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japhy
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| Joined: | Thu Apr 26th, 2007 |
| Location: | Princeton, New Jersey USA |
| Posts: | 200 |
| First Name: | Jeff (you can call me "japhy" | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic (Latin Rite) |
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Posted: Thu May 10th, 2007 03:21 pm |
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This comes from the chat held on Wednesday, May 9th.
Trent VI decrees, among other things:
- Man is incapable of justifying himself by nature or the law. (Chapter I)
- Jesus died for all, but only those who bind themselves to him receive the benefit of that saving death. (Chapters II-III)
- Our ability to be justified comes from God's grace given to us without any merits on our part, but with our free cooperation and assenting to His will (because Catholics believe in free will). (Chapters V-VI)
- Along with justification comes remission of sins, as well as the gifts of faith, hope, and charity. (Chapter VII)
- Faith, without hope and charity, is lifeless; as the works which Christ has created us for require those three. (Chapter VII)
- Faith is the beginning of justification, because without faith, it is impossible to please God. But none of the things that precede justification (neither faith or works) are the merit of that justification; it is simply by grace. (Chapter VIII)
- Sins are only forgiven by the mercy of God; it is wrong to say your sins are forgiven simply because you have confidence in that remission of sins itself. It is possible to doubt that you have been forgiven when you are in fact forgiven, and this does not hinder the efficacy of God's grace. (Chapter IX)
- Justification leads to its own increase through the observance of the commandments of God, by faith cooperating with good works (see Matthew 25, the parable of the talents). (Chapter X)
- The commandments of God can be kept and are not impossibilities: his yoke is sweet and his burdens are light. There are light sins (venial) which do not cease us from being just. All men, no matter how holy and just, fall into such daily sins in their life. (Chapter XI)
- "No one ought to flatter himself up with faith alone, fancying that by that faith alone he is made an heir, and will obtain the inheritance, even though he suffer not with Christ, that so he may be also glorified with him." Then they quote Paul talking about "running the race" and chastizing his own body, "lest I myself should become cast-away". They also speak out against a bizarre idea that man actually sins in doing good works. I suppose this came up because people thought it takes away from or doubts the efficacy of Jesus's sacrifice. (Chapter XI)
- Knowledge of your predestination is only possible by some special revelation from God; it is a mystery. Quoting Trent: "except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God hath chosen unto Himself", because people who believe thus would believe they cannot (meaning, have no ability to) sin anymore, or that if they do, they're sure to be forgiven anyway (so they have no need to ask for that forgiveness). (Chapter XII)
- We must persevere in our faith and justified state of grace. Perseverance is a gift from God that allows us to continue in the grace of God. (Chapter XIII)
- Those who lose the grace of baptism can be restored through the sacrament of penance (or reconciliation, if you prefer). Trent quotes John 20 about loosing and binding sins, as well as words of John the Baptist, to show fruits worthy of penance/repentance. (Chapter XIV)
- Mortal sins cause a loss of grace, but not of faith -- it is possible to have faith that does not save, in the case of "fornicators, adulterers, ..." (from Romans) (Chapter XV)
- Good works are a fruit of justification: "our labor is not in vain in the Lord" (Chapter XVI)
There are 33 canons about Justification; these are the ones that deal with works as pertaining to our justification. The Trent formula is "If any one saith this wrong belief, let him be anathema." I'll describe that after I list the canons.- Canon VII: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that all works done before Justification are sins or merit hatred from God, or that the harder you try to be good, the worse you're sinning.
- Canon IX: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that faith alone justifies you, meaning nothing else is required to cooperate in obtaining the grace of justification, and that it's not necessary to "be disposed by the movement of your own will".
- Canon XXIII: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that those who are justified are unable to sin or lose that grace (meaning one that falls was thus never justified/saved, or that you're ensured the ability to avoid sin the rest of your life), except by a special privilege (e.g. Mary).
- Canon XXIV: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that justice received is not preserved and increased through good works, and that good works are merely the fruits and do not increase it. (Again, consider the parable of the talents: he who has and uses gains more.)
- Canon XXV: It is against the Catholic faith (and pretty ridiculous) to believe that good works are sins and deserve punishment.
- Canon XXVI: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that the just should not expect eternal recompense for their good works, through God's mercy and the merits of Jesus, if they persevere to the end and follow his commandments. (See Matthew 25, Romans 2)
- Canon XXXI: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that the justified man sins when he performs good works with a view to an eternal recompense.
- Canon XXXII: It is against the Catholic faith to believe that good works of the justified are merely "gifts of God" and not also "the good merits of him that is justified", or that the justified does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of eternal life and glory. In other words, our good works (once we are justified) are a response to that justification, and merit an increase of the grace of God and eternal life (see Matthew 25).
So what's this "anathema" business? It was directed at those people in the Church who were denying the Catholic teaching and doctrine. In other words, you can't be a Catholic and believe that it's a sin to seek God's mercy because of a fear of Hell (Canon VIII). You cease to be Catholic, because you no longer believe what is the Catholic faith. The anathemas, then, are meant for those who are/were Catholic.
But that requires first that you know the Catholic teaching, which few Protestants do (and regrettably, many who call themselves Catholic). Those who do know the true Catholic faith and ignore it are holding their interpretation of Scripture over the Church's, and that is stopping them from being in full communion with the Church established by Jesus Christ.
But Trent VI still, to this day, does define the Catholic belief. That hasn't changed. As such, it is still one of many dividing lines between the Catholic Church and other churches.
For more on Trent VI, see Dave Armstrong's summary of the Canons ( http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2005/12/council-of-trent-canons-on.html ).
____________________
[Mary said,] "Do whatever he tells you." - John 2:5
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