Found in session 6 of the Council of Trent --the decree on Justification in
CHAPTER VII. (full document here: http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/trentall.html)What the justification of the impious is, and what are the causes thereof.
This disposition, or preparation, is followed by Justification itself, which is not remission of sins merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man, through the voluntary reception of the grace, and of the gifts, whereby man of unjust becomes just, and of an enemy a friend, that so he may be an heir according to hope of life everlasting.
Of this Justification the causes are these: the final cause indeed is the glory of God and of Jesus Christ, and life everlasting; while the efficient cause is a merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratuitously, signing, and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance; but the meritorious cause is His most beloved only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, for the exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, merited Justification for us by His most holy Passion on the wood of the cross, and made satisfaction for us unto God the Father; the instru-[Page 35]mental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, without which (faith) no man was ever justified; lastly, the alone formal cause is the justice of God, not that whereby He Himself is just, but that whereby He maketh us just, that, to wit, with which we being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and we are not only reputed, but are truly called, and are, just, receiving justice within us, each one according to his own measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to every one as He wills, and according to each one's proper disposition and co-operation. For, although no one can be just, but he to whom the merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet is this done in the said justification of the impious, when by the merit of that same most holy Passion, the charity of God is poured forth, by the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of those that are justified, and is inherent therein: whence, man, through Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted, receives, in the said justification, together with the remission of sins, all these (gifts) infused at once, faith, hope, and charity. For faith, unless hope and charity be added thereto, neither unites man perfectly with Christ, nor makes him a living member of His body. For which reason it is most truly said, that Faith without works is dead and profitless; and, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision, availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by charity. This faith, Catechumen's beg of the Church-agreeably to a tradition of the apostles-previously to the sacrament of Baptism; when they beg for the faith which bestows life everlasting, which, without hope and charity, faith cannot bestow: whence also do they immediately hear that word of Christ; If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Wherefore, when receiving true and Christian justice, they are bidden, immediately on being born again, to preserve it pure and spotless, as the first robe given them through Jesus Christ in lieu of that which [Page 36] Adam, by his disobedience, lost for himself and for us, that so they may bear it before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may have life everlasting.
also from comment 48 here: http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2013/01/holy-church-finding-jesus-as-a-reverted-catholic-a-testimonial-response-to-chris-castaldo/#comment-46784
First, you claim that there is a contradiction between Trent Session 6 Can. 9 and Scripture, namely (Rom 3:28, and Eph 2:8-9). But there is no contradiction. Trent Session 6 Canon 9 is condemning the notion that nothing at all is required on the part of the Catechumen to prepare to receive the grace of justification at baptism, that he need not repent of his sins or pray or love God or resolve to seek baptism. St. Paul, however, in Romans 3:28 is not speaking of what is required to prepare to receive the grace of justification in baptism, but of the impossibility of justification by works done apart from grace. Likewise, what Trent says about the necessity of preparing to receive the grace of justification in baptism is fully compatible with the truth St. Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9, according to which saving faith is a gift from God, and not from ourselves, and that saving faith is not merited by works. So both of those passages are fully compatible with what Trent Session 6 Canon 9 says. And this also shows why your claim that the Catholic Church anathematizes St. Paul is incorrect.
also Canon 12 states:
Canon 12.If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy,[117] which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema.
describing what this means in comment 152 here http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2009/12/justification-catholic-church-and-the-judaizers/
Yes, faith is more than trust, because trust has no necessary connection to divine revelation or articles of faith, whereas faith is that by which we yield our entire assent to whatever has been divinely revealed, because God has revealed it. One could “trust in divine mercy” while rejecting what God has revealed. That wouldn’t be true faith, because one could trust God in that way even if there were no divine revelation at all. Divine faith, by contrast, is assent to what is supernaturally revealed. See “St. Thomas Aquinas on the Relation of Faith to the Church.”
Great summary of the doctrine here:http://nannykim-catholicconsiderations.blogspot.com/2014/05/justification-summary-of-catholic.html
No comments:
Post a Comment