Editing Nostra aetate (section)

==Opposition==
''Nostra aetate'', along with the adjacent documents, ''[[Dignitatis humanae]]'' (On Religious Liberty), ''[[Unitatis redintegratio]]'' (On Ecumenism), and ''[[Lumen gentium]]'' (The Church) are among the documents from the Second Vatican Council that are frequently highlighted for the most scathing criticism by traditional Catholics. The central accusation, from [[traditionalist Catholics]], is that these documents express and encourage a spirit of [[religious indifferentism]], that is to say that they dissuade the conversion of non-Catholics (contrary to the Catholic doctrine of ''[[Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus]]'' and thus, within this context, exclude them from the possibility of attaining eternal salvation), that they also discourage or confuse those who are already Catholic by suggesting that other religions may have validity, and that there is a radical discontinuity with what the Catholic Church has already proclaimed Magisterially about non-Christian religions.<ref>[https://catholicherald.co.uk/nostra-aetate-a-break-with-tradition Nichols, Fr. Aidan. (9 July 2010). Nostra aetate: a break with tradition? Catholic Herald.]</ref>

The statement "They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth", has been accused by the [[SSPX]] of being an explicit error within the context of Catholic teaching, due to the fact that the Catholic Church defines the one God in the ''[[Apostles' Creed]]'' and the ''[[Nicene Creed]]'' as the [[Holy Trinity]] (Islamic doctrine explicitly rejects the [[Divinity of Jesus Christ]] and does not acknowledge the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Ghost]] as God)<ref name="error" /><ref group="lower-alpha">The justification for the statements on Islam at the Second Vatican Council cites a non-binding personal letter sent from St. [[Pope Gregory VII]], who was the Pope from 1073–1085, to Al-Nasir, an Emir of Mauritania (in present day [[Algeria]]), which states ''"we believe in and confess one God, admittedly, in a different way, and daily praise and venerate him, the creator of the world and ruler of this world."'' The complimentary letter was sent to this specific Emir who had obliged some of the Pope's requests and had treated some Christian prisoners humanely. Traditionalist critics of the Vatican II statements, who accuse the ''Nostra aetate'' and ''Lumen gentium'' statements of including error, have pointed out that the [[Koran]] had not been translated into Latin yet (and would not be until the 12th century ''[[Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete]]'') and thus Pope Gregory VIII was not fully informed as to the creeds of Islam, an ignorance of their doctrines, which modern churchmen could not claim, since further translations, extensive critiques from a Catholic perspective had long since been prepared: Cardinal [[Nicholas of Cusa]] (1460s) and Fr. [[Ludovico Maracci]] (1698).</ref> and sacred scripture, in [[John 14:6]] has Jesus Christ stating "No one comes to the Father except through Me". However, this accusation has been answered by pointing out that, if Muslims do not worship the true God, then neither did the ancient patriarchs such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Moses, since they had no knowledge of the Holy Trinity. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S. mentions: "In short, although Muslim worship, which includes a flat denial of Christ’s divinity, is not in itself fitting, God-pleasing, or salvific in character, the object of that defective worship—that is, the Being toward whom it is directed—is nevertheless the true God, imperfectly understood, as distinct from a disguised demon or a nonexistent figure of myth or legend."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/muslims-worship-the-one-true-god |title=Muslims Worship the One True God |last=Harrison |first=Brian |date=1 January 2003 |website=Catholic Answers |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref> The document also states "The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems", which traditionalists have argued is inappropriate to say in a Church document, claiming that within all major Islamic schools of ''[[fiqh]]'', the punishment for a Muslim male to convert to the Catholic Church is [[Apostasy in Islam|the death penalty]] and that Islamic law places Christian non-Muslim nations into the category of ''[[dar al-harb]]'' ("house of war").<ref name="error">{{Cite web |title=The Errors of Vatican II |url=https://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/SiSiNoNo/2003_September/errors_of_vatican_II.htm |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=www.sspxasia.com}}</ref>