Justification

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Okay, so the recent thread in the Debate Table is making me post this. That and some people wanted to read my thesis.

I hope it is helpful. I plan on expanding it and clarifying it in the future, possibly for publication.

God bless,

Micah

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[i]© 2007 Copyright - Micah Murphy

May be printed without permission for personal use or in order to explain the Catholic faith to others. May not be altered substantially (i.e. the words may not be changed, though fonts, text sizes, etc. may be altered for greater readability) for any reason. Full credit must be given to author and to any cited authors or sources.[/i]

From the beginning, man walked with God in "the breezy time of the day."1 Knowing God as a child knows his father, Adam was made "to know, to love, and to serve him."2 Desiring to be like God, however, Adam and his wife, Eve, ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so they fell from grace and were led out of paradise.3 The Council of Trent declared that "if anyone does not confess that the first man, Adam, when he had transgressed the commandment of God in Paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice wherein he had been constituted...let him be anathema."4 However, the decree did not end with the loss of justice alone, but with corporal effects, namely, "that the entire Adam, through that offence of prevarication, was changed, in body and soul, for the worse," and that this flaw passed on to his posterity.5 God's work among man to redeem man and restore his justice also involves the redemption and glorification of the whole person, body and soul, in Christ, through the process of conversion, by which man cooperates with God's graces, turns from sin, and comes to share in eternal glory.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church outlines several main points to justification. In condensed form, a definition of justification follows: "Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit," which stems from the meritorious "Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim,"6 by which sin is remitted and man is interiorly sanctified and renewed, detached from sin, and purified,7 and by which "cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom"8 is established, and "'the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ' and through Baptism" is communicated to us.9 This all ultimately boils down to two main aspects of justification: it is divine and it is human. This is similar to conversion in as much as the two are related in their dynamic between God and man: "Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on high."10

The first aspect is that justification is the work of God. In light of the Fall, it is clear that from the very beginning God took it upon Himself to save man: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."11 Implicit as early as Genesis 3:21 is God's providence in setting up a system of justification, which can be seen in the use of leather garments, which indicate the death of an animal, to clothe the shame of Adam and Eve, a foreshadowing of the atonement sacrifices to be offered later in salvation history to cover the sins of God's people. Further on, God's preservation of His people is apparent, as what saved Noah was his obedience to God's commandment that he build an ark.12 Likewise, God sought out Abraham, testing his faith, to make covenantal promises to him.13 It was God, likewise, who worked many signs and wonders to bring His people out from under the heavy yoke of slavery in Egypt.14 Later, at the dawn of the age of salvation, St. John the Evangelist begins by pointing to the divinity of Christ in his Gospel, knowing that justification is God's work and effectively reminding his audience that God has been faithful and that God has triumphed, is triumphing, and will triumph: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."15 Later, Jesus attested to His own divinity: "Amen, amen, I saw to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."16 Jesus, the Savior of the world, is God, and this truth shows that God continued to work for the salvation of His people. The Early Church Fathers also attest to God's role in justification. The Shepherd of Hermas wrote: "Open your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by no other name than by His great and glorious name."17 St. Irenaeus emphasizes not only that God is an absolute necessity of justification, but that it is only as a gift from God that any man can be justified: "No man can know God without both the goodwill of the Father and the agency of the Son."18

Just as God is the primary worker of justification, so He is also the principal mover in the process of conversion: "the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, [since] no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion."19

"Christ, who always practiced in His life what He preached, before beginning His ministry spent forty days and forty nights in prayer and fasting, and began His public mission with the joyful message: 'The kingdom of God is at hand.' To this He added the command: Repent and believe in the Gospel.' These words constitute, in a way, a compendium of the whole Christian life."20 The Gospels indicate that repentance and conversion are necessary for justification. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, the faithful must turn toward God. "The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"21

This call by Jesus initially precedes conversion. In light of this, the Church sees that God works from the outside of the human person in order to encourage them to accept His grace. Even this movement of God, exterior to the person, is a gift, and so the Council of Trent declares: "the beginning of the said Justification is to be derived from the prevenient grace of God."22 Those who co-operate with this prevenient grace seek to be initiated into the Church through "the catechumenate... [which] aims at bringing their conversion and faith to maturity, in response to the divine initiative and in union with an ecclesial community."23 Prevenient grace, that is, grace which comes before the response of man, is God's work from the outside of man, so that man, co-operating with it, will be able to open to the interior workings of God. More on this co-operation in the process will follow, but one must see that conversion, in man's co-operation with God's prevenient grace, leads to justification.

As St. Irenaeus noted above, justification requires "the agency of the Son." The work of justification, as the Catechism says, "has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men."24 The atonement sacrifices, the animals slaughtered, the rituals, and all the incense was ultimately only anticipatory of Christ, "for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins."25 In order for God to take away sin, "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."26 "The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God."27 "Though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."28

The Passion of Christ, which is the ultimate sign of God's love,29 the Paschal event on which all salvation history hinges, was Christ's one sacrifice which paid the price of all sin.30 This is the summit of God's work in the redemptive plan. However, there is another aspect to be considered: the human side of justification. While it is true that Christ's sacrifice paid the debt of all sin, it is not true that all men benefit from the merits of Christ's sacrifice. "When God touches man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God's grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God's sight."31

It is by conversion that a man comes to accept the touch of God's forgiveness rather than to reject it: "conversion represents a mysterious interplay ('synergism') between the human and divine. The challenge to convert is totally a divine gift...yet the response is also wholly human."32 Jesus describes the process of conversion with His parable of the Prodigal Son: "his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy – all these are characteristic of the process of conversion."33 These indicate that conversion, like justification, can not actually consist simply in an action on the part of the Father, but also upon the actions of man. The Judaic and Christian traditions "generally describe conversion as an ongoing process and not as an event. They symbolize this by their use of the metaphor of the 'journey,'"34 "a journey, or as the ancients put it, a change ('turning,' epistrephein/conversio) from one 'way of walking' to another. The destination was frequently called 'salvation,' and many embarked."35 The change in walking indicates that there must be some degree of human participation in the process of conversion.

