An English Translation of Juan de Torquemada's Summa de Ecclesia, Book I, Chapter 21

 Chapter XXI. In Refutation of the Error of Those who say that Outside the Unity of this Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, Men can be Saved

Having proven the firmness of the faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, we now set our sight first to this most useful controversy [of salvation outside the Church],  rejecting the pernicious errors of those who are opposed to the holy Church, her apostolic and ecclesiastical dignity, and the mystery of her inseparable unity, who impiously presume to assert the opinion that salvation can be had in their sect, which is outside of the unity of the holy Church. Jews, Saracens, Pagans, also heretics and schismatics who most perniciously assert this are not merely in falsehood or error, but heresy. And although we could demonstrate this from many sources, we have nevertheless decided for the present to take as the foundation of the current disputation those things which, by the power of faith, are attributed in Sacred Scripture. For this reason, the unity of the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church also arises fundamentally from the unity of faith itself, as we have shown above.

The first argument is thus. Faith in Christ is the first and principal foundation of heavenly beatitude, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3, “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid: which is Christ Jesus,” for which the gloss says “the faith of Jesus Christ, which works through love and by which Jesus dwells in hearts—this is the only foundation; there is no other. This most saintly Paul defines faith as such in Hebrews 11: “Now, faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.” And a gloss of Saint Chrysostom says, “it is the foundation of all good things, which no one can change, and without which no good building can stand. It is the foundation of the Christian religion.” Also, as Augustine says in On the Predestination of the Saints, it is a virtue by which those things that pertain to the foundation of religion are rightly and firmly believed. Therefore, it is impossible for those who are outside of the unity of the faith, which is that first foundation of the spiritual building and the source of blessings for the faithful as like a root, to attain ecclesiastical blessing. This is said also by the venerable Bede: “whoever removes himself in any way whatsoever from the unity of faith and society of the Apostle Peter can neither be absolved from sin nor enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The second argument is from the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 11, as he says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” In this place, a gloss says that thus is faith necessary because without it nobody can please God. Hence, seeing as nobody can possibly be saved except by pleasing God through faith, it is evident that he who is outside the unity of faith which the Church believes and proclaims cannot be saved. Hence, in the first chapter of 'De summa Trinitate et fide catholica,' it is said: 'There is one faithful Church, outside of which no one is saved.'

The third argument confirming the reasoning is thus. Eternal salvation, properly speaking, is the effect for which that faith which the holy, universal Church holds concerning Christ is said to be the cause. Where, in Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8, Christ is touched by the woman suffering with a blood condition; when His robes are touched, He says, “daughter, your faith has saved you.” Similar things are said in other places, and in Mark 10, He says, “your faith has saved you,” etc. Also, we may display a particularly excellent testimony to this. As the Apostle says in Galatians 2, “man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith.” Ephesians 2 says, “for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith.” Therefore, who cuts himself off from the faith of the universal Church is excluded from the hope of salvation, and by consequence, all such go to eternal damnation, as other clear testimonies from the Sacred Scriptures and saints show. So does our Savior say in the last chapter of Mark, “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be condemned.” We also read in John 3 that “the Father loves the Son: and he has given all things into his hand. He that believes in the Son has life everlasting: but he that does not believe the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God will be on him.” Hence, Saint Athanasius proclaims in the [Athanasian] Creed, “this is the catholic faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.” Again, Augustine says the same in a certain epistle: “If anyone has been separated from the Catholic Church, however praiseworthily he may think he is living, by this one sin alone, namely that he is separated from the unity of Christendom, he will not have life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."

The fourth argument is thus. The spiritual life of the mind is attributed specially to formed faith, from which perfect ecclesiastical unity itself comes, according to Romans 1, “The just man lives by faith,” and Galatians 2, “I live in the faith of the Son of God,” from which it follows that outside this unified faith, by which the universal Church itself lives, none are in the number of those who live according to the Spirit and have therefore been promised eternal life. Rather, they have a promise of death, and consequently, they must be counted among the damned. As Augustine says, in his epistle to Vincentius, “Just as a limb, if it is cut off from the body of a living man, cannot retain the spirit of life, so a man cannot retain righteousness [while cut off from the Church].”

The fifth is that the virtue of faith is attributed to the sonship of God, as is written in John 1: “He gave the right to become children of God,” and in Galatians 3, “you are all sons of God through faith,” and 1 John 5, “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And every one that loves the Father loves who He begot as well.” Ergo, whoever removes and distances himself from the unity of faith which the universal Church holds cannot be numbered among the sons of God, and consequently cannot be numbered among those who co-reign with Christ in the kingdom of heaven. Where also Cyprian says, “He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not unity of the universal Church.”

The sixth is thus: we read that a certain attribute is assigned to faith, namely that it is the root of all good things, such that where the faith of Christ is not present, no meritorious good can exist. So Augustine says, “where faith is not, righteousness cannot be, since the righteous live by faith.” Hence the Blessed Apostle Paul says in Romans 14, “For all that is not of faith is sin.” And as the gloss puts it, "the life of all unbelievers is sin, because everyone who lives or acts without faith sins grievously, and nothing is good without the highest Good. Where the recognition of eternal and unchangeable truth is lacking, even in the best moral behavior, virtue is false." And Gregory says, “Just as branches wither without the strength of the root, so too all works, though they may appear good, are nothing if they are separated from the strength of faith." Seeing this, it is clear that whoever is outside the unity of the universal Church which is established on the firmness of one faith, being separated, is thus removed from the hope of salvation and is a son of perdition unless he returns to the bosom of the Church. Hence Augustine says, “Hold most firmly and do not doubt at all that every heretic and schismatic will partake with the Devil and his angels in the fire of eternal punishment, unless, prior to the end of his life, he is incorporated into the Catholic life and restored to the Church." Anyone who does not adhere to the unity of the Catholic Church—regardless of baptism, abundant works of charity, or even the shedding of blood (however ambiguously) for the name of Christ—cannot attain salvation. And Jerome, speaking of the house of the holy Church, affirms that it is founded upon the Rock, that is, the confession of Peter’s faith, thus confirming our position. He declares: “Whoever eats the lamb outside this house is profane, just as anyone not found in Noah’s ark perished when the flood came.”

Seventh, the falsehood of the error [that there is salvation outside the Church] is shown clearly from the fact that the virtue of faith is said to be the one entrance to eternal life. Hence, John 10: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door,” that is, believing in Christ, “but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”  Faith in Christ is said to be the door, as the Apostles Paul and Barnabas testify in Acts 14. They say, “He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” There is only one way, therefore, to the harbor of salvation, and that is through entering the gate of Christ in the Catholic Church. Correctly, then, does Peter say in Acts 4, “there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” Hence Christ says to the Jews in John 8 that if you do not believe in Him, you will die in your sins, because long ago, the most illustrious prophet Moses, foretold, when prophesying about Christ, that “the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. Him shall you hear.” Further, he says, “I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow brethren,” and a gloss notes that it is Christ, of the seed of David. Therefore, it is false and manifestly heretical that anyone may have the hope of salvation who is removed from the unity of the faith of the holy Catholic Church. Now, in this next most clear testimony, the Blessed Apostle Paul writes that the philosophers are condemned—those who did not worship God with faith—saying thus: “for they are inexcusable who knew God, but have not glorified him as God,” (and a gloss says, “right living and worship”), “or given thanks, but they became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened," etc. Let this alone be said by us for the purpose of refuting the previously mentioned error.

[Please note: Some citations removed]