There are certain charges which are worthy of a defense only on account of their frequent repetition. If someone refers to a Calvinist as a hopeless determinist, the well rounded Calvinist might decline to defend such an uneducated attack after hearing it once or twice, but there is a point at which the accused party, [...]
Augustine uses the term “infusion” (like the Council of Trent) and not “imputation” (like Luther and Calvin) when discussing God’s act of justification: “For by this grace He engrafts into His body even baptized infants, who certainly have not yet become able to imitate any one. As therefore He, in whom all are made alive, [...]
It belongs to the natural order for lesser powers, like appetite, to be subject to greater powers, like reason. Since man is a rational creature, his appetite , for example, must be subject to reason although he cannot fully do so in this life. Nevertheless, the inevitable persistence of concupiscence must not deter our earthly [...]
Recently I was discussing the issue of the atonement with a PCA friend of mine and it became apparent that our differences on this doctrine were based on much deeper differences in theology. We traced our subtle disagreement backwards but I will start here from the beginning: with Creation. Creation is not just the beginning [...]
John Kincaid Tom Riello interviews CTC’s newest member, John Kincaid, on his conversion to the Catholic Church. John Kincaid is a doctoral candidate at Ave Maria University. This is more than a typical conversion story and a bit longer than our previous podcasts but well worth the listen. John shares some insightful theology and gives [...]
In Summa theologiae II-II, q. 4, a. 4, Saint Thomas Aquinas examines James 2:24 and the faith that does not justify. Thomas distinguishes between “faith formed by love” and “faith not formed by love”. Thomas says that the faith of each is one and the same. They are not two different kinds of faith. Rather, love [...]
Yesterday Professor Lawrence Feingold gave an outstanding lecture on “St. Paul on Justification.” Listen to the lecture and the Q&A below: Lecture: Q&A: The mp3s for this lecture (and the Q&A) can be downloaded here. I’m creating a forum here for us to discuss this lecture.
What happens in justification and is it instantaneous? In ST IaIIae q. 113, a. 6, Thomas answers that there are four things necessary for justification of the wicked:
Growing up in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), I was taught that the five solas were the central doctrines separating the Reformers from the Catholic Church, and that the convictions revealed in the five solas provided the impetus that triggered the Protestant Reformation. In this paper, I consider one such ‘sola’ — namely, sola [...]
One of the most fundamental points of disagreement between Protestants and the Catholic Church, and one that presently keeps us divided, was the subject of the sixth session of the Council of Trent. This session addressed the doctrine of justification. Some Protestants believe that in this session the Catholic Church “anathematized the gospel” and formally [...]
