Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Council of Trent, Canons on Justification

"CANON XV.-If any one saith, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; let him be anathema

CANON XVI.-If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end,-unless he have learned this by special revelation; let him be anathema."


Source-page: http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html

Say sayonara to Perseverance of the Saints. At least, if you like the Council of Trent.

Also, a fun fact we can derive from this council's decrees, especially from the reference to the predestinate as an actual and definite thing: It exists. And even one of the Christian churches which insists most fervently on man's free will--that is, the Roman Catholic Church--insists on some notion of predestination being preserved. Of course I would argue that this notion is pretty undeniably Biblical, just, well, not the notion as the Calvinists would have it be.

Lest anyone doubt that Trent also affirmed human freedom:

"CANON IV.-If any one saith, that man's free will moved and excited by God, by assenting to God exciting and calling, nowise co-operates towards disposing and preparing itself for obtaining the grace of Justification; that it cannot refuse its consent, if it would, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing whatever and is merely passive; let him be anathema.


CANON V.-If any one saith, that, since Adam's sin, the free will of man is lost and extinguished; or, that it is a thing with only a name, yea a name without a reality, a figment, in fine, introduced into the Church by Satan; let him be anathema."


Clear anathemization by the council of Irresistible Grace and also of the denial of free will as a result of Original Sin. Human freedom: Affirmed!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, are you Ted Seeber? If so, I hope you are doing well. God Bless.

Dan Lower said...

I am not...who's Ted Seeber?

Dan Lower said...

Perhaps this was the guy you wanted?

http://outsidetheautisticasylum.blogspot.com/

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