[Dominick]

In your #80, you claim that Canon XXIV, "On Justification", simply claims that Good Works are "rewarded in Heaven". However, the Vatican itself mandates instead that Eternal Life itself is the Reward being given for Good Works, not just crowns in Heaven: HERE. "We can therefore say that eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for good works and merits."

You are incorrect. Trent has is right and you misinterpreted it. The refutation of your quote, and your misinterpretation, is there for all to see. The Church does not teach you get to Heaven by works, it teaches you build your faith and piety through faith and works, they go hand in hand.

The crux is the meaning of the word justice. Here is means the reward of the already justified. Surly you can understand how the English language changes.

CANON I.-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.

I can only wonder how you missed the very first Canon. It isn't rejected by the Orthodox, but I can only imagine about the Lutherans. I do know Jack Chick has the Church teaching wrong in the same way you do, and your belief is not in keeping with what the Orthodox teach about Catholicism.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

You are incorrect. Trent has is right and you misinterpreted it. The refutation of your quote, and your misinterpretation, is there for all to see. The Church does not teach you get to Heaven by works, it teaches you build your faith and piety through faith and works, they go hand in hand. The crux is the meaning of the word justice. Here is means the reward of the already justified. Surly you can understand how the English language changes. CANON I.-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. I can only wonder how you missed the very first Canon. It isn't rejected by the Orthodox, but I can only imagine about the Lutherans. I do know Jack Chick has the Church teaching wrong in the same way you do, and your belief is not in keeping with what the Orthodox teach about Catholicism.

On the contrary.

Canon I only teaches that Man may not be justified "by his own works.... without the grace of God through Jesus Christ."

But I have never claimed that the Roman Catholic church teaches that Man is Justified by works apart from the grace of Christ; I have only maintained that the Roman Catholic church DOES teach that Good Works do increase Justification for the purpose of attaining Salvation.

If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema. Trent, Canon XXIV, On Justification

You accused me of "misinterpreting" Trent in saying so; but you have never demonstrated that I have misinterpreted Trent in any way. In fact, in your #80, you claimed that Trent was simply teaching that Good Works are "rewarded in Heaven". Well if THAT was all that Trent was teaching, then who could object? But, as is demonstrated by the evidence of the Vatican itself (my #87; your #68), that is NOT all that Trent was teaching. In fact, Trent was indeed teaching that Good Works increase Justification for the attainment of Salvation itself, not just "Rewards in Heaven":

The Catholic Church maintains, moreover, that the good works of the justified are always the fruit of grace. But at the same time, and without in any way diminishing the totally divine initiative, they are also the fruit of man, justified and interiorly transformed. We can therefore say that eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for good works and merits.

This concurs with what I have said all along, and demolishes your fraudulent attempt to downplay Trent's heretical teaching, and your accusations that I have "misinterpreted" that teaching.

Now, sure, the Romanist Church does claim that "the good works of the justified are always the fruit of grace", in that God gives Man the ability to perform Good Works at all. But that's like saying "Climb this ladder (Good Works) to be Saved -- and it's all of Grace because God gave you the arms with which to climb." Yes, it's true, God gave you the arms with which to climb; but the Dogma "climb this ladder, to be Saved" is still a radically different teaching than the Lutheran teaching "You are Saved, to climb this ladder" or the Orthodox teaching that "You are being Saved, to climb this ladder".

In the end -- you've failed to show that I have misinterpreted Trent in any way; You have in turn mis-stated the teaching of Trent yourself; and the Vatican evidence we have cited demonstrates that I have correctly characterized the teaching of Trent all along, and you have not.