The aspect of human participation in justification and conversion was debated during the Protestant Reformation. The Council of Trent, faced with opposing theories of the inner-workings of justification, provided plentiful insight into the human aspect of justification. "Though He died for all, yet do not all receive the benefit of His death but those only unto whom the merit of His passion is communicated."36 Even though Christ's sacrifice upon the cross brings about abundant graces for man, that grace must be communicated to individuals. Those who wish to be saved must "be disposed through His quickening and assisting grace, to convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and co-operating with that said grace."37

This language of co-operation with grace is important to the Catholic understanding of justification. "No one ought to flatter himself up with faith alone, fancying that by faith alone he is made an heir, and will obtain the inheritance, even though he suffer not with Christ, so that he may be also glorified with him."38 While some might say that co-operation with grace is not necessary, the Catholic Church teaches otherwise. Rather, "when they beg for the faith which bestows life everlasting, which, without hope and charity, faith cannot bestow: whence also do they immediately hear that word of Christ; If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."39 Keeping the commandments of Christ, associated by the Council of Trent with the sweet yoke and light burden of Christ, is essential. 40 "Life eternal is to be proposed to those working well unto the end, and hoping in God, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Jesus Christ, and as a reward which is according to the promise of God Himself, to be faithfully rendered to their good works and merits."41

Eternal life is both a gift and a reward. This means that, of necessity, that there is something which must be done on the part of the individual believer, since being an individual believer is not enough, but that the faith of the believer is "completed by the works."42 So the faithful may conclude that this co-operation with grace, which is necessary since faith alone cannot save, is fulfilled in good works. Good works are precisely what is meant by co-operation with grace (literally "working together with grace"). However, it does not seem that faith and works are two separate conditions which must both be necessary for justification; the two are not disconnected realities. Co-operation with grace is the work of faith: "For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love."43 Thus it seems that by co-operation with grace, the Church means the co-operation of faith working through love. The Church teaches, along with the Scriptures, that faith saves, but by saying that faith saves, one confesses that faith is efficacious, and in order for anything to be efficacious, it must do work. God offers grace, man believes, and accepts by living out that faith in love, which is itself to co-operate with the grace. St. Paul expresses this reality in speaking of Noah: "By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith."44 Noah acted through faith to save his family. Those who were drowning could not be saved if, seeing the ark floating along, they pointed to it and said, "see, I believe that Noah has been saved, and therefore I am saved." Rather, the redemption offered by God must be communicated to the individual, and this is done by acting according to faith, by co-operation with grace. "When we hear, 'Your faith has saved you,' we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever will be saved. For works must also follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance. Those persons were Jews who kept the Law and lived blamelessly. All they lacked was faith in the Lord. No one, then, can be a believer and at the same time be licentious."45

As explicated previously, conversion requires an action on the part of man. This action is the response of faith: "Faith is a personal act – the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself."46 Faith is itself an act, a response to God's initiative. It takes shape and is enfleshed in acts. The man of faith, therefore, setting out on the path of conversion, chooses God and His will over himself and his own will. This response of faith is not merely a superficial motion of the will, but an act of the whole person: "In Greek, the word for repentance is formed—not from the confession of a sin—but from a change of mind."47 By turning to Christ in repentance, a change occurs, not only in the aspect of turning itself, but in turning into something. "To be converted and believe in the good news, then, means to change your heart and to accept the gift of God in Christ Jesus."48

Although justification comes with Baptism,49 increasing justification was also a major point addressed by the Council of Trent: "Having, therefore, been thus justified, and made the friends and domestics of God, advancing from virtue to virtue, they are renewed...day by day...through the commandments of God and of the Church, faith co-operating with good works, [they] increase in that justice which they have received through the grace of Christ, and are still further justified."50 Justification is not only a co-operation with faith, but it is a daily renewed co-operation and a lifelong process. Against the teachings of those opposing the Church's theology, it stated: "No one...ought so far to presume as regards the secret mystery of divine predestination, as to determine for certain that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; as if it were true, that he that is justified...cannot sin any more."51

However, just as justification can increase, so the beginning of conversion is not the end of conversion. Like justification, "conversion is not a once-for-all action. Continual growth and conversion mark the entire life of the Christian...Conversion calls for a continual growth because man in this world is never totally converted. The Christian always remains, in the expression of Martin Luther, simul justus et peccator-at the same time just and sinful."52 Even Martin Luther attests to the incapability of man to become an immediate saint. Although God grants, particularly through the sacraments, grace which removes sin, man remains sinful. "One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has 'put on Christ.' But the apostle John also says: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.'"53 The Church recognizes that "mortal sin…necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart."54 Yet it is not due only to mortal sin, or even venial sin, that continuing conversion is necessary. The ongoing nature of conversion stems from a lack of complete faith on the part of God's people, which keeps them from being able to complete the change of conversion at once: "the openness which is the fundamental attitude of the Christian serves as the basis for continual growth and development. A continual openness means that the Christian can never be content with what he now does. The Christian is always looking for further development. No matter how long or well he lives, the Christian must always remain open for the call of God and neighbor.55 Thus, "Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the Church."56

So far, it has been shown that justification and conversion are both initially God's tasks with regard to man and secondarily man's response to God. It has also been shown that the response of faith must be active and completed in good works. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated, because of sin as well as unintentional lack of faith, that justification and conversion are both ongoing processes which have a beginning. What has not been pointed out, however, is how the ends of justification and conversion correlate.

"Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom."57 How may this cooperation be expressed in light of the ends of justification and conversion? In the imagery of a vine and branches,58 St. John's Gospel employs a fruitful metaphor (pun intended). If the faithful do not bear fruit, they are cut off from the vine and burned (v. 6). In order to bear fruit, they must remain on the vine (v. 4). It follows that in order to be saved, one must bear fruit. The metaphor, then, says that the faithful must join Christ, be bound to Him, and bear His fruit, if they wish to be saved. Indeed, the Council of Trent saw this same meaning in the metaphor of the vine and branches: "the charity of God is poured forth, by the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of those that are justified, and is inherent therein: whence, man, through Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted, receives, in the said justification, together with the remission of sins, all these (gifts) infused at once, faith, hope, and charity."59 The end of the Decree on Justification states that Jesus Christ infuses His virtue into the faithful as "the vine into the branches."60 By ingraftment, a change (or conversion) by which one thing is not only attached, but incorporated into another, one bears the fruit of Christ, ultimately the work of faith, which is charity.

Another way to state this is that in order to be justified, one must undergo change: not merely a change of status in the light of God's law, but the change into a just person, effected by God through the co-operation of the human person.

Justification is therefore the result of successful change or conversion. As already pointed out, conversion begins before justification, by co-operation with God's prevenient grace. This first conversion leads to justification in Baptism. "Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life," and makes man, either infant or adult, into "'a new creature,' an adopted son of God, who has become a 'partaker of the divine nature,' member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit."61 Baptism begins the change that is the second conversion, a change which intimately binds the new Christian to Jesus Christ. The second conversion, through increasing the faith of the Christian, through continual turning from sin, and through the removal of obstacles to God's grace, increases the Christian's justification in the sight of God.

