Having attended conservative American evangelical churches for decades, I can say with confidence that many of their members hold serious misconceptions regarding both the history and theology of the Catholic Church—anything to justify their separation from it.
Primary, according to some evangelicals, is the claim that the Catholic Church has corrupted the gospel. They usually say this occurred during the Council of Trent in the 16th century. The Catholic Church, they say, added works to grace for salvation and its believers purchased their own salvation through indulgences; these and numerous other fallacies are taught and accepted regarding Catholicism in many American churches.
Let’s take a deeper look at what the Catholic Church teaches, using its own language and devoid of misrepresentation.
Basic Similarities in Theology
In my world travels of many years, I have discovered that there are both believers and nonbelievers in Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox communities.…I call all people brothers and sisters in Christ and Christians if they have received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and place their faith in Him for eternal life. If they have done that, even if I disagree with some of their doctrine and practices, they are my brothers and sisters in the Lord (Dr. Bill Bright Founder and President, Campus Crusade for Christ International).
The real cleavage in Christendom today is…between biblical orthodoxy and heterodox worldviews. Even the most reactionary of Protestant fundamentalists has more in common with Cardinal John O’Connor and John Paul II than with John Campbell and John Spong (J. Daryl Charles, Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue: Basis, Boundaries, Benefits).
Catholics can agree on a host of issues with evangelicals; they both believe in the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments and that the Bible is the infallible revealed word of God. That the Triune God exists as the creator of the universe, the rewarder of the just, the punisher of the wicked, and the giver of the Holy Spirit to believers. That heaven, hell, angels, miracles, and direct intervention from God are true realities. Catholics and evangelicals agree on the nature and person of God, original sin, that Adam and Eve were real historical people living in an earthly paradise and that mankind and the physical world have fallen.
Jesus is divine, fully God and man, born of a virgin, and the savior of the world who died for the sins of mankind and was buried and raised three days later. He will return to bring in his kingdom here on Earth. Both groups know Jesus as Lord and have a personal relationship with him. They ask him for forgiveness for their sins. Evangelical pastor Rick Warren said, “When you talk about Pentecostals, charismatics, evangelicals, fundamentalists, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians …Well they would all say we believe in the trinity, we believe in the Bible, we believe in the resurrection, we believe salvation is through Jesus Christ. These are the big issues…but the most important thing is if you love Jesus, we’re on the same team.”
All the mainstream protostant denominations agree with the early Church councils and hold to the Nicene Creed. And believe in Saint Augustine’s salvation by grace. In Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, Protestant scholars Norman Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie wrote, “Both Catholics and orthodox Protestants have a common creedal and Augustinian doctrinal background. Both groups accept the creeds and confessions and councils of the Christian church of the first five centuries. Both claim Augustine as a mentor.”
What Saves? Doctrine or Jesus?
As much as anyone, I encourage correct dogma and mental understanding of what is true, but I think we tend to separate into groups and force God and salvation into our own understanding. We tell God how he can save and when and who. We tend to make salvation dependent upon our mental understanding, theology, and Biblical exegesis, leaving God out of the picture. God cares far more about the heart than our catechisms.
In the Book of Acts, if someone declared Jesus the Son of God, that was enough to call them a believer and a true convert (8:37). The first letter of John says that anyone who believes Jesus is the savior, is born again and of God (I John 4:2, 5;1). Further, anyone who seeks after him will find him (Revelation 3:20; Matthew 7:7; 2 Chronicles 15.15). What the Bible does not say is that anyone who seeks correct dogma in all things will find it; as the apostle Paul said, we only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). But we will meet the Savior and find salvation if we seek him.
Jesus is how we are saved, not by our intellectual study or agreement with a specific denomination’s statements. Likewise, according to Acts 2:38, repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name will provide the blessings of the Holy Spirit without mentioning doctrine or theology. Further, in 1 Corinthians 12:3 Paul wrote that “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Catholics, of course, call Jesus Lord and God and believe and do all the things previously mentioned.
