The Church teaches that interpretation of the Bible must be done within “the living Tradition of the whole Church”. According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and…
The Bible is inerrant, but we are not: This is a fundamental proposition held by both Protestant literalists and by the Catholic Church. Both groups agree that the Bible is inspired by God such that all that Holy Scripture affirms…
It is not news to say that many Protestants claim that the Catholic Church teaches a form of salvation by merit in contrast to their own belief in salvation by grace. This claim about the Church’s teaching is of course…
Here is a quotation from CS Lewis that I think relates well to my previous post. If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to savage…
Nobody’s perfect. That includes ministers of the local ecclesial communities and Catholic parishes. Some folks would have us believe that it is intolerable for any cleric ever to sin, and that those ministers who habitually do wrong prove that Christianity…
It has been a little while since I had anything to say about the fact that we are saved by grace alone. So I will just slip this little post in here to correct that. The Catechism teaches thus: It…
There is a short and sweet treatment of faith in the first Baltimore Catechism that throws into clear relief the difference between the Protestant and Catholic views of this virtue. It is found in question 321. First, remember that the…
Today we will be considering Catechism sections 1992-1995, which further describe and define justification. Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God,…
In today’s episode we come to a part of the Catechism that teaches us about the effects of justification in our lives. Not only are we reconciled to God but when He receives us He gives us gifts, not unlike…
In this episode of our continuing series on justification as explained in the CCC we come to §1989: The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning…
Aquinas, Etc. 