A Christian's Road Home to Rome and Journey Onward
One of the most frequent charges I hear, when I point out the inherent chaos and disunity of Protestantism, is that “there is a lot of disagreement in the Catholic Church, too” — that somehow disagreements within the Catholic Church are equivalent to, or excuse, the fundamental doctrinal disagreements between diverse Protestant churches. In particular, …
Continue reading “Justification, unity, and papacy: A blind spot”
In response to a question on Facebook, after I shared this article from Catholic Answers. I might say that “faith plus works” can be a valid but misleading generalization — but not “grace plus works” (even though the article does clumsily put those side by side). Catholics do (and the Council of Trent did) fully …
Continue reading “Why the Catholic Understanding of Justification Is Not “Faith Plus Works””
The conclusion of what I originally wrote concerning grace and justification and “Falling from Grace,” in preparation for a discussion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There’s a lot more where this came from! [Part one. Part two. An aside. Part three.] Baptism: Initial Justification Our Baptism is the moment of our initial justification, the beginning …
Continue reading “Falling from Grace, and God’s Mercy and Forgiveness”
Part three of a longer thought on grace and justification and “Falling from Grace.” [Part one. Part two. An aside.] So, then, is justification merely a forensic declaration acquitting the sinner of sins, as the Protestants say? Or is it, as the Catholic Church teaches, an actual infusion of grace that cleanses and purifies the …
Continue reading “The Catholic View of Grace and Justification”
Part two of a longer piece on “Falling from Grace.” [Part one.] Catholics: Salvation is a Journey So then, Catholics view salvation not as a single, momentary event, but as a road, a journey, a pilgrimage, a race (Hebrews 12:1). We have not yet arrived at our destination, the heavenly Jerusalem. There is certainly, in …
Part one of a series on “Falling from Grace.” Lately the Lord has been putting it on my heart to begin a series on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession. But first there are a few prickly issues which, approaching the subject from a Protestant perspective, I felt I needed to address beforehand. …
The post I meant to make before I was distracted by Luther. This Lent I’ve been re-reading the Pentateuch, since the last time I read it was before I was Catholic and before I had the benefit of Catholic Bible commentaries or an elementary knowledge of the Hebrew language. In reading the story of Abraham …
This was supposed to be a post about Abraham’s faith and righteousness, but instead I started reading Luther, and was unexpectedly carried away with other observations. Now, I freely acknowledge that I may be missing something. Am I somehow misunderstanding Protestant theology? Please, someone correct me if I am. Because today, in seeking to understand, …
Continue reading “Luther, Imputation, and Sin: Surprisingly Irrational”
Part of a series on Baptism in Depth. A few days ago, I had a startling realization about St. Paul. I’ve always been frustrated by Paul’s lack of emphasis on Baptism. If Baptism is what saves us (1 Peter 3:21), why does Paul so seldom mention it in conjunction with salvation? Reformed Protestants are quick …
Continue reading “Justified by Faith: Paul and Baptism (Baptism in Depth)”
Today is the feast day of St. Augustine, and though I have a lot of other things on my plate today, I thought it was an opportune time to make a first post in a matter that’s been boiling over in my head for a while. A couple of months ago I finished reading Alister …
Continue reading “The Doctrine of Justification: Augustine is Catholic”