If we are to follow qualifiers to mental belief and justification, Paul gives us a great one in Romans chapter 10, where he writes the following:
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10: 9-131
So, according to Paul salvation can come from a confession that Jesus is Lord, believing he has been raised from the dead, or calling upon him as Lord, as with the thief on the cross in Luke 23 who said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” and Jesus said “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”It did not take an emotion-ridden “conversion” experience, an evangelical gospel presentation or understanding of justification by faith alone; the thief simply looked to the Savior on the cross and asked him to remember him, and Jesus did the rest.
Or we could look at the Old Testament saints found in Hebrews 11. Not one of them knew the “gospel” as we do today, yet they were all justified, saved, in heaven with God due to their faith. They reacted to the limited knowledge they had of God and salvation, trusted in God, and he was able to do the rest.
In Luke 18:13-14, Jesus tells his disciples the story of a tax collector, a real sinner, who does nothing but repent to God, asking for his mercy. Jesus tells us the man walked away justified! I think it is safe to say this man would not be able to recite dogma or what are declared orthodox Christian views on salvation. He had no idea of Jesus; he only counted on the mercy of God. Having a repentant heart was enough.
God looks for any opportunity to save, and he is able to. He does not need us to first learn, study, and properly grasp doctrines; he did the work on the cross. He only needs a willing heart; the mind is less vital.
Further, in Matthew 5:19-20, Jesus speaks of false teachers in the Torah, yet still calls them saved, the “least in the kingdom.” Even heretics, or those who teach false views, can be saved. Salvation does not depend on theology. In 1 Corinthians 3:5-16, Paul speaks of people whose foundation was built on Jesus and who have the spirit within them. Yet, they added works on top of their faith; those works would be “burnt up,” says Paul, but the individual would still be saved. In other words, if someone has Christ in them yet does works to “add onto” their salvation, thus adding works to faith, they still will be saved because their views of works and faith are not what save, but their faith in Jesus alone. They might think works are helping, but their mindset does not matter, they already have Jesus. Likewise, Galatians 2 was written for believers who add works to their faith.
In another works-related incident, Acts 15:5 reads, “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.’” They were ruled incorrect, yet were still considered believers despite their desire to add works to salvation.
No church is perfect, and God is able to save a man with an imperfect understanding of doctrine. All the Old Testament saints and many of the early NT Jewish converts lacked perfect doctrine. Yet their place is in heaven.
Messianic Jewish author Tim Hegg said it was foreign to Jewish thought that mental belief or agreeing with a specific creed saves you. Jews would perceive if a person was saved by detecting the spirit of God within them as proof of an ongoing relationship with God. Further, a Jewish view of faith always included action (Matthew 7:16-17), and repentance. In Jewish thought, it is the motive and the heart that are essential, not doctrinal creeds. As evangelical author Chuck Missler said, “It’s not what you know, but Who you know.”
When I was first saved, I was an “on fire” evangelical, yet for the following few years, I was a oneness Pentecostal (nontrinitarian), not because I rejected the Trinity but because that is what I mentally thought the Trinity was (I did not reject the full divinity of Jesus). That was my understanding of the Trinity from my own study of the Bible and how others described it to me, and I wondered why everyone else seems to have a hard time grasping it! This is a “heretical” view, yet I was thoroughly Christian, and the evangelicals I attended Church with, gathered for Bible study with, and so on perceived me as eternity-bound.
Do Catholics Corrupt the Gospel? Missing in Translation
As a result, a Protestant will think that the Catholic is saying that we need to do works in order to come to God and be forgiven. This will confirm his biases against the Church and play into all those stereotypes left over from the Reformation—the ones where Catholics are depicted as holding a false gospel according to which we need to earn our place before God by our own efforts. But the Catholic Church does not teach this. According to Trent, “none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. ‘For, if by grace, it is not now by works, otherwise,’ as the Apostle says, ‘grace is no more grace’ (DJ 8, quoting Rom. 11:6)—(Jimmy Akin Faith and Works, Catholic Answers).
The early reformers wanted to reform the Church, not destroy it. Martin Luther stated, “The Roman church is holy because it has God’s holy name, the gospel, baptism, etc.” John Calvin said that, “Roman Catholics are also Christians. We indeed, Sadoleto [Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto, with whom Calvin was corresponding] do not deny that those over which you preside are churches of Christ.” The Dutch neo-Calvinist scholar and politician Abraham Kuyper wrote, “Calvin…considered Romish believers his allies.”
