Question for Catholics on Merit

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Do Catholics believe that man can merit eternal life, with the help of God’s grace? If so, how do Catholics square that with St. Augustines view in his work “On the Predestination of the Saints”
Here’s a qoute from Chapter 33 of that work
"From all which it is shown with sufficient clearness that the grace of God, which both begins a man’s faith and which enables it to persevere unto the end, is not given according to our merits, but is given according to His own most secret and at the same time most righteous, wise, and beneficent will; since those whom He predestinated, them He also called, Romans 8:30 "

So God gives men faith by his Grace, and he helps them persevere by his Grace, WITHOUT considering their merits. Now certainly men freely accept this gift, but if St. Augustine is correct, and the Grace to persevere is a gift,how can men merit eternal life?
 
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You are committing a logical fallacy here. Augustine is saying that nothing you do ever makes you DESERVING of the gift of perseverance. You can and must ASK FOR IT, especially through prayer, and God will give it GRACIOUSLY to those who ask for it with the right intentions. But God never OWES it.

It’s like a child asking his mom for food. The child does not MERIT food from mom by asking her. She freely gives it to the child simply because she wants to. Protestants want to constantly turn salvation into a “God owes me” situation, when that was never in mind for Catholics, Paul, the Bible, Augustine, etc.
 
thome600 said:
Then why does this RCIA table say that we “Merit Eternal Life”
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Why do I care what this RCIA table says. Is it dogmatic teaching from the Church Magisterium? Idk the source.

Salvation is available for all. We don’t earn it but God+ looks at our respective lives and determines if our lives reflected the desire for eternal life. Ultimately, it’s His decision alone. But remember, He is a just judge who will render to everyone what they deserve.
 
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Well when you tie what he says here into his overall view of Predestination, it’s clear that nothing men do can merit eternal life. I agree, God owes us nothing. No serious Protestant believes God owes us anything. We must perform good works and pray for perseverance, but God from the foundation of the world predestined those who would persevere, and they only perseverance by his Grace. None of our works (even with God’s grace) can ever merit eternal life.
 
thome600 said:
Do Catholics believe that man can merit eternal life, with the help of God’s grace?
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Yes.
If so, how do Catholics square that with St. Augustines view in his work “On the Predestination of the Saints”
Here’s a qoute from Chapter 33 of that work
"From all which it is shown with sufficient clearness that the grace of God, which both begins a man’s faith and which enables it to persevere unto the end, is not given according to our merits, but is given according to His own most secret and at the same time most righteous, wise, and beneficent will; since those whom He predestinated, them He also called, Romans 8:30 "
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Well, just as Scripture interprets Scripture, we can say that Augustine interprets Augustine. Here’s another Augustinian quote.
But inasmuch as they so preach human merits as to declare that a man has them of his own self, then most rightly the apostle replies: Who makes you to differ from another? And what have you, that you did not receive? Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:7 To a man who holds such views, it is perfect truth to say: It is His own gifts that God crowns, not your merits,— if, at least, your merits are of your own self, not of Him. If, indeed, they are such, they are evil; and God does not crown them; but if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. James 1:17 In accordance with which John also, the Lord’s forerunner, declares: A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven John 3:27 — from heaven, of course, because from thence came also the Holy Ghost, when Jesus ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. If, then, your good merits are God’s gifts, God does not crown your merits as your merits, but as His own gifts.
Chapter 15, on grace and free will
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1510.htm
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So God gives men faith by his Grace, and he helps them persevere by his Grace, WITHOUT considering their merits. Now certainly men freely accept this gift, but if St. Augustine is correct, and the Grace to persevere is a gift,how can men merit eternal life?
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By God’s grace.
 
On the Predestination of the Saints was written AFTER on Grace & Free Will. It was Augustines last word. I think it being his last treatise on this subject means we must go by what he says here. He even says he was in error in some of his previous works in this treatise.
 
No Faith and Works are the effects of Grace. GRACE gets us to heaven, not anything we do
 
thome600 said:
On the Predestination of the Saints was written AFTER on Grace & Free Will. It was Augustines last word. I think it being his last treatise on this subject means we must go by what he says here. He even says he was in error in some of his previous works in this treatise.
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If that is the case, and if you’re correct in your interpretation, then I can write that off as an error in Augustine’s theology. I don’t follow any particular person. I believe in Jesus Christ and His Teachings as brought to us by His authoritative Church.
 
One starts with a full understanding of the term MERIT for Catholics:

FROM FATHER JOHN A HARDON’S CATHOLIC DICTIONARY

QUOTE:

MERIT. Divine reward for the practice of virtue. It is Catholic doctrine that by his good works a person in the state of grace really acquires a claim to supernatural reward from God. “The reward given for good works is not won by reason of actions which precede grace, but grace, which is unmerited, precedes actions in order that they may be performed meritoriously” (II Council of Orange, Denzinger 388).

Certain conditions must be present to make supernatural merit possible. The meritorious work must be morally good, that is, in accordance with the moral law in its object, intent, and circumstances. It must be done freely, without any external coercion or internal necessity. It must be supernatural, that is, aroused and accompanied by actual grace, and proceeding from a supernatural motive. The person must be a wayfarer, here on earth, since no one can merit after death.

Strictly speaking only a person in the state of grace can merit, as defined by the Church (Denzinger 1576, 1582).

Merit depends on the free ordinance of God to reward with everlasting happiness the good works performed by his grace. On account of the infinite distance between Creator and creature, a human being alone cannot make God his or her debtor, if God does not do so by his own free ordinance. That God has made such an ordinance is clear from his frequent promises, e.g., the Beatitudes and the prediction of the Last Judgment.

The object of supernatural merit is an increase of sanctifying grace, eternal life (if the person dies in divine friendship), and an increase of heavenly glory. (Etym. Latin merces, hire, pay, reward.) END QUOTE

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU.

B;essings
Patrick
 
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