" />
" />
" />
" />
" />| Recent Featured Videos and Articles | Eastern “Orthodoxy” Refuted | How To Avoid Sin | The Antichrist Identified! | What Fake Christians Get Wrong About Ephesians | Why So Many Can't Believe | “Magicians” Prove A Spiritual World Exists | Amazing Evidence For God | News Links |
| Vatican II “Catholic” Church Exposed | Steps To Convert | Outside The Church There Is No Salvation | E-Exchanges | The Holy Rosary | Padre Pio | Traditional Catholic Issues And Groups | Help Save Souls: Donate |  |
Another Lie for “Baptism of Desire”: A Perversion of Pope Leo XIII’s Humanum Genus
Bro. Peter Dimond
Certain supporters of “baptism of desire” (BOD) believe they have discovered proof for the “doctrine” in Pope Leo XIII’s 1884 encyclical Humanum Genus. One obstinate BOD heretic triumphantly cited the passage as if it teaches “baptism of desire.” Others bring it forward as well. However, as we will see, the argument is fallacious. It only further reveals that they cannot substantiate their position with the actual teaching of the Magisterium.
A MISTRANSLATION OF HUMANUM GENUS
Here’s the passage as they quote it, and as it appears in a number of commonly used English translations:
The supporters of “baptism of desire” and salvation without the Catholic faith emphasize this line: “and those who desire from the heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation.” According to them, this means that people who are not baptized and not Catholic can be “united” to the Church and saved by “desire.” Just before citing the passage from Humanum Genus, one obstinately heretical supporter of BOD (who apparently relies on the arguments of a “John Anthony Marie”) enthusiastically declared: “Thank you John Anthony Marie, Baptism of Desire is de fide, pity on those who deny it.”
However, as always, the supporters of “baptism of desire” are wrong. They have 1) relied on a false translation of the passage, and 2) ignored the context which makes the Pope’s actual meaning quite clear even with the false translation.
A PROPER TRANSLATION OF THE PASSAGE
Here’s the Latin of the passage, with a much better English translation:
A proper translation, and an honest assessment of the context, makes it clear that this passage has nothing whatsoever to do with “baptism of desire.” The Pope is describing the ongoing obligation of Catholics to serve God and His Only-Begotten Son if they want “to adhere” to the Kingdom and be saved, rather than fall into the Kingdom of Satan and be lost.
The main problem with the mistranslation is that the translator rendered the verb adhaerescere as “to be united.” But adhaerescere means “to adhere, to cling, to cleave, to stick.” The Pope uses that verb because he’s giving a description of the ongoing requirements and effort needed for Catholics who are in the Church “to adhere” (adhaerescere) to the Kingdom of God on Earth (the Church), so that they are not swept into the Kingdom of Satan. In that very sentence, he says they “must serve God and His Only-Begotten Son with their whole mind and with a supreme will.” Of course, this has nothing to do with “baptism of desire.” (By the way, supporters of “baptism of desire” typically don’t even believe that one must know Jesus Christ, let alone serve God and His Only-Begotten Son in the Church.)
Even if one is relying on the inaccurate translation, the context makes it clear to any honest person that Pope Leo XIII’s passage does not teach “baptism of desire” at all. The passage is simply contrasting, in general terms, the Kingdom of God and those who fight for it, with the Kingdom of Satan and those who fight for it. The fact that supporters of “baptism of desire” bring this passage forward as if it proves “baptism of desire” only further reveals their profound dishonesty and desperation. It also exposes the bankruptcy of their position. They are true enemies of the Church, who will twist whatever they can find into the heresy that people don’t need the Catholic faith and Baptism to be saved.
It's also interesting to note that Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton - a favorite of false traditionalists who believe in salvation outside the Church - also tried to use Humanum Genus. He falsely argued that it supported the idea of salvation without Baptism. The claim is totally false, as the aforementioned points demonstrate. The fact that Fenton made such an argument demonstrates again that he was a modernist dogma denier who distorted and perverted Catholic teaching, as we explain in our article about him.
SINCE THE MAGISTERIUM HAS NEVER TAUGHT “BAPTISM OF DESIRE” EVEN ONCE, THEY MUST RESORT TO SUCH SPECIOUS ARGUMENTS, MISTRANSLATIONS, LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS
In our materials we’ve emphasized that, in all of Church history, neither “baptism of desire” nor “baptism of blood” was taught even once by any pope in any document on faith or morals applying to the universal Church. Not once. That’s why supporters of “baptism of desire” resort to a deadly concoction of lies, fallible arguments, distortions, half-truths, and mistranslations to support their false position. The false argument advanced from Humanum Genus, which we’ve just refuted, is another case in point.
