Justification by Works
Posted by: tony on 12/29/2006 10:43 AM
Updated by: tony on 01/02/2007 07:08 AM
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Expires: 01/29/2007 12:00 AM
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I have been in discussions in the comment threads on an anti-Catholic site which will remain nameless. I don't know why I continue to go there, except that other people are going to be taking the screeds of the owner seriously.
She has been corrected over and over and over again. Each time she is corrected, she comes back with "you're misrepresenting Catholicism to make it more palatable to Protestants".
No, we are explaining our faith as taught by our Church, the Church founded by Christ, Himself on the Rock of St. Peter. I am not qualified, as a Catholic, to read the Bible and random Church documents and come to conclusions about my faith. If I am not qualified as a faithful Catholic, why would she, as a Protestant, believe she is?
Furthermore, why would others believe what she says about Catholicism based on that fact alone. Not to mention the obvious bias shown by her with regard to the selections of the catechism, Baltimore catechism, scripture, church documents, assorted apologetics sites, assorted anti-Catholic Protestant sites, many times taken out of context, that she uses to try and prove her pre-conceived notions.
I think the main problem with the idea of Protestantism that she espouses is the "vending machine" kind of mentality. Jesus put in the dollar (his passion, death and resurredtion) so she is owed the candy bar (salvation in heaven with him).
She doesn't seem to regard God as a father figure. Someone who is real and palpable in the here and now. Sure, there seems to be some requirement of "faith in Jesus", but there doesn't seem to be an ongoing relationship with God.
When you are in a relationship with someone, you talk with them often. You tell them how much you love them. When you hurt them, you apologize, and you make amends. When you want something you ask them for it, and if you love them you do the things they require for the maintenance of the relationship.
This is "works".
It is not because you want to "buy" your way into heaven, it's because you love your God and want to please Him.
This is one of the nuances which is lost on the author of that site, much like the difference between latria and dulia.
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