[MarkBsnr]

***There is the view of the Catholic Church, a view espoused more and more by Protestants: Justification is making a man righteous in his own person. It is by faith and works that a man is transformed in the righteous person that is justified before God. ***

Have a little more out of that bottle. This is untrue and was expressly denied by the Catholic Church many long centuries before Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were puling infants.

The rest of your post, which builds upon this falsehood, is wrong, wrong, and more wrong. Try actually finding out what the true Church is all about before you post ludicrous posts building an easily refutable strawman.

How about heading over to New Advent and finding out what they ACTUALLY say about the Grace of God. You might advance your Christianity to the point where you repudiate some of your former beliefs.

[Lord_Calvinus]

***Have a little more out of that bottle.***

How is this not making it personal, the idea that I either post drunk or drink for inspiration? Weren't you also the one that made a rude disparaging remark on this thread about Dr. Eckleburg being a woman?

This is untrue and was expressly denied by the Catholic Church many long centuries before Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were puling infants.

[snip]

How about heading over to New Advent and finding out what they ACTUALLY say....

Very well:

Justification: A biblio-ecclesiastical term; which denotes the transforming of the sinner from the state of unrighteousness to the state of holiness and sonship of God.

On Sola Fide:
The subjective principle of the Reformation is justification by faith alone, or, rather, by free grace through faith operative in good works. It has reference to the personal appropriation of the Christian salvation, and aims to give all glory to Christ, by declaring that the sinner is justified before God (i.e. is acquitted of guilt, and declared righteous) solely on the ground of the all-sufficient merits of Christ as apprehended by a living faith, in opposition to the theory — then prevalent, and substantially sanctioned by the Council of Trent — which makes faith and good works co-ordinate sources of justification, laying the chief stress upon works. Protestantism does not depreciate good works; but it denies their value as sources or conditions of justification, and insists on them as the necessary fruits of faith, and evidence of justification.

Seeing that I am unaware that Trent has been repealed as FALSE I assume that we can still believe that the Churche's statements on justification still stand. And, that statement being that faith and works are "co-ordinate" sources of justification because a man must be made righteous in his own person. But, really, we need look no further than the Catholic's OWN definition which discusses exactly as I said, the transformation from unrighteousness to righteousness. This is why Catholics use the phrase habitus justificationis, the STATE or habit (literally) of justification. This is in his own person, not in the person of Christ. The person himself must be in a state of righteousness in order to be declared just by God, which the Catholic church at least, thankfully, does still attribute that solely to God.

This is also why, using New Advent, your faith remarks (see justification) that Protestanism does believe "the observance of the moral law is not necessary either as a prerequisite for obtaining justification or as a means for preserving it." This is, of course, in contrast to Catholic belief that observance to the law is a prerequisite for obtaining justification and a requirement for keeping it.

Also note this (also under justification):

For according to the teaching of the Catholic Church the righteousness and sanctity which justification confers, although given to us by God as efficient cause (causa efficiens) and merited by Christ as meritorious cause (causa meritoria), become an interior sanctifying quality or formal cause (causa formalis) in the soul itself, which it makes truly just and holy in the sight of God.

HELLO!!!! This is discussing making someone truly just and holy "in their own person." Note also, that Jerome, in "translating" Romans 3:28, doesn't use any language like the Greek dikaioo (dikaioustai) "to declare righteous" but, instead, uses the combination of words "justis" and "facere" meaning "to make righteous."

arbitramur enim iustificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis

Obviously, the distinction is drawn:

Reformed: declared righteous, a.k.a. "Forensic Justification," Sola Fide, alien righteousness, etc.
Catholic: made righteous, a.k.a. in their OWN person.

Had enough? No, good (more from the formal definition of justifiction):

In order to exclude the Protestant idea of a merely forensic absolution and exterior declaration of righteousness, special stress is laid on the fact that we are justified by God's justice, not that whereby He himself is just but that whereby He makes us just...

Again, a man must be just in his own person, in STARK contrast to forensic justificaiton. I could go on and on citing one nauseating detail after another about how man must co-operate and how he must become just. But, the point is made and the contrast established. Your objection is a fiction and you really ought to not accuse others of being on a bottle when they obviously know exactly what they are talking about.

This is the TRUTH: A man is declared just without works of the law. God himself meets His OWN demands for righteousness and then graciously gives man what is required. This is why, as Reformers, we can boldly declare that Christ became for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The Father made the Son who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. It is in Christ we have our sole hope.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

This is in contrast to blasphemous beliefs that Christ is involved but we must act and co-operate (notice that it is a co operation) and then keep ourselves (with help) in a justified state. It is man working with God to secure his own salvation. It is merely teaching a delusion that man can add anything to the merits of Christ.

Rome is nothing but sinking sand and sand castles.

God justifies the UNGODLY. This is the gospel. Righteousness shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. We are Reformers and this is our message, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rome is welcome to repent and join us in the glorious light of Christ and be no more a brother laboring under sin and falsehood.

Rome needs to repent of bowing before idols
Rome needs to repent of praying to the dead

post tenebras lux