But something has occurred in the minds of more recent Protestants, as some now say Catholics have lost the gospel. I believe this misunderstanding is due to a lack of dialogue.
Catholic apologist and former evangelical seminary graduate Jimmy Akin has produced an excellent work titled, The Drama of Salvation: How God Rescues You from Your Sins. Ideally placed to understand both sides, Akin does an excellent job “translating” Catholic language so Protestants can understand and vice versa, showing we are far closer on issues than many believe. Much of this section comes from his book.
Despite some misunderstandings among evangelicals, Catholics have not corrupted the Gospel. This often gets overlooked because Catholics and evangelicals use different terminology. When evangelicals refer to salvation, they speak about what Catholics mean by justification. Conversely, when Catholics talk about salvation, they refer to what Protestants describe as sanctification. Thus, good works can be referred to when Catholics speak of salvation, and evangelicals conclude Catholics believe works are part of justification.
As said, when we as Protestants talk of salvation we mean justification, which puts us as sinners in a right standing with God. We separate sanctification or any works or fruits of our conversion from justification. When we use the term salvation, it corresponds to Catholics’ understanding of justification. Both groups agree that justification comes by grace alone through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross.
However, to Catholics, “salvation” also includes what Protestants would call sanctification. Since Catholics use a different definition than Protestants, this leads to confusion and false understandings.
Further, confusing the dialogue even more, Catholics also use the term salvation to refer to temporal salvation (Genesis 49:18-20, Exodus 14:3-4, 1 Samuel 12:7, Matthew 8:23-25, 14:28-31, Luke 1:68-71) and thus man can be a temporal savior and can provide temporal atonement (Proverbs 16:6, 2 Kings 13:4-5, Nehemiah 9:26-27, Obadiah 1:21). In Catholicism, if you help others become saved, such as by preaching the Gospel, you are agents of Christ, and, in a sense, saviors (Romans 11:13-14, 1 Corinthians 7:16, 9:22, 1 Timothy 4:16, James 5:19-20, Jude 1:22-23) but only God can provide eternal atonement and salvation.
Add to that the two separate meanings for the term “by faith alone” and separate uses of the salvation/justification/ sanctification process as a one-time event or past, present, and future, which further cloud the issue. Along with Catholics’ distinction between temporal and eternal sins, there is no wonder for the confusion.
For example, Protestants view salvation as the time we were saved and converted. We then go through the process of sanctification as we walk the Christian life, hopefully becoming more like Christ. However, the Catholic definition of salvation includes both justification and sanctification (CCC 1989). Thus, it is a past, present, and future process. Or “I was saved, I am being saved, I will be saved” (1 Peter 1:8-9, Philippians 2:12, Romans 13:11, 1 Corinthians 3:15, 5:5, Ephesians 1:14). There is no separation, because they view their original conversion as the same process as the grace that brings about sanctification.
So the evangelical will ask the Catholic (which makes sense from the evangelical’s theology and language) if the Catholic is “saved” or how they know that they are saved. Catholics see sanctification as a continuation of justification and, as such, will necessarily give a works response to show the evidence or fruits of grace at work in their lives; this will appear to the evangelical that Catholics are relying on works to be saved. But they are not saying that their work earned God’s grace, forgiveness, and so on; they are simply pointing to evidence that grace is at work in their lives, that they are cooperating with the justification that Christ’s sacrifice freely instilled into them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) explains:
Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s words “Thus you will know them by their fruits” – reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty (CCC, 2005)
Catholics do no works of merit and cannot merit justification before God (CCC 207). Catholics are both justified and sanctified by grace and all works or merits are not of their own but credit belongs to the grace of God that enabled them to cooperate (CCC 2008, 2003, 1999, 2009-2011, 2001, 2027, 1700, 1695, 1687). The only “works” they do are cooperation with God’s grace he gave to them to sanctify them. This is all a work of God and his grace freely given to them, and all credit goes to God. Evangelical apologist, theologian, and philosopher William Lane Craig, in a YouTube broadcast entitled Catholicism (Doctrine vs. Practice), acknowledges that Catholics don’t view their salvation as coming from merits but from grace, and that Catholics are a Christian denomination.
