faith and works

• Justification by works

  Justification comes first from baptism but can then be lost by committing mortal sins. Justification can then be regained by confession, reconciliation and penance, which involves confessing sins and doing good works to make up for them.
• Purgatory


  A place Catholics believed existed for Christians who hadn't done enough penance for their sins before dying
• Indulgences


  Certificates authorized by the pope granting a sinner freedom from penance, sold for money
• Epistle of James


  Suggests justification is by works, not faith alone
• James: 'Faith without works is dead'
• Parable of the Sheep and the Goats


  Suggests works are important for justification/salvation
• Justification by faith

  Salvation comes to "everyone who has faith", not through good works
• Sola fide

  Justification by faith alone
• Luther rejected the Epistle of James as 'straw' and even tried to get it removed from the Bible
• Council of Trent's response to Luther

  Both faith and works are required for justification because works are an essential part of faith
• The council claimed that faith alone "neither unites man perfectly with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body
• The council was very clear, in direct opposition to Luther, that good works are not "merely the fruits and signs of justification" but are part of the "cause" and "preservation" of justification
• Protestants

  Claim Trent's proclamation contradicts the bible teaching that good works do not merit grace because grace is a "gift" from God
• Catholic view of justification

  1. Righteousness is enabled through baptism. 2. Righteousness is preserved and regained (if lost) by participation in the Eucharist and by penance which includes doing good works.
• Neither faith nor works can be said to merit justification, but both count as progress towards it, which humans can make as their part in a cooperation with God wherein they can ultimately be justified
• E.P. Sanders' critique of Luther's interpretation of Paul

  Paul was actually remarking on the shift in the nature of God's covenant from the Jewish to the Christian version, not discounting justification by works
• Sanders points out that "Paul loved good deeds" and recommends them "all the time"
• Protestants


  Claim there is plenty of other biblical evidence for Sola Fide
• Some Catholics respond that in the historical context of ancient Judaism, the word "believe" meant more than a mere intellectual assent, it also meant to obey