Noun

Singular salvation

Plural uncountable

salvation (uncountable)

1. (religion) the process of being saved, the state of having been saved (from hell)
2. The process of being restored or made new for the purpose of becoming saved; the process of being rid of the old poor quality conditions and becoming improved.

Related terms

• salvage

In religion, salvation is the concept that God or other Higher Power, as part of Divine Providence, saves humanity from spiritual death or eternal damnation by providing for them an eternal life (cf. afterlife). Salvation has been termed the major theme of the Christian Bible.

Some world religions have the notion that humanity needs salvation from its present condition since humanity does not manifest its purpose of existence and therefore in some sense is "lost." Christianity regards salvation as liberation from the bondage of sin and re-establishing a personal communion with God. In Christianity Jesus is the source of salvation and faith in his saving power is stressed.

Eastern religions tend to stress self-help through individual discipline and practice, sometimes over the course of many lifetimes, though in Mahayana Buddhism bodhisattva and certain buddhas may act as intervening divine agents. Mainstream sects of Buddhism believe that an individual is born into a state of samsara which is analogous to original sin in the sense that the soul is "lost" to Dukkha at the moment of birth because birth precedes death in karmic cycles.

Author Ernest Valea suggests three aspects as important to analyze in assessing the meaning of salvation to a particular religion:

• The resources needed for attaining salvation
• The actual way of getting saved and
• The meaning of being saved.

The theological study of salvation is called soteriology. It covers the means by which salvation is effected or achieved, and its results. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or "redemption" from sin and its effects. By its nature salvation must answer to the plight of humanity as it actually is, offering individuals redemption from slavery to sin, forgiveness from guilt, reconciliation for alienation and "renewal for a marred image of God."

In Buddhism, the problem is suffering and the solution is the Noble Eightfold Path. In some forms of Hinduism, the problem is the cycle of reincarnation and the solution is Self-realization. Some religions claim that salvation can be attained by using only inner human resources such as meditation, accumulation of wisdom, asceticism, rituals, or good deeds. Other religions teach that humans can be saved only through the grace granted by an external personal agent (God, a bodhisattva, an avatar, etc.) One’s duty is to recognize the impossibility of being saved by one's own efforts, and therefore accept grace unconditionally.