The path of salvation is the same for everyone. Each person must enter the state of grace by some form of baptism, by water or by desire or by blood. Then the person must either remain free from every actual mortal sin, or, if he falls from grace by an actual mortal sin, he must return to the state of grace by repentance and forgiveness. Everyone who dies in the state of grace will have eternal life in Heaven.

Over at Fr. Z.’s blog, many of his commentators seem skeptical that an atheist can be saved without converting. But in this post, I’ll explain several different ways that this might happen.

First, an atheist must enter the state of grace. Fortunately, many adults who are currently atheists were raised in a Christian home and were given a Christian baptism as an infant. The Catholic Church and most of the major Protestant denominations all practice infant baptism.

Alternately, an atheist might enter the state of grace by a baptism of desire; this baptism can be implicit. So the atheist does not have to explicitly desire baptism. He can enter the state of grace by an act of love, as Pope Pius XII explains:

Pope Pius XII: “Above all, the state of grace is absolutely necessary at the moment of death without it salvation and supernatural happiness — the beatific vision of God — are impossible. An act of love is sufficient for the adult to obtain sanctifying grace and to supply the lack of baptism….” [Address to Midwives, 29 October 1951, n. 21a.]

An atheist who love his neighbor selflessly, in full cooperation with grace interiorly, enters the state of grace by an implicit baptism of desire. This love of neighbor might show itself in any of the ways suggested by Jesus in the Beatitudes (Mt 5) or in the parable of the returning King (Mt 25).

The only other means to obtain a baptism, and so enter the state of grace is a baptism of blood. For an atheist, this would have to take the form of an act of great self-sacrifice out of love of neighbor, such as risking one’s life to save another. This exterior act must be accompanied by a full interior cooperation with grace; it cannot be mere vainglory. Such an act might not result in the atheist’s death, and so he would be in a state of grace continuously, unless he subsequently commits an actual mortal sin.

It is very fortunate that many atheists were baptized as infants. I suggest that a much higher percentage of atheists attain salvation for that reason. Otherwise, they would have to enter the state of grace by a baptism of desire or of blood.

Second, after entering the state of grace by one of the three forms of baptism, an atheist must either avoid all actual mortal sin, or return to the state of grace after actual mortal sin by perfect contrition out of love for neighbor.

Is it possible for an atheist to avoid actual mortal sin? Is not the choice of atheism a mortal sin in itself? Yes, the choice of atheism is objectively a mortal sin. But his choice might not be an actual mortal sin, if he lacks full knowledge of the grave immorality of his choice to become an atheist. By invincible ignorance, he might avoid falling from grace by actual mortal sin, if he sincerely seeks the truth, but mistakenly arrives at the conclusion that God does not exist.

Even so, the atheist must avoid actual mortal sin in other areas of life as well. It is difficult for an atheist to avoid all actual mortal sin, while living in a sinful fallen world without the help of belief in God and all the benefits of Christianity and Catholicism. But a person might choose to be an atheist in his or her youth. We all know that youths often use poor judgment and are overly influenced by peers. If such a person dies at a relatively young age, he or she might not have committed any actual mortal sin.

Otherwise, an atheist who entered the state of grace by one of the forms of baptism, and afterward fell from grace by actual mortal sin, must return to grace by perfect contrition. Despite his lack of belief in God, an atheist can have perfect contrition for his sins by true sorrow out of love of neighbor. For every type of sin harms our neighbor. And all true love of neighbor is also, at least implicitly, the love of God.

The perfect contrition of the atheist might be implicit, like his baptism. Suppose that an atheist, who has fallen into actual mortal sin, sees his neighbor in grave danger. Then he decides, in full cooperation with grace out of a selfless love of neighbor, to risk his life to save his neighbor. This act is implicitly a type of perfect contrition, for the true love of neighbor, chosen in full cooperation with grace is necessarily also, at least implicitly, a rejection of all sin. Even if an atheist chooses to reject belief in God with the culpability of an actual mortal sin, he might still be saved by a subsequent act of implicit perfect contrition.

In this way, an atheist might attain the state of grace, and might retain or return to the state of grace, despite failing to believe in God and failing to convert prior to his death.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.