Ask Mr. Religion
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Well over thirty years ago, while a Romanist, I used to believe:Creation "participates in Being," which is God. Grace perfects nature. Creation per se is in need of grace.
Since then, I believe:
Humans are only analogues to God. Grace renews fallen nature. Creation per se is good and was corrupted only by sin.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Authority means God is the source through the church by her living tradition and Scripture.
Since then, I believe:
God is the source through the Scripture to the church so that the Scripture is read in and with the church but it alone is the norm of norms, and without norm for all matters of life and doctrine.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Hermeneutically, Scripture is old law (Moses) and new law (Christ).
Since then, I believe:
All Scripture contains law ("do this and live") and gospel ("live and do this"). I express the law-gospel dichotomy in the covenant of works (law) and covenant of grace (gospel).
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Sin is a fall from original grace and the result of the concupiscence natural to creatures. Sin created the need for more grace.
Since then, I believe:
All Adam’s progeny, given Adam’s mutability and his original sin, are sinners from conception. Sin is an unnatural act of willful disobedience to God's law. Our sinful state, warranting only God’s justice, is the result of our inability to cooperate with God’s merciful, efficacious grace.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Salvation is a grace given through the church enabling us to overcoming finitude and consequent sin.
Since then, I believe:
Salvation is deliverance from sin, death, and the devil meted out by efficacious grace at our re-birth, and subsequently through the ordinary means of access to the graces of Word and Sacrament.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Condign merit is wrought within sinners by the Spirit and congruent merit is imputed graciously to sinners in view of their best efforts.
Since then, I believe:
The condign merit of Christ's obedience is imputed to sinners who have no intrinsic merits. There is no congruent merit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Grace is a gift from the Holy Spirit, by which "he shares his divine life," that is infused into sinners sanctifying them.
Since then, I believe:
Grace is free, unmerited or demerited divine favor toward sinners.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Justification is the process of being made intrinsically righteous through grace and cooperation with grace, occurring in two stages, initial and final. Initial justification is received at baptism. Final justification recognizes intrinsic righteousness which is the result of grace and cooperation with grace and occurs at the judgment.
Since then, I believe:
Justification is a definitive, one-time, divine, judicial, declaration of forgiveness of sins and righteousness on the basis of Christ's righteous obedience and death imputed to sinners. There is no distinction between initial and final justification. Our righteousness is an alien righteousness, possessed by another, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and not in and of ourselves.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Faith is a measure of sanctity, one of three virtues (the others being hope and love) created within the righteous. With hope and love it is gradually infused into the soul and exists partially in this life as the sinner cooperates with grace.
Since then, I believe:
Faith is a grace given solely by God whereby sinners are efficaciously granted true knowledge of and trust in Christ the Savior, and are declared righteous, accepted, and saved by God for Christ's sake. Faith's virtue is not intrinsic but rests in Christ and his righteousness. Faith is the only instrument of justification and is the fruit of regeneration (re-birth) wherein we appropriate what he has done for us.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Good works are necessary for justification.
Since then, I believe:
Good works are logically and morally necessary as fruit and evidence of justification, but not as the ground—but rather the instrument—of justification.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Free will is essential to salvation. Humans cannot be righteous without the exercise of free will in cooperation with grace. It is presumptuous to say with certainty that one is elect.
Since then, I believe:
God infallibly knows what could have been, and what was, what is, and what will be. The eternal decree of God, in order to manifest about his own good purposes and ultimate glory, establishes all things, including what we freely think, do, or say—flowing from our own greatest inclinations at the very moment we think, do, or say. In Christ, those persons given to him by God the Father, more numerable than the sands of the shores, are chosen for salvation for no other reason than God’s own good pleasure; those persons not given to The Son—the reprobate—remain in their state of original and ongoing willful sin from the moment of their conception. The efficacious grace of regeneration (re-birth) of those persons given to Christ is irresistible and produces in them the fruit of true faith that knows, assents, and trusts God's promises in Christ.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Baptism provides initial justification and regeneration. By its act, grace necessarily operates on the sinner.
