| Traditional Roman Catholicism |
| Water Baptism Is Necessary For Salvation |
 | |  | |  | |  |
The Church has taught from her beginning that water Baptism is necessary for salvation. Baptism is the
entrance to the Church. As our Lord said: " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he
cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
( ST.John 3:5 ). By Baptism we are made members of Christ and His Body. Today many think that the
theological opinion of Baptism of desire suffices for water Baptism. This is not so! Without going into
Baptism of Desire in a great extent, in this article, it suffices to say that this theological opinion is not a
Sacrament. Original sin was transmitted to us all by Adam, and we are all guilty until we are freed through
the waters of Baptism. Let's see what the Church, Popes and Saints say on the necessity of Baptism for
salvation:
Holy Baptism holds the first among the Sacraments because, by it, we are made members of Christ and of
His Body, the Church. And since death has come to all men through the first man, unless we are re-born
of water and the Holy Ghost, we cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Council of Florence
"Decree for the Armenians"
DNZ. # 696
" It is in fact prescribed that no one can attain to salvation without Baptism, especially in view of that
declaration of the Lord, who says: " Unless a man shall be born of water, he shall not have life."
Tertullian (220 A.D.)
" Baptism 12.1"
" By this alone the Jews can receive pardon for their sins, if they wash away the Blood of Christ slain in
Baptism, passing over into the Church, obey His precepts. In Isaiah the Lord says: " Now I will not release
your sins. When ye stretch forth your hands , I will turn away my face from you ; and if you multiply
prayers, I will not hear you; for your hands are full of blood."
St. Cyprian ( 258 A.D.)
" Against the Jews"
" Since by the transgression of the first man when whole progeny of the human race is vitiated, no one
can be freed from the condition of the old man except by the Sacrament of the Baptism of Christ."
Pope St. Leo the Greay
"Epistle XV:10
"Unless one be born of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. No one
excepted: neither the infant nor one prevented by any necessity. When the Lord Jesus came to John, and
John said: " I ought to be baptized by Thee, and dost come to me?" Jesus said: " Permit it to be so for
now. For thus it becometh us to fulfill all Justice" ( Mt. 3:14-15). Behold how all justices rests on Baptism!"
St. Ambrose ( 392 A.D.)
On Abraham, BK IV, ch.II:79
" On account of this rule of faith, even infants are truly baptized unto remission of sins. Moreover, if
anyone says that in the Kingdom of Heaven there will be some place where infants live who departed this
life without Baptism, without which they cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven which is eternal life: let
him be anathema"
Pope St. Zosimus
DNZ:102, n.2 Cannon 2,XVI Council of Carthage
" Baptism is the Sacrament of absolute necessity. Consequently, it is clear that everyone is bound to be
baptized, and that without baptism there is no salvation for me."
St. Thomas Aquinas
" Summa Theologica III, Q.68,art. 1 and Q. 72"
" The Lord has determined that the Kingdom of Heaven be conferred only on baptized persons. If eternal
life can accrue only to those who have been baptized, it follows that they who die unbaptized incur
everlasting death."
St. Augustine
" Faith of the Early Fathers"
Vol. III 1882
" The punishment of being deprived of God and the loss of heavenly glory affects both adults and children
who are unbaptized. The children are punished along with the others, but by the mildest punishment
because the deserve the Punishment of the Loss alone, not the punishment of the senses."
St. Bonaventure
"The Breviloquium" pt. 3 ch.5, 2
" Weep for the unbelievers! Weep for those who differ not a smidgen from the infidels: those who die
without Baptism! They are outside the Royal City, along with those subject to punishment, along with the
damned."
St. John Chrysostom
"On Philippians,: homily III 4, " On Acts of the Apostles," homily I:8;
PG:62:I77;PG 51:61
" Baptism is the distinctive mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them from those who have not
been cleansed in this purifying stream and who, consequently, are not members of Christ."
Pope Pius XII
" Mediator Dei"
" Our heretics, more audacious than Pelagians, deny that Baptism is necessary, not only for the remission
of sin, but for the attainment of Heaven. However, those who imagine that there is another remedy
besides Baptism openly contradict the Gospel, the Councils, the Fathers, and the consensus of the
universal Church."
St. Robert Bellarmine
" On Baptism," Bk. I, ch.4
" If anyone shall say that real and natural water is not necessary for baptism, and on that account those
words of our Lord Jesus Christ" " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit: ( John 3:5) are
distorted into some metaphor: let him be anathema."
Canons on the Sacrament Of Baptism
Can. 2 Council of Trent
" If anyone shall say that Baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema."
Canons on the Sacrament of Baptism
Can. 5 Council of Trent
" If we, for whatever reason,deny the absoluteness of God's law concerning the necessity of water
baptism for salvation, or any other defined dogma, then we too excommunicate ourselves by our heresy
from Paradise, the Church."