Just as Christ is the vine, and just as the branches, bound and conformed to Him, bear His fruit, so the faithful bear Christ's own fruit in them. They co-operate in His work of faith, and so share in His fruit. "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him."62 Those who co-operate with Christ come to be co-heirs with Him. This is made possible because the faithful are joined to Him: "are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ...If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him."63 Because the faithful are joined to Christ, He lives in them and works in them to the degree they allow (through co-operation): "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me."64 This is the connection between conversion and justification. As a person turns toward Christ (converts), he is drawn closer to Christ. By being baptized into Him, that person is bound to Him in such a way that they are living one life, each in the other. Conversion is an approach toward not only identity but unity with Christ, so that the same salvation Christ received from death, those who are joined to Him may also receive, and thus be justified. To the degree, therefore, that a person is converted to Christ, that person is justified in increasing degrees of perfection, although salvation is contingent (by the mercy of God) upon only the smallest degree of justification or grace in the soul. It is clear from this view what the connection between conversion and justification means for soteriological legalism. It is also clear precisely why the Catholic Church teaches about purgatory, that place of final conversion, where sin and its effects are removed and man is made completely just.65
It is not difficult to see that if there are implications from this teaching on purgatory, their must also be implications on heaven. If, by being joined to Jesus Christ, and by converting more and more to Him, the faithful are increasingly justified, then it makes sense that in heaven, where the saints are perfectly justified, they must also be perfectly converted: "He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and been faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ."66 Having been bound to Him, they live with Him in heaven. In this life, "this mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description."67 As St. Paul apophatically states, heaven is "what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him."68 In heaven, the faithful enjoy the beatific vision. St. John at once both confesses his lack of knowledge in light of the mystery of the transcendant and also relates precisely what the image of God does: "what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."69 In heaven, the faithful will know God by sight, rather than merely by faith, and they will be content, and therefore no longer have to hope for anything, but they will still love,70 and thus they will devote their whole beings to the love of God, sharing intimately in His Trinitarian love, "the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness."71 Through this love, they will become like God, because they will share in His nature. This sharing in God's nature is the eschatological fulfillment of the purpose of His Incarnation: "the Son of God became man so that we might become like God."72 "Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water."73 This is the image of the eschatalogical Jesus St. John provides in Revelation. Not many people would want brazen feet or white hair, but it is clear that glory shines forth from Him, and so will shine forth from all the saints in heaven. The prophet Daniel earlier prophesied the reception of glory by Christ: "As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed."74 Similarly, all the faithful may expect this end to their conversion, since they will be co-heirs with Christ: "All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,"75 and "we will all be changed, in an instant...For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality."76 The conversion of the faithful toward God is a lifelong process of increasing justification, ending in the eschatalogical man, who holds the glory of the saints, sharing in the salvation and glory of Jesus Christ, the vine onto which they have been ingrafted.
God's work of grace, in which man participates by his co-operation in faith, allows man to grow in justification through the process of conversion, by which he is not only restored to the state of justice, but also is changed into the eschatological man, bound completely in divine love to Jesus Christ. By conversion, which is fundamentally a turning toward Christ, the faithful are also changed into a type of Christ, in His image and likeness, by dwelling in him. Through this process of conversion, obstacles to grace are removed, faith is perfected, and justification is sought, as man joins Christ, moving toward his eschatological fulfillment. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith."77 By conversion and justification, man is conformed to Christ, and, though he fell out of pride, man is granted that glory which he first sought: to be "like gods."78

As has been shown, conversion (and by extension justification) consists in being conformed to Christ. Such conversion, however, is dependent on knowledge of Christ,79 and therefore requires that one come to know Him. God, however, is transcendent80 and the only thing which can be known about Him with certainty by reason alone is that He exists.81 Fortunately, God is a loving God and wishes to reveal Himself out of love for His people. This He has done because although He "'dwells in unapproachable light,' [He] wants to communicate His own divine life to the men He freely created, in order to adopt them as His sons in His only-begotten Son."82 This revelation of God is precisely what allows His people to know Him so that, by His grace, they may convert. "In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word."83 The Son of God, the Word of God, who is the one and only utterance of God, reveals the Father to man.84 Man must turn to Jesus Christ through conversion in order to be justified, yet "how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?"85 The job of catechesis is to fill the need spoken of by St. Paul, so that God's people, knowing Christ, may come to love Him and be like Him. For the sake of conversion to Jesus Christ, therefore, He Himself, the Incarnate Revelation of the Trinity, is that message which all catechesis should proclaim and, indeed, it is He who should through all catechesis teach His people through His chosen means of insertion into His mystery.

The mission of the Church to evangelize comes principally from the Great Commission—"to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe all that He [Christ] had commanded."86 Pope Paul VI, in Evangelii Nuntiandi, said that "evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God." The Church then acknowledges the importance of this great and central mission. Evangelization is, fundamentally, to make disciples of all nations for Jesus Christ, and so must, by nature, be Christocentric.

Catechesis, as a moment in the process of evangelization,87 shares this Christocentric nature: "the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity."88 The catechist should seek through his work to bring students to Jesus Christ. Any other objective, without this as its capstone, is futile and meaningless. Any catechesis lacking this aspect of Christocentricity is by nature completely irrelevant to the Christian faith. Attempts to present Christian doctrine without Christ not only do a disservice to the mission of the Church, but the doctrines themselves: "the fact that Jesus Christ is the fullness of Revelation is the foundation for the 'Christocentricity' of catechesis: the mystery of Christ, in the revealed message, is not another element alongside others, it is rather the center from which all other elements are structured and illuminated."89 This "mystery of Christ is the fundamental theme and unifying principle of all Christian religious instruction."90

The implications of Christocentricity are far-reaching. Through implementing christocentric catechesis, "dioceses and parishes should explicitly and consistently proclaim the name, teaching, promises, and mystery of Jesus Christ…[should] develop… the personal relationship that Christ has initiated with each of His disciples…[and should] promote conversion to Jesus Christ."91

The Christocentricity of catechesis is inseparable from the Trinitarian aim of catechesis: "It is true that Christ is the center of our message, but only because He is 'the Christ,' the messenger of God, the great Gift of the Father to us, and our leader in the journey home to the Father. Only in this way can we clearly see the essential aspects of our teaching, which are theocentricity (centered in God, that is, God the Father, the beginning and end of our salvation) and Christocentricity (centered in Christ, the only way to the Father)."92 It is in this Christ-centered education that the faithful are called to the "confession of faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." 93 The focus on the Person of Jesus Christ in teaching the faith does not contradict this Trinitarian mystery, on which "the faith of all Christians rests,"94 but brings it to life. Jesus is the revelation of the Trinity; He provides "the presentation of the innermost being of God…the mystery of being one in essence and three in Person."95 Certainly, the Church could make attempts to teach the Trinity directly without this Christocentricity, but the transcendent invisibility of the Trinity would make this an insurmountable task. It is Christ, the only Person of the Trinity who became incarnate and visible, through whom the faithful get to see, to know, and to love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: "in the body of Jesus 'we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see.'"96 "The message centered on the person of Jesus Christ, by its inherent dynamic, introduces the Trinitarian dimension of the same message."97