Supporters of “baptism of desire” are similar to the proponents of evolution. Evolutionists rely on half-truths, outright lies and sometimes subtle distortions. They pile them up and then present them to others. Yet every claim they make, when carefully examined, proves to be false. The same can be said about arguments for “baptism of desire.”
The defenders of “baptism of desire” are the equivalent of a boxer in a fight who throws punches at an incredible rate. He furiously throws one after the other, but none of his punches ever connect. Some of them miss wildly; others get closer to the head, yet still miss. Not even one hits the opponent. That’s because “baptism of desire” is not taught in anything stamped with the infallible protection of the Magisterium. Everything brought forward for BOD is from a fallible source, is a distortion or a lie.
THE ACTUAL TEACHING OF PAPAL ENCYCLICALS ON BAPTISM
Since they brought up the teaching of encyclicals, here’s the actual teaching of the Magisterium in papal encyclicals to the entire Church. It is that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism. That of course refutes “baptism of desire.” This is the teaching we find in every papal encyclical to the entire Church on the necessity of Baptism.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE HERETIC “JOHN ANTHONY”
“John Anthony,” the “baptism of desire” supporter mentioned above in reference to the false argument from Humanum Genus, is a very wicked person. He obstinately denies the Church’s teaching on the necessity of water baptism and the Catholic faith for salvation. He also attacks Catholics who hold the true position, while holding that souls can be saved in false religions.
It’s interesting that we knew a man by that name. The John Anthony we knew has a last name that begins with “P”. If they are the same person (which is almost certainly the case), that’s noteworthy; for the John Anthony we knew some years ago claimed to agree with our position on salvation and baptism. However, during a conversation we had with him one day, John made a comment which expressed his belief that Jews, Muslims, etc. could be saved. Upon hearing it we immediately corrected John, and informed him that his position is a heretical denial of the dogma. John responded by stating that he thought the dogma Outside the Church There is No Salvation actually meant that we preach that there is no salvation for Jews, Muslims, etc., but that they actually could be saved without the Catholic faith or even without belief in Christ. In other words, John held the modernist heresy that dogmas are preceptive norms for acting, but not norms for believing.
In the conversation with John, we made it clear that his position constitutes a modernist rejection of Catholic dogma. It reveals that he actually doesn’t believe in the defined dogma at all. Since his modernist explanation is specifically addressed and refuted in our salvation book, he should have realized, well before our conversation occurred, that his view is incompatible with Catholic teaching. John was so dishonest, however, that while holding that Jews, Muslims, etc. can be saved, he convinced himself that he believed in the dogma, and that he even agreed with the material we published. That’s an astounding example of self-deception.
In short, John was a faithless and extremely dishonest heretic. He believed that souls could be saved in false religions and without faith in Christ. Not long after the conversation in which he was corrected, he changed his position. Apparently he’s now a vigorous proponent of heretical priests and the false doctrine of “baptism of desire.” We can see why.
We mention this because if the John with whom we spoke is “John Anthony Marie”, the heretic referenced above (and it almost certainly is), he's another example of the type of demonic unbeliever and liar who is attracted to a tenacious promotion of “baptism of desire.”
They are people who do not (and probably never did) believe in Christ, papal infallibility and the dogmas of the Church. They are enemies of God and they don’t know Jesus Christ. They love “baptism of desire” and fight for it because they are evil. They believe that Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc. can be saved without the Catholic faith. They have no faith in God’s revelation, which teaches the opposite. They are full of dead men’s bones and filth (Mt. 23:37), fit for the eternal fire. That’s why evil people like John Anthony attack the true position and hate true Catholics who promote it; but they won’t escape the eternal responsibility for their lies and unbelief when they go before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
THE DOGMATIC TEACHING OF THE CHURCH THAT NO ONE CAN BE SAVED WITHOUT THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
Below is the dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church on Baptism. It’s perfectly consistent with the official teaching of papal encyclicals quoted above. It declares that there is only one way for people to be saved: to be reborn of water and the Holy Ghost in the Sacrament of Baptism, as Jesus taught in John 3:5. It specifically teaches that even those who desire water baptism, and find themselves in an accident, will lose the Kingdom and life if they depart life without the saving water (Pope St. Siricius). Receiving the Sacrament of Baptism is the only way for people to be saved. However, the all-powerful and just God can and will keep all His elect alive to receive water baptism: the unique help of faith. To obstinately teach anything else in the face of these facts is to contradict and deny the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church.
“Baptism of Desire” Buried (video)
Outside the Catholic Church There is Absolutely No Salvation (book)
www.vaticancatholic.com
Sign up for our free e-mail list to see future vaticancatholic.com videos and articles.
Recent Content
^