What "work" did Abraham actually perform? Actual action, "a work" was imputed to him, tho his hand was stayed. If Abraham's hand had not been stayed, what would be the difference between our Father & Molach, who people believed demanded the sacrifice of children?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Beyond believing in God, faith is believing God. There is an implied trust in God in the kind of faith most "Protestants" are talking about.
shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Who was James talking about "showing" his faith to, God?
Some Protestants seem to believe that all one has to do is believe the train exists and all will be well.
Some may believe this, but it is certainly not how I understand Sola Fide, "faith".
But what Catholics actually believe is that the train -- Grace -- is the only way to Heaven, that it is the only means by which we are saved, that we can't take another route and can do nothing about getting to Heaven without that train. But we also teach that we have to believe in the train's existence and board it through repentance and obedience to what Christ teaches.
Using the same analogy, my church would tell you God puts us on that train. We don't board it on our own & in truth, many of us do everything in our power to stay off of that train, because we love sin instead of God. "Works" (repentance and obedience) will help keep us from jumping off of it to our destruction and they are a byproduct of God putting us on His train.
What would cause y'all to board the "Grace" train, rather than the one heading to Hell? You just that good, smart or deserving in some way? You go through the motions, "do works" until you've become good, smart or deserving enough to board?
What would cause y'all to board the "Grace" train, rather than the one heading to Hell? You just that good, smart or deserving in some way? You go through the motions, "do works" until you've become good, smart or deserving enough to board?
That is the hinge question isn't it. If it's just a matter of our having the intelligence or goodness or luck -- whatever a monotheist thinks "luck" is -- to get on the train, then we're semi-Pelagian, it seems to me (or worshippers of the whore goddess Fortuna, I suppose).
As I said to Miss Lucy Goosey, I think there's as good a discussion as an of our Papist view in Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Prima Secundae, Q. CXI et seq. and especially Question CXIV, articles 1 and 2.
The best my poor mind can do with it (especially since I'm at work and for some reason they don't have the Summa here -- what kind of exercise studio is this anyway?) Is that there are graces all the way. Grace at the start, and grace prompting and enabling the "works", (Gimme one with the works, please) and subsequent to the works.
I actually think Iscool's formulation is good. It's not exactly ours, but it's good.
One simply cannot work one's way to grace, for two reasons: To say we are able to do a good work - good in outcome and good intention, and good all the way through, is to fail to take to horror of Original Sin sufficiently seriously. And the other other reason is sort of tautological: if we earned it, it ain't "Grace".
But, in love and perceiving ourselves to be in Love, we find ourselves given good works, both the desire and the ability -- and I stress that the desire and the ability are all graces -- to accomplish them.
But first and last we are surrounded by Divine gifts and Divine giving.
Or, another aspect of it: St Paul says," Now I live,yet not I, but Christ lives in me." And my gloss would be that if I ever do anything that might have something good in it, it is the Christ living in me who did the good part.
And this is one reason that when you say to a Dominican, "That was a GREAT sermon!" he's more likely than not going to respond,"Praise God!"
(Except the ones who know me. THEY say, "Okay, Dawg," - they know my online name - "what do you think's wrong with it?" and then dialectically wrestle me to the ground and stomp on me.)