325. II. THEREFORE IT IS FROM THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT EVERY MAN CAN BE SAVED AND THAT THOSE ARE SAVED WHO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AND LIVE WELL. It is clear from what has been shown above that every man can be saved. Some are of the opinion that the Church of the Lord is only in the Christian world, because there alone the Lord is known and there alone is the Word. Still, however, many believe that the Church of the Lord is general, that is, spread and dispersed throughout the whole world, thus existing also with some who are ignorant of the Lord and who do not have the Word. They maintain that it is not the fault of those men that they cannot overcome their ignorance, and that it is contrary to the love and mercy of God that some should be born for hell when yet they also are equally men. [2] Now since many if not all Christians believe that the Church is general, being called indeed a communion, it follows that there are fundamental general principles of the Church which enter into all religions and constitute that communion. That these fundamental general principles are the acknowledgment of God and the good of life will be seen in the following order:
1. The acknowledgment of God brings about the conjunction of God with man and of man with God, and the denial of God causes their separation. 2. Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined to Him according to the good of his life. 3. The good of life, that is, living well, is shunning evils because they are contrary to religion, thus contrary to God. 4. These are the general principles of all religions by which everyone can be saved.
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