Pope John Paul II wisely pointed out the importance of Christocentricity in catechesis and demonstrated its two modes. First, he stated "that at the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth."98 The Person of Christ is central to all catechesis. Second, the pope points out that not only is this Person the subject—that which is taught—but that He is also the teacher.99

To teach the Person of Christ as the subject of all catechesis is to help the students "to seek to understand the meaning of Christ's actions and words and of the signs worked by Him, for they simultaneously hide and reveal His mystery."100 The Gospel, as "transmitted by catechetics has a 'comprehensive hierarchical character,' which constitutes a coherent and vital synthesis of the faith. This is organized around the mystery of the Holy Trinity, in a christocentric perspective, because this is 'the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.'"101 So it is that all revealed truths relate to Christ and through Him, to the Trinity, the central mystery of the faith. Because the faithful have the right to receive the faith "not in mutilated, falsified or diminished form but whole and entire, in all its rigor and vigor,"102 it is the job of the catechist to guard the entire deposit.103 Since this guardianship is such a vital task, it is very important that the catechist devote great effort to helping his students to see how each and every teaching relates to Christ, so that it the subject matter of the faith may not come to seem irrelevant.

Despite the great Revelation which is inherent in the Incarnation, it would have been wholly insufficient for the salvation of humanity if Christ had revealed Himself without offering a relationship to man. Christ Himself is a wonderful and central subject matter for catechesis, and indeed is the mystery through which all other mysteries of the faith flow, but if this were all that Christocentricity meant, it would still fall short and miss the mark of what Pope John Paul II mentions. As has been pointed out, the purpose of catechesis is to make disciples for a Person, not merely an abstract body of truths, no matter how beautifully they may be related. Truth, no matter how profound, cannot be taught to its fullest without becoming incarnate and evident in the lives of those who teach it. When the catechist teaches, he must represent Christ, so that he may direct the relationship he has with his disciples toward Christ, to bring them to Him for discipleship.

This is precisely what Pope John Paul II meant when he stated, "we must therefore say that in catechesis it is Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught—everything else is taught with reference to Him—and it is Christ alone who teaches—anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ's spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips."104 At the heart of catechesis is a Person, but in order to teach that Person, the catechist must allow the Person of Christ Himself to be the teacher through him. The very Person of Christ is thus both the Subject taught and the Teacher teaching. Christ is thus, in a sense, incarnate in each of His catechists. Yet still, even with Christ as Teacher, teaching through the catechist, the "catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: 'My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.'"105 Through the means of a human catechist, if he allows Christ to work through him, the student may be drawn into a deep and personal intimacy with the Holy Trinity.

Pope John Paul II expounds considerably more in this image. Jesus is "altogether superior in excellence to the 'masters' in Israel, and the nature of His doctrine surpasses theirs in every way because of the unique link between what He says, what He does and what He is."106 The document goes on to say that Jesus' words and deeds were tied together.107 The catechist must reflect this attribute of Jesus. "Whatever be the level of his responsibility in the Church, every catechist must constantly endeavor to transmit by his teaching and behavior the teaching and life of Jesus."108 Certainly, the life of the catechist can be summarized as one which is ever increasingly in the humble image of Christ. The catechist passes on the teaching and life of Jesus by observing it himself: "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life—for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." Catechists are only effective teachers to the degree they are credible witnesses: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."109

In order to be more effective witnesses, the Church has given catechists the image of Christ the Teacher. Christ is, in fact, called our "one teacher."110 The catechist must be a witness and a teacher through and through. In the image of Christ the Teacher, the Church shows that "the unique consistency and persuasiveness of His teaching can only be explained by the fact that His words, His parables and His arguments are never separable from His life and His very being. Accordingly, the whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: His silences, His miracles, His gestures, His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor, His acceptance of the total sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world, and His resurrection are the actualization of His word and the fulfillment of revelation. Hence for Christians the crucifix is one of the most sublime and popular images of Christ the Teacher."111 The effective catechist must not merely hold the position of catechist, but must live the life of a catechist, wholly given over to God's work of evangelization, even to the point of death.

Hofinger's four means of insertion into the mystery of Christ fulfill this necessary aspect of Christocentricity. The first means of insertion, which especially relates to the need of the catechist to be an image of Christ the Teacher, is the "Testimony of Christian Living, [which] means the witness of a Christian life by individuals, most especially educators, and by the community of the faithful as the vivid expression of God's revelation faithfully received and lived by man."112 Acts 16:22-34 shows the power of Christian living. Praising God even in tribulation, St. Paul had the opportunity to flee from the prison when an earthquake freed the prisoners from their chains, but he chose to remain so that the guard would not have cause to commit suicide. Faced with the evident power of God and the noble love of man, the guard began his conversion, asking what he might do to be saved. Indeed, this means of insertion "is ordinarily the way that leads the young Christian and the non-Christian to a first personal contact with Christ and the Church."113 In the modern age, this testimony may be carried out not only through the example of the catechist himself, but through "the countless manifestations of genuine Christian life we find in the history of the Church and her saints."114 The testimony of Christian living relates particularly to the catechetical task of moral formation, by which "disciples thus undertake a journey of interior transformation, in which, by participating in the paschal mystery of the Lord, 'they pass from the old man to the new man who has been made perfect in Christ.'" 115 On the moral order, "Christ is the norm."116 "Catechesis encourages an apprenticeship in Christian living that is based on Christ's teachings about community life." 117 Thus, the testimony of Christian living is an apprenticeship aimed toward assisting the faithful in moral conversion toward Jesus Christ.

