Letter 50050: You have written to ask me whether the catechumens who die before receiving baptism can be saved.

Augustine to Boniface, greetings. You have written to ask me whether the catechumens who die before receiving baptism can be saved. This is a question that troubles many, and rightly so — because it touches on both the mercy of God and the necessity of the sacraments. My answer is brief, because the matter, though serious, is not as complicated as some make it. Baptism is necessary — the Lord himself said, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" [John 3:5]. We dare not set this aside or treat it as optional. The sacrament has been commanded, and what is commanded must be obeyed. But God is not bound by his sacraments in the way we are. He has bound us to them as the ordinary means of grace. He has not bound himself. The thief on the cross was saved without baptism — and the Lord who saved him is the same Lord who commanded baptism. We must not presume on this exception, but neither can we deny it. For catechumens who desire baptism and are prevented by death — the desire itself, accompanied by faith and repentance, is not nothing in God's sight. We commend them to the mercy of the one who sees the heart. We do not pronounce on their salvation with certainty, because that certainty belongs to God alone. But we do not despair of them either. Seek baptism while there is time. Do not delay what the Lord has commanded. But if death comes first — as it comes for all of us, often without warning — trust in the mercy of the judge who knows what you intended and what prevented you. Farewell.

Letter 50 (A.D. 399) Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99... To the Magistrates and Leading Men, or Elders, of the Colony of Suffectum, Bishop Augustine Sends Greeting. Earth reels and heaven trembles at the report of the enormous crime and unprecedented cruelty which has made your streets and temples run red with blood, and ring with the shouts of murderers. You have buried the laws of Rome in a dishonoured grave, and trampled in scorn the reverence due to equitable enactments. The authority of emperors you neither respect nor fear. In your city there has been shed the innocent blood of sixty of our brethren; and whoever approved himself most active in the massacre, was rewarded with your applause, and with a high place in your Council. Come now, let us arrive at the chief pretext for this outrage. If you say that Hercules belonged to you, by all means we will make good your loss: we have metals at hand, and there is no lack of stone; nay, we have several varieties of marble, and a host of artisans. Fear not, your god is in the hands of his makers, and shall be with all diligence hewn out and polished and ornamented. We will give in addition some red ochre, to make him blush in such a way as may well harmonize with your devotions. Or if you say that the Hercules must be of your own making, we will raise a subscription in pennies, and buy a god from a workman of your own for you. Only do you at the same time make restitution to us; and as your god Hercules is given back to you, let the lives of the many men whom your violence has destroyed be given back to us.