Jesus Christ Against Invincible Ignorance

Sep 06, 2024

By Brother Peter Dimond, O.S.B.

Perhaps nothing in the New Testament is as clear as the fact that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that you must believe in Him to have eternal life.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”
John 3:36: “He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting: but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 17:3: “Now this is life everlasting, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
John 8:23-24: “And he said to them [the Jews]: You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin.”
John 14:6: “Jesus saith to them: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.”

And Our Lord is clear that those who don’t know Him are not saved.

John 10:14: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me.”

There aren’t many passages in the New Testament that are as destructive to the modern heresy of “invincible ignorance” as John 10:14. Our Lord clearly and definitively tells us that He knows His sheep and that His sheep “know Him.” And if Our Lord’s words weren’t clear enough, He goes on to say, as recorded just two verses later in St. John’s Gospel:

John 10:16: “And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”

Could anything be more clear? Almost all theologians understand Our Lord’s words here about the “other sheep” to be referring to the Gentiles. Our Lord is telling the Jews that He has sheep among the Gentiles, who are of the truth, and that He will bring them into the Church and they shall hear His Voice.

John 18:37: “For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth: every one who is of the truth, heareth my voice.”