A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
named after him (traditionally a Catholic’s first or middle
name was that of a saint), and who had medals or statues
of him for their protection, now learned that he was not a
saint after all. Some people became disillusioned and cynical.
Some Catholics insisted on celebrating the old Latin
mass of the Council of Trent, called the Tridentine mass.
A few bishops even broke away from the church in order
to perpetuate more conservative views and practices.
Catholic Theologians
Probably the most influential Catholic theologian of
the century was Karl Rahner (born 1904), a Jesuit and a
German. He defended orthodox Catholic dogma, such as
the trinity and papal infallibility, but he did so in the spirit
of Vatican II. Indeed, he was one of the leading thinkers
behind that council.
One of Rahner’s best-known concepts was that of the
“anonymous Christian”—a person who can be saved even
without an explicit religious commitment. Rahner taught
that God’s grace can bring salvation through non-
Christian religions, and a person can be saved if he allows
this grace to work in him even though he does not understand
what it is. Rahner went so far as to say, “Even an
atheist . . . is not excluded from attaining salvation, provided
that he has not acted against his moral conscience.”
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), another
Jesuit, was a paleontologist from France. He developed a
mystical theology whereby he sought to integrate
Christian thought with evolution. He described creation
as the process of evolution and sin as the imperfections
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