The second means of insertion is that of biblical catechesis. Fr. Johannes Hofinger, S.J., points to a need to initiate children into the mystery of Christ from a young age and says this may be done "primarily through a biblical catechesis that leads to Christ through the telling of the story of salvation."118 In Luke 24:13-35, Jesus unfolds the Scriptures for two travelers on the Road to Emmaus, causing their hearts to burn within them. By engaging them with the Word of God, Jesus opens their hearts, preparing them for the revelation of His Resurrection, which they are about to encounter, when they will come to know Him "in the breaking of the bread."119 In Acts 2:1-41, St. Peter recalls for the Jews, from Jerusalem and abroad, the story of salvation history, setting the stage for his kerygmatic preaching of the gospel. This retelling of the story of salvation history is a method used throughout the history of catechesis to provide the context and backdrop for the Gospel. "The narration is complete when the beginner is first instructed from the text: In the beginning God created heaven and earth, down to the present period of Church history…We ought to present all the matter in a general and comprehensive summary, choosing certain remarkable facts that are heard with greater pleasure and constitute the cardinal points in history; these we ought not to present as a parchment rolled up and at once snatch them out of sight, but we ought by dwelling somewhat upon them to untie, so to speak, and spread them out to view, and offer them to the minds of our hearers to examine and admire."120 The prominence of the Scriptures continues today: "By the same word of Scripture the ministry of the word also, that is, pastoral preaching, catechetics and all Christian instruction, in which the liturgical homily must hold the foremost place, is nourished in a healthy way and flourishes in a holy way." 121 The narratio recognizes that, "in truth, for no other reason were all the things that we read in the Holy Scriptures written before our Lord's coming than to announce His coming and to prefigure the Church to be."122 Jesus Christ is the Revelation about which the Scriptures were written: "He is indeed the final event toward which all salvation history converges."123 In this way, Biblical catechesis is christocentric, teaching Christ through prefigurements and the gospel, and allowing Him to teach through the catechist who, like the Christ Himself, opens the Scriptures to the Lord's disciples. This is possible because "Christianity saw the light of day not as a philosophical system, but as an historical fact; the divine plan was disclosed gradually over periods of time."124

The third means of insertion into the mystery of Christ is the liturgy. Liturgical catechesis was once accomplished without any special effort, due to the Christian environment and culture in which children were raised and adults went about their business. This is no longer the case.125 "The proper goal of our catechetical apostolate is not a theoretical knowledge of Christ and His mystery, but as perfect a living union with Him as possible. Biblical catechesis, therefore, must bring the past into the present. The mystery of Christ reaches from the past into the present; it embraces all centuries, and we live and share in it as did Christ's first disciples in Palestine…above all in the sacramental life of the Church, in her Eucharistic sacrifice and her sacraments—in other words, in her liturgy."126 The General Directory for Catechesis defines liturgical catechesis thusly: "Liturgical catechesis prepares for the sacraments by promoting a deeper understanding and experience of the liturgy. This explains the contents of the prayers, the meaning of the signs and gestures, educates to active participation, contemplation and silence. It must be regarded as an 'eminent kind of catechesis.'"127 This eminent kind of catechesis "must also educate the disciples of Jesus Christ 'for prayer, for thanksgiving, for repentance, for praying with confidence, for community spirit, for understanding correctly the meaning of the creeds…,' all of this is necessary for a true liturgical life."128 Through the liturgy, the faithful come to know and praise and grow in a relationship with Him and with the Church, "for it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that 'the work of our redemption is accomplished,' and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church."129 Fr. Jungmann states beautifully, "the entire teaching of the Church is contained in the liturgy. Liturgy is dogma that is prayed…In the liturgy (as generally in prayer) we approach the truths and the facts of religion with the proper dispositions. In the liturgy, we do not philosophize about God, but we adore him." 130

The fourth means of insertion into the mystery of Christ is systematic catechesis. "A certain systematization cannot be divorced from Christianity…In Christianity ecclesiastical writers began very early to phrase the essential outlines of revealed truth in set formulas, in short dogmatic statements."131 Systematic catechesis is a "reflective study of the Christian mystery that fundamentally distinguishes catechesis from all other ways of presenting the word of God."132 Its purpose is "a logical presentation of the interrelationship of the various truths of the faith, which will show their logical unity. Its object, therefore, is to present a system of truth."133 The role of systematic catechesis is didactic, providing a synthesis of the faith to serve the organic unity of Christian doctrine "to contribute to a fuller intellectual penetration," thus allowing the doctrines to stick. It is not merely didactic, however, but also formative ("all [the student's] knowledge of his religion will develop more and more fully into a Christian view of the world in the full sense of the word") and practical (it is "justified to the degree to which it helps the student to perceive Christian doctrine as a compact organic unity and to understand more fully its central mystery and its value in his life").134 The General Directory for Catechesis provides insight into these didactic, formative, and practical aspects: there must be "a systematic deepening of the Christian message by means of theological instruction, so as truly to educate in the faith, encourage growth in understanding of it and to equip the Christian for giving the reason for his hope in the present world."135 Pope John Paul II outlined four main attributes for effective systematic catechesis: "It must be systematic, not improvised but programmed to reach a precise goal; It must deal with essentials, without any claim to tackle all disputed questions or to transform itself into theological research or scientific exegesis; It must nevertheless be sufficiently complete, not stopping short at the initial proclamation of the Christian mystery such as we have in the kerygma; It must be an integral Christian initiation, open to all the other factors of Christian life."136

The Christocentricity of catechesis and the four means of insertion into the mystery of Christ are not entirely consistent with some catechetical models posed since the Second Vatican Council. These teachings are mistreated in Gabriel Moran's Catechesis of Revelation. Moran has very many lucid observations, but his ideals ultimately fail to meet the demands of authentic Christocentric catechesis. One such observation follows: "When there is no preparing of the ground and when all that concerns him [Christ] is not taken seriously and reverently, then all the words poured out about him not only fail to bring about a knowledge of him, but they also deaden the possibility of this occurring in the future. 'Thus he remains a stranger to them: they know much about him but they do not know him; they have learned of him but they have not met him; they listen to his word but they do not hear it—and therefore can give no real and effective response.'"137 This observation accurately points to the need for catechesis to introduce the person of Christ rather than disconnected doctrinal and moral ideas. In short, he states what Pope John Paul II would later explain, namely, that Christ must be the subject taught. Further, his insights also point to the other type of Christocentricity: "in the figure of Jesus Christ, God should speak to students."138 It is God Himself who teaches. It is God Himself who is taught. Moran notes that catechesis often does not show this satisfactorily: "Revelation is still assumed to be something delivered to man, if not by statements from the heavens, then by the statements and actions of a divine messenger."139 Moran is correct in saying that revelation is not a thing but a Person.

In these things, Moran seems to be saying something almost prophetic. They anticipate many of the things to be said in Catechesi Tradendae, but he still ultimately fails to come to the proper conclusions, due largely, it appears, to his misguided emphasis on human freedom. Touting the nature of human freedom, Moran states that it is impossible to form man according to the Christian message. Not only that, but he seems to say that catechesis which attempts to form disciples into Christians is "a blunt, frontal attack upon a person's freedom with a mass of religious concepts and practices [which] is bound by the nature of the case to fail."140 Moran goes on to cite Kirkegaard: "the most that one can do for another is to try to help him by an indirect kind of communication to discover for himself the Christian he is called to be."141 Certainly he is correct that human freedom cannot be violated. The catechist cannot force his students to embrace the Christian life. The Christian life is one of love, after all, and forced love is not love at all. However, he is gravely wrong in concluding that human freedom makes it impossible to form Christians. God's own pedagogy is against this. He leads His flock; He does not stop at merely directing them toward Himself as if involved in a game of Marco Polo with eternal consequences. The necessity of the student's free-will co-operation and active participation in catechesis and formation does not negate the necessity of the catechist's direct formation of the individual.

