Salvation
Salvation is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, salvation generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its consequences. The academic study of salvation is called soteriology.
Meaning
In Abrahamic religions and theology, salvation is the saving of the soul from sin and its consequences. It may also be called deliverance or redemption from sin and its effects. Depending on the religion or even denomination, salvation is considered to be caused either only by the grace of God, or by faith, good deeds, or a combination thereof. Religions often emphasize that man is a sinner by nature and that the penalty of sin is death.Judaism
In contemporary Judaism, redemption, refers to God redeeming the people of Israel from their various exiles. This includes the final redemption from the present exile.Judaism holds that adherents do not need personal salvation as Christians believe. Jews do not subscribe to the doctrine of original sin. Instead, they place a high value on individual morality as defined in the law of God—embodied in what Jews know as the Torah or The Law, given to Moses by God on biblical Mount Sinai.
In Judaism, salvation is closely related to the idea of redemption, a saving from the states or circumstances that destroy the value of human existence. God, as the universal spirit and Creator of the World, is the source of all salvation for humanity, provided that an individual honours God by observing His precepts. So redemption or salvation depends on the individual. Judaism stresses that salvation cannot be obtained through anyone else or by just invoking a deity or believing in any outside power or influence.
When examining Jewish intellectual sources throughout history, there is clearly a spectrum of opinions regarding death versus the afterlife. Possibly an over-simplification, one source says salvation can be achieved in the following manner: Live a holy and righteous life dedicated to Yahweh, the God of Creation. Fast, worship, and celebrate during the appropriate holidays.
By origin and nature, Judaism is an ethnic religion. Therefore, salvation has been primarily conceived in terms of the destiny of Israel as the elect people of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
In the biblical text of Psalms, there is a description of death, when people go into the earth or the "realm of the dead" and cannot praise God. The first reference to resurrection is collective in Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones, when all the Israelites in exile will be resurrected. There is a reference to individual resurrection in the Book of Daniel. A belief in the afterlife, in which the dead would be resurrected and undergo divine judgment, is not recorded until after the exile.
The salvation of the individual Jew was connected to the salvation of the entire people. This belief stemmed directly from the teachings of the Torah. In the Torah, God taught his people sanctification of the individual. However, he also expected them to function together and be accountable to one another. The concept of salvation was tied to that of restoration for Israel.
Christianity
's primary premise is that the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ formed the climax of a divine plan for humanity's salvation. This plan was conceived by God before the creation of the world, achieved at the cross, and it would be completed at the Last Judgment, when the Second Coming of Christ would mark the catastrophic end of the world and the creation of a new world.For Christianity, salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus' death on the cross was the once-for-all sacrifice that atoned for the sin of humanity.
The Christian religion, though not the exclusive possessor of the idea of redemption, has given to it a special definiteness and a dominant position. Taken in its widest sense, as deliverance from dangers and ills in general, most religions teach some form of it. It assumes an important position, however, only when the ills in question form part of a great system against which human power is helpless.
File:Allegory of Salvation by Wolf Huber.jpg|thumb|upright|Allegory of Salvation by Wolf Huber. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
According to Christian belief, sin as the human predicament is considered to be universal. For example, in the Apostle Paul declared everyone to be under sin—Jew and Gentile alike. Salvation is made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which in the context of salvation is referred to as the "atonement". Christian soteriology ranges from exclusive salvation to universal reconciliation concepts. While some of the differences are as widespread as Christianity itself, the overwhelming majority agree that salvation is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dying on the cross.
Variant views on salvation are among the main fault lines dividing the various Christian denominations: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. A few examples are found within Protestantism, notably in the Calvinist–Arminian debate, and between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, notably when dealing with sola fide during the Protestant Reformation. The fault lines can include conflicting definitions of depravity, predestination, atonement, but most pointedly justification.
Salvation, according to most denominations, is believed to be a process that begins when a person first becomes a Christian, continues through that person's life, and is completed when they stand before Christ in judgment. Therefore, according to Catholic apologist James Akin, the faithful Christian can say in faith and hope, "I have been saved; I am being saved; and I will be saved."
Christian salvation concepts are varied and complicated by certain theological concepts, traditional beliefs, and dogmas. Scripture is subject to individual and ecclesiastical interpretations. While some of the differences are as widespread as Christianity itself, the overwhelming majority agrees that salvation is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dying on the cross.
The purpose of salvation is debated, but in general most Christian theologians agree that God devised and implemented his plan of salvation because he loves them and regards human beings as his children. Since human existence on Earth is said to be "given to sin," salvation also has connotations that deal with the liberation of human beings from sin, and the sufferings associated with the punishment of sin—i.e., "the wages of sin are death."
Christians believe that salvation depends on the grace of God. Stagg writes that a fact assumed throughout the Bible is that humanity is in, "serious trouble from which we need deliverance…. The fact of sin as the human predicament is implied in the mission of Jesus, and it is explicitly affirmed in that connection." By its nature, salvation must answer to the plight of humankind as it actually is. Each individual's plight as a sinner is the result of a fatal choice involving the whole person in bondage, guilt, estrangement, and death. Therefore, salvation must be concerned with the total person. "It must offer redemption from bondage, forgiveness for guilt, reconciliation for estrangement, renewal for the marred image of God."
Latter-Day Saints
According to doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the plan of salvation is God's plan to save, redeem, and exalt all humankind who chose, either in this life, or in the world of spirits of the dead, to accept the grace of Jesus Christ by faith in him, repenting of their sins, and by making and keeping sacred covenants. Since most people die without doing these things, the LDS preaches to them that if they accept Christ, sincerely repent of their sins, and accept ordinances done on their behalf, they can receive salvation on the same terms as the living. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do vicarious work for the dead in sacred temples, drawing from various sources, including the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and statements by LDS leaders.Islam
In Islam, salvation refers to the eventual entrance to Paradise. Islam teaches that only those who die believing in the one God in Islam receive salvation.Narrated Anas, that Islamic prophet Muhammad said:
According to Islam:
Tawhid
Belief in the "One God", also known as the Tawhid in Arabic, consists of two parts :- Tawḥīdu r-Rubūbiyya : Believing in the attributes of God and attributing them to no other but God. Such attributes include Creation, having no beginning, and having no end. These attributes are what make a God. Islam also teaches no less than 99 names for God, and each of these names defines one attribute. One breaks this principle, for example, by believing in an Idol as an intercessor to God. The idol, in this case, is thought of having powers that only God should have, thereby breaking this part of Tawheed. No intercession is required to communicate with, or worship, God.
- Tawḥīdu l-'ulūhiyya : Directing worship, prayer, or deed to God, and God only. For example, worshiping an idol or any saint or prophet is also considered Shirk.
Sin and repentance
Islam describes a true believer to have Love of God and Fear of God. Islam also teaches that every person is responsible for their own sins. The Quran states:
Al-Agharr al-Muzani who was from amongst the companions of Muhammad reported that Ibn 'Umar stated to him that Allah's Messenger said:
Sin in Islam is an action, not a state; Islam teaches that a child is born sinless, regardless of the belief of their parents, dies a Muslim, and enters heaven, and does not enter hell.