It Is Possible

Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that faith is necessary in order to please God. John 14:6 clearly states that Jesus is the unique and only means to life with God. These biblical passages, and others, would seem to exclude any hope of heavenly participation for those with no faith or those who do not believe in Jesus.

In reality, faith can be real whether it is explicit or implicit. Many nonbelievers explicitly reject a false image of God. Still others may have never heard the Gospel in a credible way. Yet these same people may be implicitly responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in such a way that they, “… seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 847).