Since then, I believe:
Baptism is a sacrament, a sign and a seal of inclusion in the covenant of grace whereby God promises salvation to those who believe—the ones so given to Christ by God the Father.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
As to the Lord's Supper, by transubstantiation the elements become the body and blood of Christ. The transubstantiated victim, our Lord, is ritually and memorially sacrificed to turn away divine wrath for sin.
Since then, I believe:
As to the Lord's Supper, Christ is bodily at the right hand of the Father but, by the work of the Holy Spirit, truly and really communicates himself to believers through the Supper as a sacrament of nutrition. Moreover, we are not being nourished with mere memories of what Christ did for us, rather we are being nourished through instruments used in the Supper by the body and blood of Christ through the operation of the Spirit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Mary was redeemed at her sinless (immaculate) conception, was without sin and was assumed bodily, without death, into heaven where she reigns as queen of heaven, a recipient of prayer and adoration, interceding on behalf of believers.
Since then, I believe:
Mary was blessed above all women, bore the God-Man in her womb, but was not conceived immaculately, for Mary, like all progeny of Adam, are sinners from conception. Nor was Mary assumed bodily into heaven at death, rather her body awaits the resurrection as do all the saints at the Second Coming of Our Lord. Christ is our only priest and Mediator.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
The saints are intermediaries whose righteousness is stored in a treasury of merit accessible to sinners through the church and the proper recipients of prayer.
Since then, I believe:
The saints, those given to Our Lord by God the Father, are fellow believers and valuable examples but neither intermediaries nor contributors to a treasury of merit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
At death, the elect enter a state of purification (purgatory) before glorification. Therefore, prayers on their behalf are proper.
Since then, I believe:
At the moment of death the human spirit (soul) departs its body to one of two possible destinations: Heaven or Hades . Those who reach Heaven do so based not upon their own good works, but upon the work of Christ in their behalf—his righteous life and atoning death—and upon their God-given faith in. The saints in Heaven (Abraham’s bosom)—fully aware of their surroundings and delighted by its manifold blessings per their walk of faith—eagerly await their Lord's return at the end of the age, when their Lord will consummate their redemption by raising them from the dead with new, glorified, resurrection bodies just as he now possesses, and by creating for them a glorious new world in which they will forever live together with him.
AMR
Since then, I believe:
Humans are only analogues to God. Grace renews fallen nature. Creation per se is good and was corrupted only by sin.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Authority means God is the source through the church by her living tradition and Scripture.
Since then, I believe:
God is the source through the Scripture to the church so that the Scripture is read in and with the church but it alone is the norm of norms, and without norm for all matters of life and doctrine.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Hermeneutically, Scripture is old law (Moses) and new law (Christ).
Since then, I believe:
All Scripture contains law ("do this and live") and gospel ("live and do this"). I express the law-gospel dichotomy in the covenant of works (law) and covenant of grace (gospel).
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Sin is a fall from original grace and the result of the concupiscence natural to creatures. Sin created the need for more grace.
Since then, I believe:
All Adam’s progeny, given Adam’s mutability and his original sin, are sinners from conception. Sin is an unnatural act of willful disobedience to God's law. Our sinful state, warranting only God’s justice, is the result of our inability to cooperate with God’s merciful, efficacious grace.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Salvation is a grace given through the church enabling us to overcoming finitude and consequent sin.
Since then, I believe:
Salvation is deliverance from sin, death, and the devil meted out by efficacious grace at our re-birth, and subsequently through the ordinary means of access to the graces of Word and Sacrament.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Condign merit is wrought within sinners by the Spirit and congruent merit is imputed graciously to sinners in view of their best efforts.
Since then, I believe:
The condign merit of Christ's obedience is imputed to sinners who have no intrinsic merits. There is no congruent merit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Grace is a gift from the Holy Spirit, by which "he shares his divine life," that is infused into sinners sanctifying them.
Since then, I believe:
Grace is free, unmerited or demerited divine favor toward sinners.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Justification is the process of being made intrinsically righteous through grace and cooperation with grace, occurring in two stages, initial and final. Initial justification is received at baptism. Final justification recognizes intrinsic righteousness which is the result of grace and cooperation with grace and occurs at the judgment.