However, true repentance and conversion will produce good works with which God rewards believers in eternal life (Romans 2:6-7, 6:22, Galatians 6:6-10, Matthew 3:8-10). Protestant scholar Norman Geisler wrote of Catholics, “Even man’s good works, which are the necessary fruit of regeneration, are produced by God’s grace. This teaching was made clear by Augustine, Aquinas, and even the Council of Trent.”
So, what do Catholics teach regarding justification or evangelical salvation? What makes them right before God? Well, they teach the same thing as evangelicals; faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Catholic Teachings: Justification Comes from Christ Alone, by Grace Alone
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself. Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ (CCC, 1996).
If any one saith, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the teaching of human nature, or that of the law, without the grace of God through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema (Council of Trent Declaration on Justification Canon 1)
Like evangelicals, Catholics teach that justification comes from Christ alone by grace alone (CCC, 2001). And CCC, 618 reads, “Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.” Further, “Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ” (CCC, 1992). Jesus’ death on the cross for mankind’s sins is where eternal salvation is derived from; it is our “only hope,” and only “the cross merited justification for us” (CCC, 617). It is only faith in Jesus’ mission of being sent to the cross that merits our salvation (CCC,161). And it is a gift of grace from the Holy Spirit that “justifies and sanctifies us” (CCC, 2003, also see CCC,1998, 432, 741). Charles Carroll, the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “On the mercy of my redeemer I rely for salvation and on his merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to his precepts, for even these, I fear, a fallacy a mixture will render unavailing, and cause to be rejected.”
Justification is unearned grace by faith through Jesus’ death on the cross. In The Salvation Controversy, Catholic Jimmy Akin wrote, “Only Christ can make atonement for us…only he can deliver us from eternal consequences of our sins.” In The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Catholic scholar Ludwig Ott wrote, “Jesus Christ made atonement for us and merited the grace by which we are saved.”
All who claim the title “Christian” will be able to agree on the following two truths: salvation is by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8) and salvation is through Christ alone (Acts 4:12). These biblical facts will be our foundation as we explain the teaching of the Catholic Church. …The Catholic Church has never taught we “earn” our salvation. It is an inheritance (Galatians 5:21), freely given to anyone who becomes a child of God (1 John 3:1)—(Sal Ciresi, Catholic writer).
The Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification in chapter 7 stated, “Lord Jesus Christ…merited justification for us by his most holy passion on the wood of the cross.” In a Catholic pamphlet on forgiveness William E. Rabior wrote, “it is the central work of God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, all we have to do is accept it and receive it.”
Catholics teach that we are drawn to and believe in Jesus by grace through the Holy Spirit, leading to our confession of Jesus as the Son of God (CCC, 424). Those who do this already have, and are experiencing, the beginning of eternal life (CCC, 1130, 163).
Catholic believers ask for forgiveness for their sins, which was provided to them through Christ’s work on the cross. It was a one-time deal, done once and for all; as Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin wrote of the forgiveness of our sins; “Christ paid that in one fell swoop 2,000 years ago, no more eternal payment of the eternal debt of our sins is needed” (see CCC, 571). The Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed (used at baptisms and masses); these are C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity” and have defined a Christian for most of the past two thousand years.
Do Catholics Reject Justification by Faith Alone?
Man is unable to ‘justify’ himself with his own actions, but can only truly become ‘just’ before God because God confers his ‘justice’ upon him, uniting him to Christ his Son. And man obtains this union through faith. In this sense, St Paul tells us: not our deeds, but rather faith renders us ‘just’. This faith, however, is not a thought, an opinion, an idea. This faith is communion with Christ, which the Lord gives to us, and thus becomes life, becomes conformity with him. Or to use different words faith, if it is true, if it is real, becomes love, becomes charity, is expressed in charity. A faith without charity, without this fruit, would not be true faith. It would be a dead faith (Pope Benedict XVI, The Doctrine of Justification: The Apostle’s Teaching on Faith and Works).
Catholic scholars like Louis Bouyer re-evaluated Luther and his justification by faith alone as consistent with Catholic tradition and harmonized with Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas (Norman Geisler and Ralph E MacKenzie, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences).
