SOTERIOLOGY

Soteriology is the branch of dogmatic theology that deals with salvation through Christ. In the Catholic tradition, the initial grace of justification and forgiveness, and thereby, eternal life, and divine life cannot be merited by our natural selves but is a free gift of God. By his crucifixion and death on the Cross, Jesus has atoned for our sins once and for all and has reconciled the world to God. He alone has produced this grace for everyone through his single sacrificial offering of himself. In the words of John the Baptist, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). Thus, the Catholic Church has taught from the earliest times that we are saved from the consequences of sin by grace through faith in Christ working through love (cf. Eph 2:8-9; Gal 5:5-6).

Suffice it to say, soteriology is defined as "that part of Christology which treats of Christ's work of salvation. It covers the study of man's fall in Adam and the sins of mankind, which needed a Savior, the doctrine of grace by which the guilt and consequences of sin are removed, and especially the twofold mystery of Christ as Redeemer and Mediator of the human race. (Etym. Greek sōtērion, deliverance; from sōtēr, savior; from sōzein, to save; from saos, safe" (Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary).