Faith and Works

[Montie_Claunch]

I am looking for what the church says on Faith and Works in the Catechism and I seem to have a hard time finding it. Does anyone know where I can find it? Thanks and God bless.

 

[Timidity]

Try the section on Grace & Justification (start at paragraph 1987 and keep going).

 

[Bishopite]

Montie Claunch:

I am looking for what the church says on Faith and Works in the Catechism and I seem to have a hard time finding it. Does anyone know where I can find it? Thanks and God bless.

If your are looking for an indepth study at what the Catholic Church teaches about faith and works, grace and justification then buy the book “Not by faith alone” by Robert Sungenis of Queenship publishing. It is an excellent read and virtual exhaustive book on the
Catholic Churches teaching on justification and what many Protestants teach; also it goes over the errors of Martin Luther and John Calvin as well as what many prominant Protestants of our day teach about faith and works.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

Montie.

I do not believe you will find any one section in the Catechism that will suffice in a complete answer. Saying that, the copy of the Catechism I use has a cross-reference to all the scriptural passages referenced in the Catechism. Using James 2:14-46 which reads:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

as a basis, I found the following paragraphs in the Catechism that uses this passage:

** 162**

Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.” To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But “faith apart from works is dead”: when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God: In essence these are a starting point.

Paragraphs 153 – 165 define the Characteristics of Faith.

Works, on the other hand, are scattered throughout the Catechism. However, if I were to look at any part of the Catechism, I would look at Part Three: Life in Christ. Basically, it is how we are to live our life. It is not just “talking the talk”, but “walking the walk”.

I hope this helps.

PF

 

[WanderAimlessly]

Montie.

I do not believe you will find any one section in the Catechism that will suffice in a complete answer. Saying that, the copy of the Catechism I use has a cross-reference to all the scriptural passages referenced in the Catechism. Using James 2:14-46 which reads:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

as a basis, I found the following paragraphs in the Catechism that uses this passage:

162 Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.” To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But “faith apart from works is dead”: when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:

In essence these are a starting point.

Paragraphs 153 – 165 define the Characteristics of Faith.

Works, on the other hand, are scattered throughout the Catechism. However, if I were to look at any part of the Catechism, I would look at Part Three: Life in Christ. Basically, it is how we are to live our life. It is not just “talking the talk”, but “walking the walk”.

I hope this helps.

PF

 

[imroc]

What you will note is like the Bible, the Catechism is very much not a narrow point of view. Some have narrowed the Bible down to “believe in Jesus” and “Faith alone…”. This CANNOT be done if one were to look at the Bible as a WHOLE. The same goes with the Catechism. I beg of you to not try and narrow down subjects like faith and works to try and weigh them out. Jesus did not go around telling people to go and have faith and show them faith. He went around showing faith and faith through works. He did not command the apostles and disciples to go out and have faith. Many things were commanded. I just pray that someday our seperated brothers and sisters will finally open their eyes and quit putting walls and borders on faith. While it’s made to sound as if protestants have a simple system of belief and that all we have to do is confess and have faith, they have actually made it much more complicated. Any pious and God loving individual who honestly tries to follow the true and catholic faith will simply find themselves having faith with works and works with faith. I CANNOT see how they can be seperate! I wish I could express my meaning even more, but it’s ridiculous for their claims!

 

[super64]

Montie,

Timidity stole my thunder

Timidity :Try the section on Grace & Justification (start at paragraph 1987 and keep going).

Also, try these;
Part 1"Profession of faith" Section1/Chapter 3, Article 1, sub-section III, #153 thru #165.

Part 3 “Life of Christ” Section2/Chapter 2, Article 7, sub-section IV, #2427

Hope this helps,

Scott

 

[Rob_in_Oregon]

One thing I learned in my college philosophy courses was to be careful about the meaning of words. Many people engage in debates without realizing that they mean different things when using the same words.

Evangelical Christians (some of them) seem to think that Catholic “works” are done as a slave or hireling, someone trying to earn his way into heaven as a payment for deeds done.

Catholic Christians use the same word, “works,” but mean by it, acts of holiness and charity that are done by a person ALREADY justified, deeds that are done out of love for a gracious and kind Father. A child does not earn his position in the family by doing chores around the house; he’s already a family member. But, a good family member who loves his Father will do his best to help out.

Catholic apologists, am I right about this? Interesting to think that thousands of people died during the reformation because of this misunderstanding.

Merry Christmas season… - Rob in Oregon