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Old 04-27-2007, 09:09 PM   #36
Formendacil
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Quote:
Originally Posted by littlemanpoet
Just one thing, Formendacil, it appears to me that you have confounded Grace and Faith, as opposed to Works. Could you elucidate, when your leg throbs less?
Hmm... that seems to be a fair criticism. I do seem to have conflated the two ideas, though I'm not entirely sure that that changes the position or strength of my argument entirely.

Classical Protestantism, as I have been taught, believes in both sola gratia, by grace alone, and sola fidei by Faith alone. Together with sola scriptura, these are the Protestant answers to the three major issues of the Reformation: How are we saved? (Protestants answer Grace alone), How are we made right before God, that is: how are we justified before God? (Protestants answer Faith alone), and Where does authority reside? (Protestants answer Scripture alone).

Now, the third question doesn't concern this matter--not directly anyway. Certain the debate of Scripture alone vs. Scripture AND Tradition could make for an interesting Tolkien debate-- LotR alone, or do we count the HoME? However, we are dealing here with "How are We Saved?" and "How are We Justified?"

The first question bears on the Purgatory issue very clearly. Basically, it is asking "How can we enter Heaven?" The Protestant opinion, Grace Alone, clearly has no use for Purgatory, hence why it isn't found in their theology. If the only reason we're going to Heaven is because God has said so, then what point is there to a place of purification or penance? None--the dead sinner is going to Heaven through nothing he has done, but through complete gift. All he has to do is say "yes".

The Catholic view, obviously, has to be different. If it were the same, we'd've had no Reformation. The Catholic opinion is that while Grace is NECESSARY for Heaven, it's not the whole story. We have the belief that it is necessary for us to do our part too. Without Grace, Heaven is unattainable and impossible, but Grace is there to help us attain it, not to hand it to us on a silver platter.

This Catholic thought can, I think, be seen in parallel, in Tolkien's work. Frodo is given the Grace necessary to reach Mt. Doom and save Middle-Earth. He cannot do it on his own, but needs Gollum's intervention in the end (comparable to Grace), and he receives help along the way: Galadriel, Elrond, Gandalf, Faramir, Sam; who could all be seen as instruments of grace. If we applied the Protestant doctrine of Grace Alone to the same analogy, we'd have Frodo fly to Mt. Doom on the Eagles, one of which would bump him so that he dropped the Ring over the Fires.

The second question, How are We Justified, is closely entwined with the first. How are we made right before God? How are we made worthy of His Grace?

Well, the Protestant answer is Faith alone--all you have to do is confess and believe that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, and you're in. Get yourself baptised, and it's all done. Well, Catholics hold that there's a bit more to it than this... Yes, you have to BELIEVE that Jesus is Lord, but you also have to do some work. Hence the Catholic/Protestant debate of Faith vs. Works. Properly, Catholics believe that both are necessary, but due to Protestants holding the position of Faith Alone, Catholics tend to overemphasize Works. And in contrast to Protestant practices, all of our strange rituals like rosaries and novenas, as well as numerous sacraments and detailed liturgies, it can certainly seem that we overdo the outward show and neglect the inward truth, and this is certainly a danger. Properly, however, all this outward show is simply the outward harmony of mind and body. If the mind is focused on Heaven, so should the body be as well. And this applies to acts of charity as well as to physical manifestations of inward faith.

Anyway, how does this Faith vs. Faith & Works debate translate in Tolkien? Well, to use the same Frodo analogy as in the Grace question, I would take a look at how Frodo is justified in the book. Is Frodo given the quest to Mt. Doom simply because he says that he will do it, as Faith alone would say is all that you need to receive Grace? No. Frodo receives the burden of the quest not just because he SAYS he'll do it, but because of what he has already himself DONE in getting the Ring to Rivendell. And when he receives "Grace" on the road, such as from Galadriel, it is not just because he said he'd take the Ring to Mt. Doom, but because he continued to demonstrate his steadfastness and effort.

I hope that more or less explains the difference. As I said, I don't think that the conflation makes much difference to what I was saying, but there definitely is a difference, and I certainly shouldn't have mixed them together.
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