This overemphatic stress on human freedom also extends itself into an insistence that human experience be the starting point of catechesis: "the crucial question here is whether one is starting with real people and their real experience, elucidating that experience by an ever open and ever widening interpretation; or whether one begins with a set of truths that are self-interpretive and are imposed from the outside."142 Moran seems to be very much in favor of making the subjectivity of the human person, rather than the objectivity of God's Revelation, the beginning of catechesis. Instead of appealing to subjective experiences of individuals, which may not provide a basis for teaching the entire deposit (Little Billy's concern for his recently deceased grandmother's soul may provide an excellent opportunity for teaching about the last things, the communion of saints, and salvation, but would require catechetical gymnastics to touch on other areas of the deposit), it would be better to appeal to the communion between God and man. The subjective experience of God is only valuable to the degree that it points accurately to the objective reality of God. Either approach will fail without the other. Jesus Christ, a real and objective person, is passed on in the deposit. Treating Him as if He were nothing but a collection of objective truths would do violence to His Person. Treating Him as if He were nothing but an internal feeling of subjective experiences would be equally damaging. Moran rejects the four means of insertion into the mystery of Christ as inadequate, incomplete, confused, and trivializing,143 and he may be correct in as much as these need to be better explained and more effectively practiced, but it is apparent from their descriptions above that Christian witness, biblical, liturgical, and systematic catechesis provide incarnational catechesis, that is, they are four areas in which God and man truly meet, and where objective reality meets with subjective experience, so that God (and the catechists in His service) may effectively form disciples. Moran states that "if Jesus is the fullness of revelation and the center of our religion, then it is through an intimacy with him that all other things in the Christian life are to be understood."144 In saying this, he is absolutely correct; however, his idea of Christocentricity is one of ongoing revelation, where personal experiences of God are over and against any notion of the primacy of the deposit. Revelation in catechesis should instead be seen as an unfolding of God's already complete public Revelation.145 This is one area where the true Christian faith proclaims, "both…and…;" catechesis should involve both the objective and the subjective, so that God and man may meet.

The Mystery of Christ, the Person at the center of all things, is the Revelation of the Trinity, the central Mystery of the faith, and in virtue of this, all other mysteries of the Christian religion should be taught with reference to Him, and indeed should be taught by Him through His catechists, using the means He has chosen to establish: the apprenticeship of Christian living, the Scriptures, the liturgy, and the systematic education in the faith. Knowing Jesus Christ through Christocentric catechesis, and knowing the Trinity through Him, the Christian faithful are granted access to Him who is worthy of all adoration. By turning their gaze toward Him, which can only be done thanks to His Revelation and His grace, with which man co-operates, man is bound to Him, becomes like Him, and shares in His glory: in a spiritual sense, one flesh with God, the lovingly unveiled spouse of mankind.

Bibliography

Augustine. The First Catechetical Instruction (De Catechizandis Rudibus). Edited by Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe. Translated by Joseph P. Christopher. New York: Newman Press, 1946.

Bercot, David W., ed. Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.

Catechesi Tradendae. 16 Oct 1979. Apostolic Exhortation on Catechesis in Our Time. Pope John Paul II. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 16 Apr 2007.

< [url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_pau...ions/documents/[/url]

hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae_en.html>.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. New American Bible. Encino, California: Benziger, 1970.

Congregation for the Clergy. The Holy See. General Directory for Catechesis. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 1997.

Curran, Charles E. "Conversion: The Central Moral Message of Jesus," in Conversion: Perspectives on Personal and Social Transformation, edited by Walter E. Conn, 225-245. New York: Alba House, 1978.

Dei Verbum. 18 Nov 1965. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Second Vatican Council. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 20 Apr 2007.

<http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html >.

Johnsonville brat, Michael Brennan. "Conversion in the Bible," in Conversion and the Catechumenate, edited by Robert D. Duggan and Michael Johnsonville brat, 43-63. New York: Paulist Press, 1984.

Evangelii Nuntiandi. 8 Dec 1975. Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World. Pope Paul VI. EWTN Web Site. Eternal Word Television Network. 16 Apr 2007.

< [url="http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6EVAN.HTM>"]http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6EVAN.HTM>[/url].

Finn,Thomas M. Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: West and East Syria. Message of the Fathers of the Church, volume. 5. Edited by Thomas Halton. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992.

Hofinger, Johannes. The Good News and Its Proclamation. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968.

Holy See, The. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 1997.

Jungmann, Josef Andreas. Handing on the Faith: A Manual of Catechetics. New York: Herder and Herder, 1962.

Moran, Gabriel. Catechesis of Revelation. New York: Herder and Herder, 1966.

Paenitemini. 17 Feb 1966. Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff Paul VI on Fast and Abstinence. Pope Paul VI. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 16 Apr 2007.

<http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/

hf_p-vi_apc_19660217_paenitemini_en.html>.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. National Directory for Catechesis. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 2005.

Waterworth, J, trans. The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Chicago: The Christian Symbolic Publication Society, 1848.

1 Genesis 3:8 (New American Bible).

2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1721.

3 Cf. Genesis 3.

4 J. Waterworth, trans., The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (Chicago: The Christian Symbolic

Publication Society, 1848), 22.

5 Waterworth, 22.

6 CCC, 1994, cf. 1987-1988; CCC 1992.

7 CCC, 1989-1990.

8 CCC, 1993.

9 CCC, 1987.

10 CCC, 2018.

11 Genesis 3:15 (NAB).

12 Cf. Genesis 6-8.

13 Cf. Genesis 15:5, 17, 22:1-19.

14 Cf. Exodus 3:1-15:21.

15 John 1:1-5 (NAB).

16 John 8:58 (NAB).

17 Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150), quoted in David W. Bercot, ed., Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. (Peabody,

Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 574.

18 St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180), quoted in Bercot, 574.

19 CCC, 2010.

20 Paenitemini, Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on Fast and Abstinence, <www.vatican.va>, 1; cf. Mark 1:15.