Medieval theologians, such as Lanfranc of Bec and Bruno of Cologne in the 11th century and Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th, first used the term “faith alone,” referring to justification. Catholics should rightly claim the term as their own since it was Catholics who originated it.
However, terminology is vital once more when discussing “by faith alone,” as Catholics reject a specific meaning of it, a definition some Protestants used during the early Reformation, not the ones modern evangelicals utilize.
When Catholics say they object to “by faith alone,” they are referring to how it is used in the Bible. The only place “by faith alone” is used in the Bible is in James 2:24, which reads, “A person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Thus, Catholicism is more Biblically accurate than evangelicalism in its use. Christians should reject the term “by faith alone.” A mental belief, a “faith alone” is not what saves; even the demons believe. The Council of Trent was specific in condemning this sort of “faith alone.”
If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema (Canon 14, Council of Trent Decree on Justification); italics mine.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?…So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2: 14-24; italics mine).
The Letter of James rejects a mental faith or belief that bears no fruit. A true conversion of the heart and making Jesus Lord of your life will necessarily bear fruit, and as we stated earlier, Catholics see this as a continuation, both the initial “born again” stage and the process of your faith bearing fruit in your life, the demonstration that salvation is within you. A mental faith or belief (as even the demons have) without accepting Jesus as savior does not save.
The Council of Trent specified that “this faith alone” is to be rejected, not modern evangelical use of it. Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin explains that the Council of Trent’s rejection of faith alone “was never applied to all Protestants as a group, and it doesn’t apply to anyone today…it rejects a particular use of the formula…Trent is therefore concerned to reject ‘faith alone’ when it’s used to say that you don’t need to in any way cooperate with God’s grace, that a merely intellectual faith would save you. And that’s correct. Merely agreeing with the truths of the theology is not enough to be saved.”
Catholics rightly reject this mentality of by faith alone. They accept a saving faith that expresses itself in love. It was medieval Catholic theologians who first used the term “faith alone” referring to justification. And it might surprise evangelicals to hear a Pope state that Luther’s justification by faith alone was accurate in Catholic teaching, so long as it is not used in the terms condemned in the Letter of James and the Council of Trent:
Our common identity within the diversity of cultures is Christ, and it is he who makes us just. Being just simply means being with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Further observances are no longer necessary. For this reason Luther’s phrase: ‘faith alone’ is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence to believe is to conform to Christ and to enter into his love. So it is that in the Letter to the Galatians in which he primarily developed his teaching on justification St Paul speaks of faith that works through love (cf. Gal. 5:14)—(Pope Benedict XVI, The Doctrine of Justification: From Works to Faith).
Just as evangelicals declare, those good works Catholics do after faith in Christ and receiving his grace are not what saves or justifies them. They naturally result from their cooperation with the Holy Spirit but do not merit that same grace or justification. They are the result of, not the causation. Jimmy Akin wrote, “Good works flow from justification; they are not something we need to do to get into a state of grace.” In the end, we discover we are saying the same thing in different ways.
Since Sanctification is separated from Justification Protestants correctly say, using their terminology, that Justification is by faith alone – works they do in Sanctification do not belong to (their) Justification…Catholics do believe in Justification by faith but not in Justification by faith alone, because Catholics understand Justification to be a process, not one-time event (Jimmy Akin, Faith and Works. Catholic Answers).
Catholic-Protestant Joint Declarations
Rather than attempting to get the better of the other, to find a way to prove our side right and the other wrong, like political parties at war, many evangelicals, other Protestants, and Catholics have sought to genuinely understand each other’s terminology and viewpoint. In doing so, they conclude that we are all one in Christ, and our differences on salvation are minor.
The cradle of the Reformation, the Lutheran Church, follows the teaching of the most influential reformer, Martin Luther, who declared we are saved by faith alone. Many modern Lutheran scholars came together with Catholics and understood what we have discussed already. Not surprisingly, they agreed on almost everything and published it under the Joint Declaration On The Doctrine Of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. (Some questions have been raised regarding whether the Catholic Church indeed endorsed the claims made by its scholars in the joint declaration. However, neither side retracted its positions; instead, the Vatican provided some clarifications, and Pope Benedict XVI supported the declaration in 2005).
