originally posted in:Secular Sevens
Just a heads up to Atheists: this isn't an attempt at converting you, and most Atheists are very wrong about what this means. He isn't saying Atheists are saved just because they do good things. This was a mass to Catholics, for Catholics.
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Not that it would do any converting anyways...
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So is he just pandering to the atheist-sympathizing Catholics?
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A lot of Christians, particularly Catholics, think that good actions are worthless if you're not a believer, since there are certain verses which sort of hint at that. But Francis is saying that because, according to the Bible, everyone has the law "imprinted on their heart" so-to-say, that even nonbelievers doing good things is good. The redemption issue is a separate topic that for some reason journalists have been lumping in with that "good deeds" thing.
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There's a verse that goes, "That which you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me." So anyone who does good to another has done good to Christ, while anyone who has done harm to another has done harm to Christ. One interpretation of this could be that anyone who has done good to another, whether or not they are Christian, has accepted Christ, since they have followed his example. On the flipside, a Christian (or anyone else) who has done harm to another has rejected Christ. To my knowledge, there is nothing in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the "official" Church interpretation of the Bible) that makes what Pope Francis said incompatible with Church doctrine.
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That verse is generally applied towards fellow Christians ("the least of these" referring Jesus' disciples, and transitively, all disciples after Jesus). What he's saying isn't anything revolutionary, he's just reminding Catholics that good deeds are good from anyone. Like I said, he isn't relating those good deeds to the redemption discussed in the article.