Aksjomat extra ecclesiam nulla salus w starożytności chrześcijańskiej

The axiom extra eccelsiam nulla salus occurred in the utterances of many early Christian authors. The study examines three of them: Origen, St. Cyprian and St. Augustine. They were convinced that there was no salvation outside the Church because for them the two ideas: the Church and salvation were closely interconnected. As regards the meaning of salvation, it was not a subject of dispute in the Church of the first centuries, but such was not the case with the concept of the Church, which was to subsist in unity, guard the deposit of the Truth and maintain the unbroken apostolic succession. These criteria were by no means fulfilled by schismatics and heretics, so they could offer neither salvation nor valid baptism for the forgiveness of personal sins.