justification 4).

Justification thus includes the state of grace. It is not a mere remission of sins. Since whoever is in a state of grace and adopted by God is in a state of salvation, desire for baptism saves.

…Trent also states: “Justification . . . is not merely remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts, whereby an unrighteous man becomes a righteous man, and from being an enemy [of God] becomes a friend, that he may be ‘an heir according to the hope of life everlasting’ [Titus 3:7]” (Decree on Justification 7).

end

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/baptism-of-desire

—Jimmy Akin, “Baptism of Desire,” Catholic Answers, February 1, 2000

Based on the above exposition, we conclude that those who are marked by the baptism of desire are also children of God. Justified, they are in the state of sanctifying grace. They are children of God and heirs of Heaven.

However, we would add the restriction that, because the baptism of desire is not always explicit, which is to also say it is sometimes implicit—and it might even involve the rejection of membership in the Church—we cannot say for sure whether those who have not been baptized by water are marked by the baptism of desire—because when the baptism of desire is implicit, it is also invisible.

In addition, we would argue that even when the baptism of desire is explicit, the intention behind it is ultimately invisible, so that in the end we cannot say with absolute certainty with respect to any particular “unbaptized” individual whether or not the baptism of desire exists.

So to answer the question, “Are the unbaptized also children of God?”—and by “unbaptized,” we mean those who have either not received baptism by water or are not martyrs of the Christian faith—we would say, “Possibly, by virtue of the baptism of desire,” with the caveat that “in the case of the baptism of desire, we cannot say for sure whether or not it exists in any particular ‘unbaptized’ individual.” In short, our answer is, “Maybe”—and we aren’t being casuistic.

If we interpret the expression “children of God” in the strict theological sense of “justification,” we would diverge from Mother Teresa of Calcutta when she says that everyone is a child of God, because in the case of the unbaptized by water, we don’t know in any one particular case whether or not the individual is justified.

Now, some would say, when we use the expression “children of God,” we aren’t always using it in the strict theological sense of the term. We are using the term loosely. We all share a common humanity which we do not share with the rest of creation, and because all of humanity has been created in love by one and the same God, we are all, equally, children of God.

See, for example, the exposition beginning at 2:13 in the following YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSQYsTtRCQ&t=5s

—Catholic Answers, “Are the Unbaptized Still Children of God?” YouTube video, 4:16 minutes, February 1, 2017

Some would say that the claim that not everyone is a child of God is a type of theological discrimination—it is—that is akin to racism or other forms of unjust discrimination—it isn’t.

“To modern ears, denying some people the label ‘children of God’ seems mean-spirited. It’s as though we want to cast the unbaptized into second-tier humanity, and gloat over our special relationship with God. Obviously, we should not make the distinction in that spirit, but if anyone takes offense, he should be reminded that all are invited to become God’s children.”

https://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/children-god

—Rachel Lu, “We Are Not All Children of God,” Crisis Magazine, January 14, 2015

We would say that all are called to become children of God, and in this respect everyone shares in the dignity of this sublime calling.

However, in the strict theological sense, we cannot claim that everyone is a child of God. The most we can say is…maybe.

On other hand, we can declare—with absolute assurance—that everyone is called to become a child of God in their thoughts, words, and actions, and moreover, that this directive from God applies to everyone without exception. It compels both the “unbaptized” and the baptized—indeed, the obligation of the baptized Christian to live according to their sublime calling is greater than that for the “unbaptized.”

“That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations or act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:47-48)

It behooves us as Christians to receive Jesus’ words with salutary filial fear.