Showing posts with label Protestant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protestant. Show all posts

Solus Christus supra Sola Fide


Who's to say that Roman Catholics and Protestants don't have common ground as far as the Doctrine of Justification is concerned?

Benedict Groeschel's take on the age-old argument of whether salvation is by faith or by faith and works vice versa reminded me of how I used to think when it comes to my attitude towards Roman Catholics. Thankfully, I no longer think that way although most of my born again friends think I'm compromising my faith because I believe and would like to talk more about Christ (whom both Roman Catholics and Protestants worship), and His role in salvation which gives common ground for all expressions of Christianity to unite on as far as talk of salvation or better yet justification is concerned.

Benedict XVI and evangelical conversion

This may not be new to most of the people who're acquainted with theology there seems to be an growing emphasis on evangelical conversion (as in talk of personal conversion to Christ) among Roman Catholics with no less than the Pope who spoke of it in his Inaugural Mass where he stated this

“ Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?...And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation....When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. ”1


He also stated this in his God is very much at work in our world today:

"We are all called to open ourselves to this friendship with God... speaking to him as to a friend, the only One who can make the world both good and happy... That is all we have to do is put ourselves at his disposal...is an extremely important message. It is a message that helps to overcome what can be considered the great temptation of our time: the claim, that after the Big Bang, God withdrew from history." 2


This is a welcomed gesture, since talk of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is mostly discussed among Protestant Evangelical circles leaning towards Billy Graham's call for all of us to: “accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior”.


1http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato_en.html

2http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfjosma.htm