Faith and works

[Athanasius]

Catholics believe in justification/salvation by Faith and works and not by Faith alone. Many non-Catholic protestant christians object to this understanding. But through out the past 30 years our two faiths have been talking to each-other and listening and what we have found out is that we are not nearly as far off as we once thought. Both Catholics and Protestants believe in salvation by Gods Grace alone or Sola Gratia and in some ways Catholics can be said to believe in Faith alone(although we do not phrase it that way for reasons), depending on what you mean by the term faith.

For example. Protestants usually say we are justified by faith alone and quote Rom 3:28 which says we are justified by faith apart from works of the law. Catholics on one hand do not use the phrase faith alone when referring to our justification because James strictly denies that we are(James 2:24). But can the two sink up and the two faiths come to some understanding? Yes I believe so.

What we have learned in our talks with non Catholics is that we both use terminology different. For example we must first understand what faith means in the bible and to historical christians. Faith can mean mere intellectual assent(just acknowledging that God exist) as is the case with James 2:24. Even demons have that kind of faith, intellectual assent but that does not save them as James tells us. And faith can mean more than intellectual assent in scripture. Faith can mean intellectual assent and trust and love as we see in Gal 5:6. This is a living and saving faith in Jesus that produces acts of love as Paul tell us. This is a saving faith.

Historically speaking, when the average Christian spoke of faith, they thought of the James 2:24 understanding, Merely intellectual assent. So when the Protestant reformers came on the scene and said Faith alone, what the average Christian understood is intellectual assent alone, And they knew that James 2:24 condemned that. Prejudice, pride, ignorance, and and anger on both sides kept us from understanding each others dogma.

When a Protestant says faith alone, he is not saying intellectual assent alone, rather he is talking about a living faith in Jesus that produces works of love. A Catholic is saying the same thing just using different terminology. This shows up in the councils of Trent when the council only condemed one type of faith alone and the council also condemned salvation by works alone or pelagiansism.


There is much more to this biblically than just that. But oiur dialgue has shown us and at least the Lutherans , while we may not 100% agree on salvation yet, the Holy spirit is showing us that we are very close to our understanding, Much closer than we thought we were.

take care and God bless,
Athanasius

[vivamis123]

To me faith means belief + action. What does faith mean to you?

[Athanasius]

Originally Posted by vivamis123

To me faith means belief + action. What does faith mean to you?

Absolutely correct. That is what it means to Catholics too. and that is what I tried to articulate above as the common understanding between Protestants and catholics as that is a very biblical understanding as Gal 5:6 and other verses will show us.

Thank you for your input very much. May our Lord bless you always,

Athanasius

[vivamis123]

I did get that out of your post, but "works" is such a harsh word. LOL To me action/works just means to act upon a belief. To me this is done by not worring or fearing anything or giving thanks for that not yet materialized (such as a healing). It is the action of trust. Would you agree?

[Athanasius]

Originally Posted by vivamis123

I did get that out of your post, but "works" is such a harsh word. LOL To me action/works just means to act upon a belief. To me this is done by not worring or fearing anything or giving thanks for that not yet materialized (such as a healing). It is the action of trust. Would you agree?

Agreed! We Catholics do not fear or worry at all about our faith. We just try to live it and when we mess up we get to confession. I do not think that works is a harsh word since it is used in the bible, but I agree with what you are saying as does the Catholic Church.

I hope that helps. God bless you!