Lesson 3 Flashcards
Pauls doctrine
Paul’s doctrine, found principally in Romans,
that humans are ‘counted as righteous’/’declared innocent by faith in Jesus Christ.
What does Paul’s doctrine say about justification
-Justification is eschatological and cannot come simply by obeying the Jewish Law: only God can justify humanity.
-Justification is the free gift of God’s grace, because all have sinned through Adam, so God freely redeemed humanity through the atoning suffering and death of Jesus.
-Justification includes those who died before Jesus was incarnated: they too (as with Abraham) are justified by faith.
-We are justified, therefore, by grace and faith, not by good moral conduct.
-This seems to say clearly that good moral conduct is less important than having faith.
The letter of james
-The Letter of James, however, argues that Christians are justified by works.
-If we ignore someone who has no food or clothing, then our faith is useless - ‘faith without works is dead’. Rather, faith is shown ‘by’ works.
Priority of works
-The priority of works is suggested by Jesus’ emphasis on works in the Sermon on the Mount and in his Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, in which he makes no mention of faith, and the righteous are sent to heaven / the unrighteous to hell precisely because they have ignored works.
Martin Luther
-Martin Luther, especially, defended justification by faith alone (sola fide).
-Justification comes through Jesus’ atonement.
-faith of the sinner is passive, not active, and justification is not brought about by human achievement or works but by what God brings about through Jesus Christ.
-The righteousness of Christ is literally attributed by God to the believing sinner. Righteous works are the ‘result’ of being justified by God and being born again through the Holy Spirit.
Importance of both faith and works
-importance of both faith and works, and this was the position taken by the Catholic Church in response to Luther, at the Council of Trent: some human effort must be involved inthe process of justification, since Jesus himself constantly emphasised the need for good works.
-Grace comes to the individual through baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, so faith is developed in the context of the Church.
-This leads to new life in Christ and to good works. Faith is not just intellectual assent to God’s existence: it must entail obedience and good works:
‘He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a liar.’ (1 John 2:4).
On this interpretation, then, James is comparing two kinds of faith: the kind that leads to works and the kind that does not, and the second kind of faith is ‘dead’.
Predestination
Predestination is the view that all events have been willed by God, and that the fate of each individual with regard to the Kingdom has also been willed by God.
Logical problem of predestination
-There is a logical problem with predestination in that it clashes with the belief that God gave humans free will.
-Pelagius rejected predestination on this basis, rejecting also the idea of original sin, and arguing that God’s ‘grace’ was God’s gift of free will to humans.
Augustine - double predestination
-In opposition to Pelagius, Augustine proposed the doctrine of ‘double predestination’: God predestines some to the Kingdom through his grace, but leaves others immersed in their sin to be condemned to hell.
-During the Reformation, John Calvin added to this by arguing that God ordains some to glory and some to eternal torment.
