I'm curious..Is there any atheist whose noble act has approached this?

[Balerion]

But a person can act in a truly altruistic manner even if, for example, they are not a professed Christian.

He who knows Love, knows God ----Even if he worships God "as unknown".

Let me add my response with two bible references:



IMHO, it just that Christianity adds a level of knowledge, understanding and clarity that may not be available to the person who chooses to act lovingly but is not sure why or how. The teachings of the Church can help a person sort through the sometimes difficult and contradictory impulses and inputs and feelings that we have to deal with in discerning what actually IS the most Loving thing to do in a given situation.

The best answer I can say on this is that "Love" and "expectation of reward", while not mutually exclusive, tend to be at opposite ends of the Spiritual journey. Often times one begins the journey in order to avoid punishment. This is more "fear" based, but then we are told in Scripture that "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom".
As one moves along the journey, seeking to immerse oneself in Christ, to emulate Him and make Him Lord and center of our lives, this fear of punishment is replaced by a deeper and more truly formed Love. Love then drives out fear.
Spiritual writers often refer to the relationship in nuptial terms. Jesus is the Bridegroom we are the bride. A husband and wife, truly and fully in Love, need not have expectation of reward from the other. This is because each one has, as their first priority, the best interests of the other. Their actions toward the other are not in the form of "labor for wages", or out of fear of punishment, but rather they are gifts freely given out of a desire for the other's highest good. The reciprocity of such a relationship might look like each being "fair" to the other, but in truth neither thinks of "fair" but only of the good of the other.

Of course the above doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the relationship between God and man...Or how and why saintly people do things out of Love without thought to recompense....But it's the best I can say for now....

But if I'm a guy, does that mean I gay-married Jesus?

I'm obviously kidding, but that analogy just goes to show how silly gender roles and the condemnation of homosexuals is.

So let me see if I have this right: even if a person doesn't believe in a god, when they do good, it's because of Jesus?

 

[Mind Over Matter]

There are doubtless many examples of selflessness and self-sacrifice made by atheists daily. The difference is that there's no one to grant them sainthood after the fact.

I think to be canonized a saint, at least two miracles must have been performed after death.

 

[spidergoat]

Do they?...

Yes, it's for the benefit of living Muslims who they feel are oppressed, and to re-establish the Caliphate, much like Israel was established to protect Jews.

He was good because he offered to die in the place of someone with more to lose. Can you really not see the goodness of that act? Please don't act so aloof.

I'm just asking, was his sacrifice due to his faith? Or was it just because that's the kind of guy he was. Or maybe he wanted to die. Suicide was not uncommon in the camps.

 

[Balerion]

I think to be canonized a saint, at least two miracles must have been performed after death.

I'm sorry, let me rephrase: The difference is that there's no one to lie on their behalf about works being done by them after their death.

I find the requirement of miracles after death kind of funny. Has there ever been an instance in which a wannabe saint, I dunno, tipped over a soda machine and didn't qualify? To me, if a dead person did anything other than be dead, that would be impressive.

 

[spidergoat]

Is there an example of an atheist who has given up his life in an act of sacrificial agape, ala Maximilian Kolbe?

How many people died in the Russian Revolution to establish Communism? They certainly might have fought and died out of love for their people.

 

[Mind Over Matter]

I'm sorry, let me rephrase: The difference is that there's no one to lie on their behalf about works being done by them after their death.

I find the requirement of miracles after death kind of funny. Has there ever been an instance in which a wannabe saint, I dunno, tipped over a soda machine and didn't qualify? To me, if a dead person did anything other than be dead, that would be impressive.

Do you mean formally canonized (recognized) as a Saint by the Catholic Church, or do you mean to become a Saint by going to Heaven? Technically speaking, everyone who is in Heaven who is not God is a Saint (including even the angels, I would guess - as St. Michael, St. Gabriel, et al, have the title.)

So if the question is, can an atheist go to heaven for living a selfless and self-sacrificing life, we can only guess, as that decision is up to Jesus.

If your question is, could an atheist be canonized by the Church as a confessor, it would seem unlikely, as there is a requirement to show evidence for canonization that "the venerable servant of God practiced virtues both theological and cardinal, and in an heroic degree." ("An constet de virtutibus Ven. servi Dei, tam theologicis quam cardinalibus, in heroico gradu").

The "theological virtues" are Faith, Hope, and Charity. An atheist would have trouble with at least one of those. All three of those are defined as divinely infused, and an atheist by definition would not be able to demonstrate Faith, as while it is (per the Catholic Encyclopedia) "the secret of one's conscience; to the world it is made manifest by the good works in which it lives, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:2). Such works are: the external profession of faith, strict observance of the Divine commands, prayer, filial devotion to the Church, the fear of God, the horror of sin, penance for sins committed, patience in adversity, etc." That would be a tough sell for an atheist.

An atheist would also be unable to demonstrate Hope, as (again, from the Catholic Encyclopedia) Hope "is a firm trust that God will give us eternal life and all the means necessary to obtain it; it attains heroicity when it amounts to unshakeable confidence and security in God's help throughout all the untoward events of life, when it is ready to forsake and sacrifice all other goods in order to obtain the promised felicity of heaven. Such hope has its roots in a faith equally perfect."