In 1999, this joint declaration on the doctrine of justification was given after 30 years of work by both Catholic and Lutheran scholars (also adopted by the World Methodist Council in 2006) and approved by the Vatican. They found the differences were based on “emphasis rather than fundamental disagreements.” Lutheran theology, “when translated into Catholic language,” fits within Catholic theology and does not fall under Trent’s condemnation. Thus, the churches are not separated over the issue of justification but for other reasons only.
In fact, Lutherans have dropped their objection to the Catholic Church over issues related to faith alone and justification and understand that Trent, and the Catholic Church do not condemn “by faith alone” as used by modern Lutherans!
Thus the doctrinal condemnations of the 16th century, in so far as they relate to the doctrine of justification, appear in a new light: The teaching of the Lutheran churches presented in this Declaration does not fall under the condemnations from the Council of Trent. The condemnations in the Lutheran Confessions do not apply to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church presented in this Declaration (Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church).
If we translate from one language to another, then Protestant talk about justification through faith corresponds to Catholic talk about justification through grace; and on the other hand, Protestant doctrine understands substantially under the one word ‘faith’ what Catholic doctrine (following 1 Cor. 13:13) sums up in the triad of ‘faith, hope, and love’ (Karl Lehmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg, eds., The Condemnations of the Reformation Era: Do they Still Divide? (quoted in the above as LV:E 52).
Likewise, dozens of Evangelical and Catholic scholars came together for a joint declaration. In it, they found that they also both agreed on the modern Protestant meaning of “by faith alone”. It is worth quoting at length as they jointly declared:
Always it is clear that the work of redemption has been accomplished by Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross…We agree that justification is not earned by any good works or merits of our own; it is entirely God’s gift, conferred through the Father’s sheer graciousness, out of the love that he bears us in his Son, who suffered on our behalf and rose from the dead for our justification…The New Testament makes it clear that the gift of justification is received through faith…By faith, which is also the gift of God, we repent of our sins and freely adhere to the gospel, the good news of God’s saving work for us in Christ. By our response of faith to Christ, we enter into the blessings promised by the gospel. Faith is not merely intellectual assent but an act of the whole person, involving the mind, the will, and the affections, issuing in a changed life. We understand that what we here affirm is in agreement with what the Reformation traditions have meant by justification by faith alone (sola fide)…It is our responsibility and firm resolve to bring to the whole world the tidings of God’s love and of the salvation accomplished in our crucified, risen, and returning Lord…All who truly believe in Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters in the Lord and must not allow their differences, however important, to undermine this great truth, or to deflect them from bearing witness together to God’s gift of salvation in Christ.
We Affirm Together Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the first and final affirmation that Christians make about all of reality. He is the One sent by God to be Lord and Savior of all: ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ (Acts 4) …We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ. Living faith is active in love that is nothing less than the love of Christ…All who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ. Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ…We affirm together that Christians are to teach and live in obedience to the divinely inspired Scriptures, which are the infallible Word of God…The New Testament makes it clear that the gift of justification is received through faith… By faith, which is also the gift of God, we repent of our sins and freely adhere to the Gospel, the good news of God’s saving work for us in Christ…Our entire hope of justification and salvation rests on Christ Jesus and on the gospel whereby the good news of God’s merciful action in Christ is made known; we do not place our ultimate trust in anything other than God’s promise and saving work in Christ. This excludes ultimate reliance on our faith, virtues, or merits, even though we acknowledge God working in these by grace alone (sola gratia).
And for what it is worth, the Catholic Church holds that Protestants are “brought up in the faith of Christ” and “have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church” (CCC, 818, also see 819). Medieval scholar William of Tyre wrote that despite being viewed as schismatic, out of communion with Rome, or even heretical, the Christians in the Holy Land were “true Christians.”
My Lord and my God
Evangelicals hold other misconceptions related to salvation. Some believe the Catholic Church does not emphasize or teach a personal relationship with Christ is needed. This is false.
