Tridentine Justification & Neo-Thomism

I understand and believe Catholic/Tridentine soteriology / doctrine of justification, but man is it repellant. I have to write an essay partially on it, and when it sits there next to the Lutheran doctrine it's so painfully bad. Not in the sense of innaccuracy or lack of Patristic support etc, but just sad, difficult, and scary.

When you read things about 'killing grace in your soul' versus 'Christ's free gift of salvation' and the overwhelming mercy of the Lutheran gospel, it sometimes makes you wish you could have all the Ecclessiology and Tradition of Catholicism and just take Lutheran justification... I guess that was the Anglican dream really.

Anyway, while it's easier and easier to read (Trent that is), it still strikes a bad note, it's all the 'worst' parts of Catholicism together.

By contrast I'm reading a book by Etienne Gilson called "The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy" and it's amazing. Obviously it's on a really different topic, but it's awesome how he describes the scholastics and how attractive he makes the doctrines rejected by the Reformers seem.

I've found out in Thomism too, they traditionally talk in a way about salvation and predestination that leaves little to free will. NOT that they deny it, or that St. Thomas doesn't write about it elsewhere - after all they firmly believe in it. But they err on the side of Grace and predestination rather than the side of free-will and foreknowledge.

They recognize that it's a mystery how free will works with efficacious grace, but they teach it. And that's the great gospel I always need to hear. That even when I'm completely sinful, Christ is still giving me grace, and has chosen me ante praevisa merita / unconditionally.

The one interesting thing I've found is that describing justification in terms of grace, merit, cooperation, etc is more passe now. It seems like after Jansenism the Church got stuck with how it could talk about it. Thus they've gone to the Greek Fathers and are now big on understanding soteriology through Trinitarian theology and participation in the divine nature etc.

Mastering Sin (2)

It's almost 5 pm meaning that I have another empty Friday night ahead of me. What possibly will I venture to do. There's homework (3 essays, a response paper, and a chapter of Latin), but nothing terribly immediate or pressing. There's indulgence, potentially pizza, chips, and an internet & satellite connection. There's virtue: a walk around my neighbourhood and a Rosary to pray, and then some Thomistic theology I could read. There's introversion, analyzing the way I've failed to enjoy life this week or self-actualize, etc and listen to some Chopin and cry alone in my room. And then there's all of the above.

The last 2 Fridays I've chosen homework and indulgence. Tonight I think I'm going to try virtue and then homework and then introspection. As long as I can avoid indulgence, that's the main goal. To lay in bed for 7 hours till sleep doing nothing would still be better than adding more fat and mortal sin to myself, but if I could do something positive, it'd be even better.

So that's the plan: virtue.

I'm predicting in my cynicism: 1/2 hour of virtue, 1/2 hour of homework, pride over my success, followed by a rapid descent into indulgence and depression.

Then I get to go to work tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out, I'm going for a rosary walk right now.

Our Lady watch over me.

(I stole this picture from googleimages)

Mastering Sin

I always wondered why I constantly failed as a Christian and then even as a Deist/Nominal Protestant and then as a Catholic. It never made sense to me if things were just as simple as: Satan and the Holy Spirit fighting it out for my soul. Certainly I believe that's part of it, but so many decisions seemed completely arbitrary or worse, completely up to me.

I've since studied Aquinas' view of the Fall (through that lovely website Called To Communion) and have entertained the notion that sin is a disease that goes against the natural order of your body and the subordination of the will to Reason. Thus all sin is basically failing to use reason to act in accordance with Virtue and the Spirit instead of simply gratifying desires.

All theories are just theories until you start applying them, and in my constant losing battle with lust and excess of all kind, I'm going to try to reason with myself when I enter temptation. Free Will is much bigger than I'd previously thought and it somehow survives the influence of concupiscence and of grace.

St. Augustine prays:
"O Lord, grant me the power to overcome sin. For this is what you gave to us when you granted us free choice of will. If I choose wrongly, then I shall be justly punished for it. Is that not true, my Lord, of whom I indebted for my temporal existence? Thank you, Lord, for granting me the power to will my self not to sin."

Obviously Scripture is infinitely above even holy Augustine, and so I hope to memorize this verse I've needed to make a way of life:

"If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it." - Genesis 4:7 Douay-Rheims

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." - Genesis 4:7 RSV

It was interesting looking at the Rheims translation here: http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&b=1&c=4 because I could understand much of the Latin. The Vulgate says "et tu dominaberis illius" - lit. and you will have dominion of it (sin).

In one translation it's a moral imperative (RSV), and in the others it's a rhetorical question and promise / result clause. You will master it if you do well, if not it will be at your door, etc.

This I will have to combine with verses I found in studying the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the passage in 1 Pet 2:5 "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.". May my struggle against sin be a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

... knowing me, I'm going to give in right away next time as I've created this big dramatic statement hah.