Protestantism and Good Works

[Bob_Crowley]

My question is:

Does the incorrect belief/intention behind an action negate the results of the action?

My question stems from sola fide belief of most, not all, Protestant denominations. Many Catholics on this forum are quick to point at Protestantism as heretical because of sola fide and sola scriptura. Ignoring sola scriptura for the moment, however, I’d like to question whether or not sola fide is a strong basis for the heretical label.

Ask 99% of all Protestants if they believe that works in the life of a Christian are important and you’ll get a resounding “Absolutely!” Granted, if the question was, “Are works necessary for salvation?” you’d likely get a different answer. But, the fact remains that the vast majority of Protestants ARE doing good works, not sitting on their bottoms.

So, back to my original question……if Catholics believe that faith produces works and works ARE necessary to confer more grace in their lives, does the average Protestant’s failure to believe this (but they are actually doing the good works) negate the grace that would be conferred to them? In other words, does it actually even matter what a Protestant’s motive for good works are as long as he is actually doing them? It seems to me that a Protestant doing good works for the sheer sake that they should be done is actually more honorable than doing them because you expect to gain something from doing them.

On the sacramental nature of baptism, which most Protestant’s do not believe actually confers anything, Catholic teaching seems to be that it doesn’t really matter what the Protestant thought beforehand, all that matters is that they were actually baptized.

Would not the same logic apply to works? And, if so, if the Protestant is being conferred grace because of his works, does not the grace he is conferred negate the incorrect belief?And if so, does the term “heretic” still apply to that individual Protestant?

As far as I’m concerned, the practical difference between Catholics doing “good works” and Protestants doing “good works” is so negligible that the whole difference of opinion over “works” is a load of unnecessary tripe.

Catholics do “good works” because they think Christ expects it of them, and Protestants do “good works” because they think Christ expects it of them. So when we start pointing the finger at each other over the issue, it must look pretty stupid in Heaven. I think God must shake His head at times over some of the mole hills we turn into theological mountains.

Secondly I think the context of “works” has been distorted. When St. Paul wrote about “works”, he wasn’t thinking primarily of works of charity, but the nitpicking rules and regulations of the Pharisaical interpretation of Mosaic Law. One of which for example was that you couldn’t part your hair on the Sabbath, as that was a form of ploughing, and that was work, ergo …

St. Paul had been a Pharisee, and he knew full well the dead end that their interpretation was leading to. So when he was talking about “works”, he was thinking primarily of stuff like circumcision and other attempts to reinforce the Jewish Laws.

Whereas we seem to think he was talking about earning our way to heaven by doing “good works”.

And so the whole ridiculous bun fight goes on between Catholics and Protestants over “works”, when in fact they both do exactly the same thing. Full stop!

 

[slh3016]

As far as I’m concerned, the practical difference between Catholics doing “good works” and Protestants doing “good works” is so negligible that the whole difference of opinion over “works” is a load of unnecessary tripe.

Catholics do “good works” because they think Christ expects it of them, and Protestants do “good works” because they think Christ expects it of them. So when we start pointing the finger at each other over the issue, it must look pretty stupid in Heaven. I think God must shake His head at times over some of the mole hills we turn into theological mountains.

Secondly I think the context of “works” has been distorted. When St. Paul wrote about “works”, he wasn’t thinking primarily of works of charity, but the nitpicking rules and regulations of the Pharisaical interpretation of Mosaic Law. One of which for example was that you couldn’t part your hair on the Sabbath, as that was a form of ploughing, and that was work, ergo …

St. Paul had been a Pharisee, and he knew full well the dead end that their interpretation was leading to. So when he was talking about “works”, he was thinking primarily of stuff like circumcision and other attempts to reinforce the Jewish Laws.

Whereas we seem to think he was talking about earning our way to heaven by doing “good works”.

And so the whole ridiculous bun fight goes on between Catholics and Protestants over “works”, when in fact they both do exactly the same thing. Full stop!

Yes, this is exactly my point and the crux of my question. If we are all (Catholics and Protestants) doing our “work”, whatever the motivation, Sola Fide is true for both sides and therefore, IMHO, an invalid reason for any Catholic to claim heretic on Sola Fide. Frankly, it should never be mentioned…Sola Scriptura, on the other hand, is a different matter

 

[JSSD]

Understood, but you need to recognize that to, “not generalize or try to pin down”, conflicting teachings is kind of “anathema” to a Catholic.
We WANT it pinned down.
We want to know which teachings are true and which are not.
If there are variations we want to know what is OK and what is not.

That is why we have so many volumes of things written out.

The whole idea of not trying to pin something down - of not trying to resolve the differences and conflicts in teachings just goes completely against NT Scripture and it’s call to unity.

Agreed, yet it seems that we cannot express anything that (some) “protestants” believe without misrepresenting what (other) “protestants” believe.

Peace
James

You are completely correct with everything here.
What I was just trying to get at was specific individuals.