A true atheist would even have trouble with the theological definition of charity, as it requires that God be loved because of his inherent goodness, and our neighbor is loved on account of God. One could argue that an atheist could still be an unwitting servant of God, but how would he show theological virtues while living a life in denial of those virtues, as we define them?

The four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance) could be evinced by an atheist, but as they are gifts of the Holy Spirit, it would be difficult to say one practiced them while denying their source. It would mean that the potential atheist saint was an idiot or two-faced or ungrateful, qualities one does not associate with saints.

A Confessor (one of three classes of canonized saints) was originally used to designate one who suffered great hardship (torture, mutilation, enslavement, etc.), short of death by martyrdom, yet did not cease to confess Christ publicly as long as they lived. St, Maximus the Confessor, who had his tongue gouged out and his writing hand cut off by heretics but still found ways to confess the truth of Christ, would be a good example of this. Post 400 AD, and using the current definition, a Confessor is one who confessed (i.e., professed) the truth of Christ through teaching and deeds, which would eliminate atheists.

If the atheist died as a Martyr for the Church, it would seem to imply that he made a last-minute conversion and renounced his atheism before death, as martyrdom requires that it be on behalf of, and as witness for, the truth of the Church. This would seem to be covered as a Baptism of Blood. But then, the martyr would no longer be an atheist, he would be a last-minute Catholic.

 

[Balerion]

Do you mean formally canonized (recognized) as a Saint by the Catholic Church, or do you mean to become a Saint by going to Heaven? Technically speaking, everyone who is in Heaven who is not God is a Saint (including even the angels, I would guess - as St. Michael, St. Gabriel, et al, have the title.)

No, I'm pointing out that the difference between great unbelievers and great people associated with the church is that the former has no system by which to be officially consecrated. At least not for your "common" heroes; monuments and statues and other commemorations are typically reserved for heads of state and other leaders.

So if the question is, can an atheist go to heaven for living a selfless and self-sacrificing life, we can only guess, as that decision is up to Jesus.

No, I'm asking no such question.

If your question is, could an atheist be canonized by the Church as a confessor, it would seem unlikely, as there is a requirement to show evidence for canonization that "the venerable servant of God practiced virtues both theological and cardinal, and in an heroic degree." ("An constet de virtutibus Ven. servi Dei, tam theologicis quam cardinalibus, in heroico gradu").

Again, not what I'm saying. I was trying to illustrate the difficulty individual examples of nonbelievers doing the sort of thing you saw from the priest mentioned by the OP due to the fact that the church has a system by which they commemorate such individuals. Secular society does as well, but to a much lesser degree. In other words, you've likely never heard of the selfless man who died trying to save his neighbor's dog from a fire, because such a story gets lost in the news cycle and eventually disappears as if it never happened. Meanwhile, the priest who does something similar becomes a saint, and has statues erected in his honor.

The "theological virtues" are Faith, Hope, and Charity. An atheist would have trouble with at least one of those. All three of those are defined as divinely infused, and an atheist by definition would not be able to demonstrate Faith, as while it is (per the Catholic Encyclopedia) "the secret of one's conscience; to the world it is made manifest by the good works in which it lives, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:2). Such works are: the external profession of faith, strict observance of the Divine commands, prayer, filial devotion to the Church, the fear of God, the horror of sin, penance for sins committed, patience in adversity, etc." That would be a tough sell for an atheist.

When you say "faith," you obviously mean "faith in God," otherwise you'd have to assume that no atheist trusts their cheating spouse or their addict brother or their deadbeat father in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. If that is what you mean, then I would agree that an atheist would clearly not be able to show that, nor would they consider it a virtue.

Of course, to say that one requires faith to do good deeds or to have a conscience is a patently false statement. We've seen scientific studies posted to this very website which demonstrate that the opposite of your contention is true, and that it is the unbeliever who is more likely to be charitable.

An atheist would also be unable to demonstrate Hope, as (again, from the Catholic Encyclopedia) Hope "is a firm trust that God will give us eternal life and all the means necessary to obtain it; it attains heroicity when it amounts to unshakeable confidence and security in God's help throughout all the untoward events of life, when it is ready to forsake and sacrifice all other goods in order to obtain the promised felicity of heaven. Such hope has its roots in a faith equally perfect."

Again, by "hope" you mean this alternate and invented definition, and not it's actual definition. I can have hope that my mother is going to be alright, that I'm going to make something of myself someday, that my screenplay sells, etc.. What you're talking about is delusion.

A true atheist would even have trouble with the theological definition of charity, as it requires that God be loved because of his inherent goodness, and our neighbor is loved on account of God. One could argue that an atheist could still be an unwitting servant of God, but how would he show theological virtues while living a life in denial of those virtues, as we define them?

If that's what charity means to a theist, then surely it is better to be an atheist. My charity is more pure, because it comes from a love for my fellow man, whereas yours comes from a sense of duty to your creator, and only happens upon that creator's warrant. I don't need anyone's permission to be kind, nor do I need to love my neighbor through a buffer.

The four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance) could be evinced by an atheist, but as they are gifts of the Holy Spirit, it would be difficult to say one practiced them while denying their source. It would mean that the potential atheist saint was an idiot or two-faced or ungrateful, qualities one does not associate with saints.

Again, I'm not entirely sure where you're going with this, because I never asked if an atheist could be canonized.