Since then, I believe:
Justification is a definitive, one-time, divine, judicial, declaration of forgiveness of sins and righteousness on the basis of Christ's righteous obedience and death imputed to sinners. There is no distinction between initial and final justification. Our righteousness is an alien righteousness, possessed by another, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and not in and of ourselves.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Faith is a measure of sanctity, one of three virtues (the others being hope and love) created within the righteous. With hope and love it is gradually infused into the soul and exists partially in this life as the sinner cooperates with grace.
Since then, I believe:
Faith is a grace given solely by God whereby sinners are efficaciously granted true knowledge of and trust in Christ the Savior, and are declared righteous, accepted, and saved by God for Christ's sake. Faith's virtue is not intrinsic but rests in Christ and his righteousness. Faith is the only instrument of justification and is the fruit of regeneration (re-birth) wherein we appropriate what he has done for us.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Good works are necessary for justification.
Since then, I believe:
Good works are logically and morally necessary as fruit and evidence of justification, but not as the ground—but rather the instrument—of justification.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Free will is essential to salvation. Humans cannot be righteous without the exercise of free will in cooperation with grace. It is presumptuous to say with certainty that one is elect.
Since then, I believe:
God infallibly knows what could have been, and what was, what is, and what will be. The eternal decree of God, in order to manifest about his own good purposes and ultimate glory, establishes all things, including what we freely think, do, or say—flowing from our own greatest inclinations at the very moment we think, do, or say. In Christ, those persons given to him by God the Father, more numerable than the sands of the shores, are chosen for salvation for no other reason than God’s own good pleasure; those persons not given to The Son—the reprobate—remain in their state of original and ongoing willful sin from the moment of their conception. The efficacious grace of regeneration (re-birth) of those persons given to Christ is irresistible and produces in them the fruit of true faith that knows, assents, and trusts God's promises in Christ.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Baptism provides initial justification and regeneration. By its act, grace necessarily operates on the sinner.
Since then, I believe:
Baptism is a sacrament, a sign and a seal of inclusion in the covenant of grace whereby God promises salvation to those who believe—the ones so given to Christ by God the Father.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
As to the Lord's Supper, by transubstantiation the elements become the body and blood of Christ. The transubstantiated victim, our Lord, is ritually and memorially sacrificed to turn away divine wrath for sin.
Since then, I believe:
As to the Lord's Supper, Christ is bodily at the right hand of the Father but, by the work of the Holy Spirit, truly and really communicates himself to believers through the Supper as a sacrament of nutrition. Moreover, we are not being nourished with mere memories of what Christ did for us, rather we are being nourished through instruments used in the Supper by the body and blood of Christ through the operation of the Spirit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
Mary was redeemed at her sinless (immaculate) conception, was without sin and was assumed bodily, without death, into heaven where she reigns as queen of heaven, a recipient of prayer and adoration, interceding on behalf of believers.
Since then, I believe:
Mary was blessed above all women, bore the God-Man in her womb, but was not conceived immaculately, for Mary, like all progeny of Adam, are sinners from conception. Nor was Mary assumed bodily into heaven at death, rather her body awaits the resurrection as do all the saints at the Second Coming of Our Lord. Christ is our only priest and Mediator.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
The saints are intermediaries whose righteousness is stored in a treasury of merit accessible to sinners through the church and the proper recipients of prayer.
Since then, I believe:
The saints, those given to Our Lord by God the Father, are fellow believers and valuable examples but neither intermediaries nor contributors to a treasury of merit.
Over thirty years ago, I used to believe:
At death, the elect enter a state of purification (purgatory) before glorification. Therefore, prayers on their behalf are proper.
Since then, I believe:
At the moment of death the human spirit (soul) departs its body to one of two possible destinations: Heaven or Hades . Those who reach Heaven do so based not upon their own good works, but upon the work of Christ in their behalf—his righteous life and atoning death—and upon their God-given faith in. The saints in Heaven (Abraham’s bosom)—fully aware of their surroundings and delighted by its manifold blessings per their walk of faith—eagerly await their Lord's return at the end of the age, when their Lord will consummate their redemption by raising them from the dead with new, glorified, resurrection bodies just as he now possesses, and by creating for them a glorious new world in which they will forever live together with him.
AMR