At the Second Vatican Council Cardinal Leo Suenens stated “Experiencing Christ comes of necessity…the object of faith is not found in doctrinal propositions concerning God, but in God himself known and loved in a personal relationship…to be a true Christian means, furthermore, to have met Jesus personally, as savior, and as lord. I must accept Jesus totally, as a reality, the lord and master of my life.” In Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis stated “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day.”
Faith opens us to knowing and welcoming the real identity of Jesus, his newness and oneness, his word, as a source of life, in order to live a personal relationship with him. Knowledge of the faith grows, it grows with the desire to find the way and in the end it is a gift of God who does not reveal himself to us as an abstract thing without a face or a name, because faith responds to a Person who wants to enter into a relationship of deep love with us and to involve our whole life (Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Sermon, Sunday 14 August 2011).
The CCC Prologue says, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”, and that “the life of man [is]to know and love God.” Jimmy Akin wrote “what is both necessary and sufficient for being put right with God is a proper relationship with Christ.” In Invitation: a Catholic Learning Guide for Adults, Archbishop Hélder Câmara wrote, “I really believe in Jesus, Jesus for me is not just an abstract idea, he’s a personal friend.” Christ is the center of all teaching of the Catholic Church (CCC, 426).
The Catholic faithful seek and have a personal relationship with Jesus. The CCC 2558 reads “This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, celebrate it, and live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.” The CCC, 687 reads “those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them.” And CCC, 299 speaks of “man, himself created in the ‘image of God’ and called to a personal relationship with God”. Historian Régine Pernoud wrote of 12th century people who were advised to “always have God in your heart.”
I have spoken with numerous Catholics who tell me they have a deeper relationship with Jesus than the evangelicals because they experience his presence through the Eucharist. Further, like many evangelicals, they continue the personal relationship through prayer both at the Mass and at home. Matthew Kelly’s Rediscover Catholicism and Michael Buckley’s The Catholic Prayer Book are texts that show Catholics have a personal, inward, and God-centered relationship and that Mass is not just going through the motions.
Born Again Catholics
If they were not born again in Christ, they would not be justified, since in that new birth there is bestowed upon them, through the merits of his passion, the grace by which they are made just (Trent Decree on Justification, Chapter 3).
Catholics are called to undergo a true conversion of the heart through God’s grace. They are encouraged to look to Jesus for forgiveness of their sins and to seek God’s grace to transform their hearts into ones that will follow Him. In Pope John Paul II’s 1990 encyclical section 46 he wrote, “Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his disciple. The Church calls all people to this conversion.”
The Catholic Mass begins with the congregation bowing their heads in silence and asking the Lord to forgive their sins. Catholics know they are sinners and in need of God’s forgiveness and that no Catholic, Saint or Pope can rely on works for salvation (CCC, 1697, 1847, 2092, 27, 2092, 150, 431-433).
Catholics often ask for forgiveness for their sins and are constantly reminded that they are sinners and to seek God’s Mercy. In Rediscover Catholicism, Matthew Kelly wrote, “I am a sinner and I need to be saved. I need to be saved from myself and from my sin… we all have spiritual disease, we all have sins.”
At every Mass, Catholics say the Lord’s prayer and ask God to “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” The Fatima Prayer is often said at Mass by all as “O My Jesus, forgive us our sins.” The Eastern Prayer of the Heart reads, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Anima Christi, Act of Hope, the Rite of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and others are constant reminders to Catholics to seek mercy and forgiveness.
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy (Catholic Act of Contrition).
“Father, Forgive.” At every Mass, the priest holds up the chalice and, in the name of Jesus, says, “This is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Now, imagine yourself before St. Peter at the gate of heaven. Peter opens the scroll of your life, and you see that the list of your sins stretches on and on. Overwhelmed, you say, “I can’t believe I committed so many sins!” You fear that things won’t go well for you. But as Peter reads out the first sin, it disappears from the scroll. Then the next one disappears. And the next one. And the next one. God’s mercy has triumphed, and you are completely forgiven! Forgiveness is a father running to meet his prodigal son—who has rejected him, left him, and hurt him—with open arms. It is God comparing himself to Hosea, a prophet who took his wife back after she had committed adultery (Hosea 1–2). It’s Jesus wanting to give a Samaritan woman a share in his living water despite the fact that she had been divorced five times and was living with another man out of wedlock (John 4). It’s Jesus, hanging on the cross in agony, praying, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). No one on the face of the earth has been hurt as much as God. No one has been treated more unjustly. No one has more of a right to withhold forgiveness than our Creator. Yet he chose to forgive us. And he chooses to forgive us over and over and over again. He sent his only Son to us to make the ultimate sacrifice of his life—all so that he could make things right between us (John 3:16-17). Grace Fills the Void. No matter who you are, no matter how great your sins are, God loves you. He forgives you. He wants to heal you and draw you close to his heart (The Word Among Us. Daily Meditations, March 5-April 20 Lent 2014, “Father Forgive Them”).