21 CCC, 1989, cf. Matthew 4:17.

22 Waterworth, 32-33.

23 CCC, 1248.

24 CCC, 1992.

25 Hebrews 10:4 (NAB).

26 John 1:14 (NAB).

27 CCC, 457.

28 Philippians 2:6-11 (NAB).

29 Cf. Romans 5:8.

30 Cf. Hebrews 10:10-14.

31 CCC, 1993.

32 Johnsonville brat, Michael Brennan. "Conversion in the Bible" in Conversion and the Catechumenate, ed. Robert D. Duggan

and Michael Johnsonville brat, (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), 44.

33 CCC, 1439, Luke 15:11-24.

34 Johnsonville brat, 45.

35Finn,Thomas M., Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: West and East Syria, Message of the Fathers

of the Church, volume. 5. Ed. Thomas Halton, (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992), 2.

36 Waterworth, 31-32.

37 Waterworth, 33.

38 Waterworth, 38-39.

39 Waterworth, 35.

40 Waterworth, 38.

41 Waterworth, 42-43.

42 James 2:22 (NAB).

43 Galatians 5:5-6 (NAB).

44 Hebrews 11:7 (NAB).

45 St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), quoted in Bercot, 581.

46 CCC, 166.

47 Tertullian (c. 207), quoted in Bercot, 174.

48 Curran, Charles E., "Conversion: The Central Moral Message of Jesus," in Conversion: Perspectives on Personal

and Social Transformation, ed. by Walter E. Conn, (New York: Alba House, 1978), 226. Although much of his

theology is not in line with Church teaching, Curran's comments on conversion do shed light on the subject with

accuracy. These views are being given consideration only to the extent that they have been discerned to reflect

Church teaching.

49 Cf. CCC, 1264, 1266.

50 Waterworth, 37.

51 Waterworth, 39-40.

52 Curran, 237-238.

53 CCC, 1425.

54 CCC, 1856.

55 Curran, 237.

56 CCC, 1428.

57 CCC, 1993.

58 Cf. John 15:1-10.

[Starets]

Its going to talke me a while to digest all of this. its reasurring to know that i was at least on the right track. Thanks for posting

[Thy Geekdom Come]

The forum cut off my bibliography, so here it is in full:

Bibliography

Augustine. The First Catechetical Instruction (De Catechizandis Rudibus). Edited by Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe. Translated by Joseph P. Christopher. New York: Newman Press, 1946.

Bercot, David W., ed. Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.

Catechesi Tradendae. 16 Oct 1979. Apostolic Exhortation on Catechesis in Our Time. Pope John Paul II. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 16 Apr 2007.

< [url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_pau...ions/documents/[/url]

hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae_en.html>.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. New American Bible. Encino, California: Benziger, 1970.

Congregation for the Clergy. The Holy See. General Directory for Catechesis. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 1997.

Curran, Charles E. "Conversion: The Central Moral Message of Jesus," in Conversion: Perspectives on Personal and Social Transformation, edited by Walter E. Conn, 225-245. New York: Alba House, 1978.

Dei Verbum. 18 Nov 1965. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Second Vatican Council. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 20 Apr 2007.

<http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html >.

Johnsonville brat, Michael Brennan. "Conversion in the Bible," in Conversion and the Catechumenate, edited by Robert D. Duggan and Michael Johnsonville brat, 43-63. New York: Paulist Press, 1984.

Evangelii Nuntiandi. 8 Dec 1975. Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World. Pope Paul VI. EWTN Web Site. Eternal Word Television Network. 16 Apr 2007.

< [url="http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6EVAN.HTM>"]http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6EVAN.HTM>[/url].

Finn,Thomas M. Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: West and East Syria. Message of the Fathers of the Church, volume. 5. Edited by Thomas Halton. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992.

Hofinger, Johannes. The Good News and Its Proclamation. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968.

Holy See, The. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 1997.

Jungmann, Josef Andreas. Handing on the Faith: A Manual of Catechetics. New York: Herder and Herder, 1962.

Moran, Gabriel. Catechesis of Revelation. New York: Herder and Herder, 1966.

Paenitemini. 17 Feb 1966. Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff Paul VI on Fast and Abstinence. Pope Paul VI. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 16 Apr 2007.

<http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/

hf_p-vi_apc_19660217_paenitemini_en.html>.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. National Directory for Catechesis. Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 2005.

Waterworth, J, trans. The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Chicago: The Christian Symbolic Publication Society, 1848.

1 Genesis 3:8 (New American Bible).

2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1721.

3 Cf. Genesis 3.

4 J. Waterworth, trans., The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (Chicago: The Christian Symbolic

Publication Society, 1848), 22.

5 Waterworth, 22.

6 CCC, 1994, cf. 1987-1988; CCC 1992.

7 CCC, 1989-1990.

8 CCC, 1993.

9 CCC, 1987.

10 CCC, 2018.

11 Genesis 3:15 (NAB).

12 Cf. Genesis 6-8.

13 Cf. Genesis 15:5, 17, 22:1-19.

14 Cf. Exodus 3:1-15:21.

15 John 1:1-5 (NAB).

16 John 8:58 (NAB).

17 Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150), quoted in David W. Bercot, ed., Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. (Peabody,

Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 574.

18 St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180), quoted in Bercot, 574.

19 CCC, 2010.

20 Paenitemini, Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on Fast and Abstinence, <www.vatican.va>, 1; cf. Mark 1:15.

21 CCC, 1989, cf. Matthew 4:17.

22 Waterworth, 32-33.

23 CCC, 1248.

24 CCC, 1992.

25 Hebrews 10:4 (NAB).

26 John 1:14 (NAB).

27 CCC, 457.

28 Philippians 2:6-11 (NAB).

29 Cf. Romans 5:8.

30 Cf. Hebrews 10:10-14.

31 CCC, 1993.

32 Johnsonville brat, Michael Brennan. "Conversion in the Bible" in Conversion and the Catechumenate, ed. Robert D. Duggan

and Michael Johnsonville brat, (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), 44.

33 CCC, 1439, Luke 15:11-24.

34 Johnsonville brat, 45.

35Finn,Thomas M., Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: West and East Syria, Message of the Fathers

of the Church, volume. 5. Ed. Thomas Halton, (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992), 2.

36 Waterworth, 31-32.

37 Waterworth, 33.

38 Waterworth, 38-39.

39 Waterworth, 35.

40 Waterworth, 38.

41 Waterworth, 42-43.

42 James 2:22 (NAB).

43 Galatians 5:5-6 (NAB).

44 Hebrews 11:7 (NAB).

45 St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), quoted in Bercot, 581.

46 CCC, 166.

47 Tertullian (c. 207), quoted in Bercot, 174.

48 Curran, Charles E., "Conversion: The Central Moral Message of Jesus," in Conversion: Perspectives on Personal

and Social Transformation, ed. by Walter E. Conn, (New York: Alba House, 1978), 226. Although much of his

theology is not in line with Church teaching, Curran's comments on conversion do shed light on the subject with

accuracy. These views are being given consideration only to the extent that they have been discerned to reflect

Church teaching.