Pope Paul VI
On the fifth anniversary of the closing of Vatican II
The point is clear and these references are just a few in a long, long list of evidence of what the mind of
the Church is. Never has she allowed her children to believe without Baptism could anyone be saved. My
plea is for all Catholics to make sure there children have reached the waters of salvation. Do not deprive
them of the kingdom of God. Do not deprive them of receiving the Lord in Holy Communion which they
cannot do unless they have been Baptized. Do not fall for the opinion that everyone somehow has
baptism of desire which is not a sacrament and no one may receive the Lord without water baptism. No
one can be saved without water Baptism. PLEASE!
entrance to the Church. As our Lord said: " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he
cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
( ST.John 3:5 ). By Baptism we are made members of Christ and His Body. Today many think that the
theological opinion of Baptism of desire suffices for water Baptism. This is not so! Without going into
Baptism of Desire in a great extent, in this article, it suffices to say that this theological opinion is not a
Sacrament. Original sin was transmitted to us all by Adam, and we are all guilty until we are freed through
the waters of Baptism. Let's see what the Church, Popes and Saints say on the necessity of Baptism for
salvation:
Holy Baptism holds the first among the Sacraments because, by it, we are made members of Christ and of
His Body, the Church. And since death has come to all men through the first man, unless we are re-born
of water and the Holy Ghost, we cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Council of Florence
"Decree for the Armenians"
DNZ. # 696
" It is in fact prescribed that no one can attain to salvation without Baptism, especially in view of that
declaration of the Lord, who says: " Unless a man shall be born of water, he shall not have life."
Tertullian (220 A.D.)
" Baptism 12.1"
" By this alone the Jews can receive pardon for their sins, if they wash away the Blood of Christ slain in
Baptism, passing over into the Church, obey His precepts. In Isaiah the Lord says: " Now I will not release
your sins. When ye stretch forth your hands , I will turn away my face from you ; and if you multiply
prayers, I will not hear you; for your hands are full of blood."
St. Cyprian ( 258 A.D.)
" Against the Jews"
" Since by the transgression of the first man when whole progeny of the human race is vitiated, no one
can be freed from the condition of the old man except by the Sacrament of the Baptism of Christ."
Pope St. Leo the Greay
"Epistle XV:10
"Unless one be born of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. No one
excepted: neither the infant nor one prevented by any necessity. When the Lord Jesus came to John, and
John said: " I ought to be baptized by Thee, and dost come to me?" Jesus said: " Permit it to be so for
now. For thus it becometh us to fulfill all Justice" ( Mt. 3:14-15). Behold how all justices rests on Baptism!"
St. Ambrose ( 392 A.D.)
On Abraham, BK IV, ch.II:79
" On account of this rule of faith, even infants are truly baptized unto remission of sins. Moreover, if
anyone says that in the Kingdom of Heaven there will be some place where infants live who departed this
life without Baptism, without which they cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven which is eternal life: let
him be anathema"
Pope St. Zosimus
DNZ:102, n.2 Cannon 2,XVI Council of Carthage
" Baptism is the Sacrament of absolute necessity. Consequently, it is clear that everyone is bound to be
baptized, and that without baptism there is no salvation for me."
St. Thomas Aquinas
" Summa Theologica III, Q.68,art. 1 and Q. 72"
" The Lord has determined that the Kingdom of Heaven be conferred only on baptized persons. If eternal
life can accrue only to those who have been baptized, it follows that they who die unbaptized incur
everlasting death."
St. Augustine
" Faith of the Early Fathers"
Vol. III 1882
" The punishment of being deprived of God and the loss of heavenly glory affects both adults and children
who are unbaptized. The children are punished along with the others, but by the mildest punishment
because the deserve the Punishment of the Loss alone, not the punishment of the senses."
St. Bonaventure
"The Breviloquium" pt. 3 ch.5, 2
" Weep for the unbelievers! Weep for those who differ not a smidgen from the infidels: those who die
without Baptism! They are outside the Royal City, along with those subject to punishment, along with the
damned."
St. John Chrysostom
"On Philippians,: homily III 4, " On Acts of the Apostles," homily I:8;
PG:62:I77;PG 51:61
" Baptism is the distinctive mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them from those who have not
been cleansed in this purifying stream and who, consequently, are not members of Christ."
Pope Pius XII
" Mediator Dei"
" Our heretics, more audacious than Pelagians, deny that Baptism is necessary, not only for the remission
of sin, but for the attainment of Heaven. However, those who imagine that there is another remedy
besides Baptism openly contradict the Gospel, the Councils, the Fathers, and the consensus of the
universal Church."
St. Robert Bellarmine
" On Baptism," Bk. I, ch.4
" If anyone shall say that real and natural water is not necessary for baptism, and on that account those
words of our Lord Jesus Christ" " Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit: ( John 3:5) are
distorted into some metaphor: let him be anathema."
Canons on the Sacrament Of Baptism
Can. 2 Council of Trent
" If anyone shall say that Baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema."
Canons on the Sacrament of Baptism
Can. 5 Council of Trent
" If we, for whatever reason,deny the absoluteness of God's law concerning the necessity of water
baptism for salvation, or any other defined dogma, then we too excommunicate ourselves by our heresy
from Paradise, the Church."
Pope Paul VI
On the fifth anniversary of the closing of Vatican II
The point is clear and these references are just a few in a long, long list of evidence of what the mind of
the Church is. Never has she allowed her children to believe without Baptism could anyone be saved. My
plea is for all Catholics to make sure there children have reached the waters of salvation. Do not deprive
them of the kingdom of God. Do not deprive them of receiving the Lord in Holy Communion which they
cannot do unless they have been Baptized. Do not fall for the opinion that everyone somehow has
baptism of desire which is not a sacrament and no one may receive the Lord without water baptism. No
one can be saved without water Baptism. PLEASE!