Catholics are told they must be born again (CCC, 1430). CCC, 526 states, “we must be ‘born from above’ or ‘born of God’. Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us” and in 1432, “The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart.” Michael Buckley wrote, “As Catholics we are a new creation.” American Catholic Governor Bobby Jindal stated “the most significant moment of my life was when I turned it over to Jesus Christ and acknowledged Him as my Savior.” In his book, The Body, Chuck Colson, a name most evangelicals will be familiar with, used Catholic leaders throughout the world as examples of truly born again, dedicated Christians.
Instead of relying on their good works, Catholics know they are sinners in need of forgiveness and salvation provided by Christ, as we covered earlier. “Who can say he is not a sinner? Nobody. We all are,” says Pope Francis. Michael Buckley wrote, “Have mercy on me O God, have mercy, and pardon me, a wretched sinner. In the name of your beloved Son, Jesus, I humbly beg you to wash me with the precious blood so that my sins may be entirely remitted.” Father Timothy Norris told his church during a sermon “no matter how righteous and holy we think we might be, we are all just sinners.”
Indulgences
Many evangelicals have a mistaken understanding of indulgences, believing that when they were in use Catholics could buy their salvation, having their sins forgiven through the purchase of an indulgence rather than through Jesus’ sacrifice.
However, indulgences themselves do not forgive sins. Forgiveness is accomplished solely by Jesus on the cross. Indulgences only relate to the punishment sinners receive in purgatory after death (assuming they will go to purgatory) for sins already forgiven.
A drunk driver who kills a man in a crash might find forgiveness, but he still pays the penalty for his crime temporally. And indulgences apply solely to temporal, not eternal, punishments due to sin, addressing only the temporal consequences of those sins. Further, these sins have already been eternally forgiven by Jesus through his work. To receive an indulgence it is assumed the sins were already eternally forgiven and that the receiver is already heaven-bound.
Indulgences do not and cannot buy someone out of hell. Jimmy Akin wrote, “Once a person is in hell, no number of indulgences will get him out.” Indulgences were never meant to replace salvation or the forgiveness of sins; they don’t deal with eternal consequences in any way. Instead, they apply only to believers destined for heaven and undergoing purification of their sins before entering heaven. Historian Thomas Asbridge wrote “the Church was careful to avoid any direct assertion that Christians might buy their way to salvation.”
Since God is perfect and cannot be in the presence of sin, a Catholic, being a sinner, must be purified if they die with unconfessed, imperfectly repented sin. This purification occurs in purgatory. Their salvation is not being decided; as previously said, they are already heaven-bound. The purpose of purgatory is to cleanse those who have already received forgiveness for their sins.
At least in theory, people could not simply purchase indulgences. Almsgiving and charitable acts were expected to be made in response to receiving indulgences, but this process was often misused. As a result, the Council of Trent discarded any indulgences that involved monetary transactions. And Jesus remains the source of forgiveness for any sin, temporal, or eternal.
Conclusion
The irony of the Protestant Reformation is that much of what Luther believed and thought was authentic Catholic doctrine that had been distorted by abuses and incorrect practices in the church. (Alan Schrek, The Compact History of the Catholic Church, as quoted in Norman Geisler and Ralph E MacKenzie, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences).
It seems that both our groups, throughout history, have exaggerated our differences at various times, often due to misunderstandings. We have always been closer than we imagined, and Catholics and evangelicals are one in Christ.
Featured: Trumpington Cross (7th century).