49 Cf. CCC, 1264, 1266.

50 Waterworth, 37.

51 Waterworth, 39-40.

52 Curran, 237-238.

53 CCC, 1425.

54 CCC, 1856.

55 Curran, 237.

56 CCC, 1428.

57 CCC, 1993.

58 Cf. John 15:1-10.

59 Waterworth, 35, my emphasis.

60 Waterworth, 43.

61 CCC, 1213, 1264-1266.

62 Romans 8:16-17 (NAB).

63 Romans 6:3, 8 (NAB).

64 Galatians 2:19-20 (NAB).

65 Cf. CCC, 1030-1032.

66 CCC, 1026.

67 CCC, 1027.

68 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NAB).

69 1 John 3:2 (NAB).

70 Cf. 1 Corinthians 13:13.

71 CCC, 1024.

72 CCC, 460.

73 Revelation 1:12-15 (NAB).

74 Daniel 7:13-14 (NAB).

75 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NAB).

76 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NAB).

77 Hebrews 12:1-2 (NAB).

78 Genesis 3:5 (NAB).

79 Cf. 1 John 3:2.

80 CCC, 300.

81 CCC, 36.

82 CCC, 51.

83 Hebrews 1:1-3.

84 Cf. CCC 102; John 1:1-5, 14-18, 14:8-14.

85 Romans 10:14-15.

86 Catechesi Tradendae, 16 Oct 1979, Apostolic Exhortation on Catechesis in Our Time, Pope John Paul II, Vatican Web Site. The Holy See, 16 Apr 2007, <www.vatican.va>, 1; cf. Matthew 28:16-20.

87 CT, 18.

88 CT, 5.

89 Congregation for the Clergy, The Holy See, General Directory for Catechesis, (Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 1997), 41.

90 Hofinger, Johannes, The Good News and Its Proclamation, (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 16.

91 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Directory for Catechesis, (Washington: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 2005), 76-77.

92 Hofinger, 17.

93 GDC, 99.

94 CCC, 232.

95 GDC, 100.

96 CCC, 477.

97 GDC, 97.

98 CT, 5.

99 CT, 6.

100 CT, 5.

101 GDC, 114.

102 CT, 30.

103 Cf. 1 Timothy 6:20.

104 CT, 6.

105 CT, 6.

106 CT, 7.

107 CT, 7.

108 CT, 6.

109 Evangelii Nuntiandi, 8 Dec 1975, Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI, EWTN Web Site, Eternal Word Television Network, 16 Apr 2007, <http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6EVAN.HTM>, 41.

110 CT, 8.

111 CT, 9.

112 Hofinger, 28.

113 Hofinger, 28.

114 Hofinger, 71-72.

115 GDC, 85.

116 NDC, 163.

117 NDC, 61.

118 Hofinger, 43.

119 Luke 24:35.

120 Augustine, The First Catechetical Instruction (De Catechizandis Rudibus), Ed. Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe, Trans. Joseph P. Christopher, (New York: Newman Press, 1946), 18.

121Dei Verbum. 18 Nov 1965. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Second Vatican Council. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. 20 Apr 2007. <www.vatican.va>, 24.

122 Augustine, 19.

123 GDC, 98.

124 Jungmann, Josef Andreas, Handing on the Faith: A Manual of Catechetics, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1962), 103.

125 Jungmann, 97-98.

126 Hofinger, 53.

127 GDC, 71.

128 GDC, 85.

129 CCC 1068, Cf. SC 2.

130 Jungmann, 98.

131 Jungmann, 115.

132 CT, 21.

133 Hofinger, 67.

134 Hofinger, 67-68, my emphasis.

135 GDC, 71.

136 CT, 21.

137 Moran, Gabriel, Catechesis of Revelation, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1966), 57.

138 Moran, 59.

139 Moran, 61.

140 Moran, 38.

141 Moran, 38-39.

142 Moran, 46.

143 Moran 120-121

144 Moran, Gabriel, Catechesis of Revelation, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1966), 55.

145 Cf. DV 4, 26.

[reyb]

[indent]okay. Let us study this in another forum.[/indent]

[rako]

On 10/15/2007 at 8:00 PM, Raphael said:

The Early Church Fathers also attest to God's role in justification. The Shepherd of Hermas wrote: "Open your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by no other name than by His great and glorious name."17

17 Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150), quoted in David W. Bercot, ed., Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 574.

Micah (Raphael),

Thank you for posting about the Shepherd of Hermas, an important early Christian text. I agree with your broader point that the Church teaches God's role in justification.

Let me point out that this is not a correct quote from the Shepherd of Hermas. I believe that this is D. Bercot's rewording of the words of the Church in the form of a woman in Vision IV, Chapter 2. There, Hermas encountered a beast that represented Tribulation and he passed safely by it. The woman told Hermas afterwards:

Quote

4. "You did well to escape it," she said, "because you cast your care upon God, and opened your heart to the Lord, believing that salvation can be found through nothing save through the great and glorious name. Therefore the Lord sent his angel, whose name is Thegri, [FOOTNOTE 1] who is over the beast, 'and shut his mouth that he should not hurt you.' You have escaped great tribulation through your faith, and because you were not double-minded when you saw so great a beast.
5. Go then and tell the Lord's elect ones of his great deeds, and tell them that this beast is a type of the great persecution which is to come. If then you are prepared beforehand, and repent with all your hearts towards the Lord, you will be able to escape it, if your heart be made pure and blameless, and you serve the Lord blamelessly for the rest of the days of your life. 'Cast your cares upon the Lord' and he will put them straight.
6. Believe on the Lord, you who are double-minded, that he can do all things, and turns his wrath away from you, and sends scourges on you who are double-minded. Woe to those who hear these words and hear carelessly/disobey/disregard (παρακούσασιν); it were better for them not to have been born."

The Greek word here is παρακούσασιν, or "parakouó". According to Strong's Concordance, it means to overhear, to hear amiss, or to take no heed; it used in the sense of (A) hear carelessly or incidentally, or pretend not to hear; or (B) refuse to hear; disobey, disregard.

Let me please ask you: Do you agree with the last part underlined in bold, Michah? It's one thing for someone to believe in Christ, and it's something different to believe that "salvation can be found through nothing" except through the Lord's name. But this passage is saying that if you disregard/disobey these words, then it would be better if you hadn't been born. It seems pretty ironic then that the three-volume Shepherd of Hermas itself nowhere actually gives the "name" of "Christ", "Jesus", or "Jehovah". It only calls Christ the "Shepherd", the "Son of God", the holy pre-existent "Spirit", and the "Servant".