2D Faith and works

Question 1

What does justification mean (in a religious sense)?

Answer 1

• Being made righteous in the sight of G

Question 2

In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church linked justification with baptism and penance; what is the process of making an individual righteous?

Answer 2

1) Baptism - remove OS
2) Confession + penance
3) Priest grants absolution
• Penance led to righteousness ∴ justification = appropriate reward for good works
• Purgatory = closely linked w/ penance: a place of suffering where the souls of believers expiated their sins

Question 3

What made Luther begin to think about justification?

Answer 3

• He felt a deep sense of sinfulness and profound anxiety for his soul’s salvation

Question 4

What did Luther conclude?

Answer 4

• That justification = entirely the gift of G

* Sinners = saved by faith alone (sola fide) - absolute dependence on G’s promise of forgiveness

Question 5

What did Bible passages (named on spec) did Luther base his conviction on?

Answer 5

• Romans 1:17
• Romans 5:1
• Galatians 2:16
• Ephesians 2:8-9

Question 6

Give the quote from Romans 1:17.

Answer 6

• “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

Question 7

Give the quote from Romans 5:1.

Answer 7

• “We are justified by faith.”

Question 8

Give the quote from Galatians 2:16.

Answer 8

• “We know that a person is justified not by the works of law but through faith in Jesus Christ”

Question 9

Give the quote from Ephesians 2:8-9.

Answer 9

• “by grace you have been saved through faith […] not the result of works”

Question 10

Which Bible passage (named on spec) did Luther reject? Why?

Answer 10

• James 2:24 - “a person is justified by works and not faith alone”
• Luther regarded James as “an Epistle of straw” that had “nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it”

Question 11

What should be borne in mind regarding Luther’s dismissal of James?

Answer 11

• He edited the ‘Epistle of straw’ comment out of the later editions of his Bible
• He also praises James’ work, calling it a “good book” “because it sets up no doctrine of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God.”
• Other writers, e.g. Eusebius and Jerome, both recorded doubts about the apostolicity and canonicity of James

Question 12

Explain the link between Luther’s work and indulgences.

Answer 12

• In 1517, Luther applied his theory of ‘sola fide’ to the sale of indulgences
• In Wittenburg (where Luther lived), half of the money went to Cardinal Archbishop of Mainz to offset what he paid for his appointment to the archbishopric
- The commissioner for this collection was Johann Tetzel, who overstated the doctrine on indulgences by saying that the souls of the dead could be liberated from purgatory by payment from living relatives
- “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings another soul from purgatory springs”
• Tetzel’s teaching = clear abomination
• 31 October 1517, Luther posted his 95 Theses against clerical abuses in the RCC and ignited the Protestant Reformation

Question 13

What are papal indulgences?

Answer 13

• When the Pope grants sinners remission from penance by paying a payment
• The proceeds went towards building the church of St. Peter in Rome

Question 14

When was the Council of Trent?

Answer 14

• 1545-63

Question 15

What four questions about justification did the Council of Trent consider?

Answer 15

• Is justification the gift of God, or does it require human effort?
• What is the relationship between faith and good works?
• What is the relation between justification and the sacraments?
• Can people earn justification through works?

Question 16

What were the conclusions of the Council of Trent in 1547 about justification?

Answer 16

• God does not make ppl righteous; they must become righteous
• Good works are required as a condition for ultimate justification
• Ppl cannot bring about their own salvation: they must cooperate w/ grace of G
• Justification works in two phases:
1) Righteousness = mediated through baptism
2) Righteousness = increased by participation in Eucharist and penance, and by doing good works
• There is a middle position btwn assurance of salvation and despair - ppl can have relative, not absolute, certainty of justification
• Neither faith nor works can be said to merit justification: initial justif. = by grace, but works = necessary for progressive salvation

Question 17

Explain the Protestant criticism of the Council of Trent.

Answer 17

• 11 Corinthians 5:19: “in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” ∴ justif. = a declarative act of G’s grace
• Trent proclaimed that “by his good works the justified man acquires a claim to God”, which contradicts Biblical teaching that good works do not merit grace, and that grace is a gift which is unmerited (ppl do not work for gifts)
• Trent proclaimed that “those who work well unto the end […] life is eternal […] a recompense to their good works and merit”; contradicts Biblical teaching that eternal life = gift of G
• John 6:29: “the only work necessary for salvation is to believe”
• Good works are not necessary for salvation; salvation inevitably produces good works

Question 18

What does E.P Sanders argue in ‘Paul and Palestinian Judaism’?

Answer 18

• That the Jewish religion, in which Paul had been brought up, was not simply a salvation by works religion
• On the contrary, there was a “pattern of religion”, which Sanders calls covenantal nomism: the Jewish belief that G had instigated a covenant of grace w/ them, which made them a chosen nation ∴ special status (which they retained by obeying the commandments); the status = a gift, not a reward for obedience
∴ Jews entered the covenant by grace and stayed in by works (the normative Jewish view of Paul’s time)

Question 19

Sanders argued that Paul worked his way from solution to problem. What was the solution? What was the problem?

Answer 19

• Solution: In Jesus, God has acted to save the world
• Problem: Why was the world in need of saving? God had given the Mosaic law - if J was given for salvation, the Mosaic law must not have been

Question 20

According to Sanders, what was the issue with the Mosaic law?

Answer 20

• It gave the wrong kind of righteousness: excluded gentiles + led Jews to boast in their ethnicity and election as the ppl of G

Question 21

According to Sanders, what did Paul realise?

Answer 21

• That ppl are justified not through the Mosaic law but through the cross of J
• Justif. from J = act of G’s grace, not earned by humans
- Can only be maintained by responding to gratitude, keeping commandments, entering into a mystical participation in J

Question 22

Give a key quote from Sanders.

Answer 22

• “Christ came to provide a new Lordship for those who participate in his death and resurrection.”
- ∴ C.tians enter the new covenant by baptism, but must thereafter be made righteous by faith

Question 23

On what grounds can Sanders be criticised?

Answer 23

• Uses non-Biblical, rabbinic sources to override Biblical teaching
• Explains away contradictory evi. e.g rabbinic literature of Paul’s time contains ample evi. of a Jewish belief in righteousness by works
• Fails to address problem of self-righteousness: ppl who believe themselves morally superior ∵ adhere strictly to the commandments