Justification
I didn't know what to post so this is the last half of a paper i just finished on the differences between John Calvin's and Thomas Aquinas' views on justification and which view is more correct. The part of the paper that is posted is the part about who is more correct and why, and its got some of my own thoughts in it as well. I encourage comments, disagreements, questions, or anything else. Peace.
These opposing views of justification mandate a declaration on how we are to actually construct the doctrine. It is clear Calvin’s views on justification are superior to those of Thomas Aquinas, yet Calvin leaves a hole in his argument that needs to be addressed.
Justification cannot be something that strictly takes place inside of us, as Aquinas believes; it must be outward, focused only on Christ. Aquinas does declare that Christ is the facilitator of our righteousness, but he also declares that we can be made righteous in ourselves. This simply cannot be true. If it is as Aquinas says, that we in ourselves are righteous, then there would be no room for sin; for a totally righteousness state is the absence of sin, and totally sinful state is the absence of righteousness. Yet we all still sin, and therefore are not totally righteous in ourselves. Therefore, Calvin is correct in stating that Christ’s righteousness covers us while we are still sinful. It must be this way while we are alive and have our sinful flesh. We can only be looked at as righteous due to Christ attributing his righteousness to us, because in reality we are still sinful creatures.
This concept has more implications that need to be discussed. When we seek to understand who, or what we look to, to know that we are saved we discover two very different viewpoints. In Aquinas’ view, since we are made righteous, we have only ourselves to look to in order to know if we are going to be saved. This simply isn’t psychologically healthy. If we only have ourselves to look to for our salvation we will constantly be anxious and worried over whether we are actually living righteously or not. There will be a constant preoccupation with our actions and with our thoughts; if those are not totally righteous we conclude we must not be justified and consequently must not be guaranteed salvation. The correct view is Calvin’s, when he says justification and salvation are totally alien to us; that is, they are found outside of ourselves and only in Christ. Since we are covered by Christ’s righteousness it is Christ that we look to for our salvation. If it is only through Christ, as Calvin asserts, that God looks at us, then we only have Christ to look at to know if we are saved. We have the blessed assurance of trusting in Christ’s overarching righteousness, not any of our own fleeting righteousness. In short it must be that we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness not infused with it.
Calvin stresses that it is by faith alone that we are able to be justified and saved. Yet he makes clear that faith is only an instrument for receiving Christ; faith itself does not justify, only insofar as faith receives Christ it justifies. Our faith is week and imperfect, therefore it is not our inconsistent faith that seems sturdy sometimes and frail at others that saves us. If justification were contingent on us having perfect faith it would lead to the same psychological problems as Aquinas view that we are made righteous. Therefore our faith that unites us to Christ is the faith that saves us, and the reality of this faith is that it too is facilitated by Christ and the works of the trinity. We don’t look at Christ from the outside; we put on Christ and He makes us one with Him through the work of the Holy Spirit who also works in an alien fashion, independent of any action of ours. Therefore none of our salvation by faith has anything to do with us, but everything to do with the works of the trinity.
In spite of all of this, Calvin still fails on one major point in his doctrine of justification. This is seen most clearly when he relates our being viewed as righteous to Jacob’s deception of his father to get the birth-right. As Jacob deceived his father, "we in a like manner hide under the precious purity of our first born brother, Christ, so that we might be attested righteous in God’s sight" (Calvin 228). The idea that we must hide under Christ in order to be saved is partly ridiculous. Calvin implies our salvation is made possible though Christ metaphorically sneaking us in the side door to heaven. It makes no sense for God to declare us righteous if we will never actually be righteous; perhaps Calvin would agree with me, but he offers no discussion of this concept. While we are living on earth God can declare us as righteous because it is a reality that we will be righteous. On earth, while we are still alive in our sinful flesh, it is necessary for Christ to cover us with His righteousness; yet once we die our sinful flesh dies as well, therefore now making it possible to actually be righteous. During our time on earth we live in the contradiction of the sinful desires of our flesh and the righteous desires of our soul, but when we die this contradiction disappears. When we enter heaven it will be because we are now righteous; we could never have been while living, but the death of our sinful flesh has made this possible. Thus it makes sense for Christ to cover us and God to declare us righteous while we are living; for as soon as we die our righteousness becomes actualized with the death of our sinful flesh, and we no longer must hide to be justified.
There are apparent differences between Calvin’s and Aquinas’ view of justification, and upon examination of these differences Calvin is shown to be more correct. Yet Calvin leaves a hole which opens up criticism to his doctrine. When this hole is filled in accurately the doctrine of justification becomes sound. It is by faith alone that we are justified and saved; yet this faith has nothing to do with us. It is not absurd for God to declare us righteous when Christ only covers us because as soon as we die we become righteous, thanks to the death of our sinful flesh. Yet the most important concept in this doctrine is the recognition of the continual need to focus our gaze only on Christ.
These opposing views of justification mandate a declaration on how we are to actually construct the doctrine. It is clear Calvin’s views on justification are superior to those of Thomas Aquinas, yet Calvin leaves a hole in his argument that needs to be addressed.
Justification cannot be something that strictly takes place inside of us, as Aquinas believes; it must be outward, focused only on Christ. Aquinas does declare that Christ is the facilitator of our righteousness, but he also declares that we can be made righteous in ourselves. This simply cannot be true. If it is as Aquinas says, that we in ourselves are righteous, then there would be no room for sin; for a totally righteousness state is the absence of sin, and totally sinful state is the absence of righteousness. Yet we all still sin, and therefore are not totally righteous in ourselves. Therefore, Calvin is correct in stating that Christ’s righteousness covers us while we are still sinful. It must be this way while we are alive and have our sinful flesh. We can only be looked at as righteous due to Christ attributing his righteousness to us, because in reality we are still sinful creatures.
This concept has more implications that need to be discussed. When we seek to understand who, or what we look to, to know that we are saved we discover two very different viewpoints. In Aquinas’ view, since we are made righteous, we have only ourselves to look to in order to know if we are going to be saved. This simply isn’t psychologically healthy. If we only have ourselves to look to for our salvation we will constantly be anxious and worried over whether we are actually living righteously or not. There will be a constant preoccupation with our actions and with our thoughts; if those are not totally righteous we conclude we must not be justified and consequently must not be guaranteed salvation. The correct view is Calvin’s, when he says justification and salvation are totally alien to us; that is, they are found outside of ourselves and only in Christ. Since we are covered by Christ’s righteousness it is Christ that we look to for our salvation. If it is only through Christ, as Calvin asserts, that God looks at us, then we only have Christ to look at to know if we are saved. We have the blessed assurance of trusting in Christ’s overarching righteousness, not any of our own fleeting righteousness. In short it must be that we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness not infused with it.
Calvin stresses that it is by faith alone that we are able to be justified and saved. Yet he makes clear that faith is only an instrument for receiving Christ; faith itself does not justify, only insofar as faith receives Christ it justifies. Our faith is week and imperfect, therefore it is not our inconsistent faith that seems sturdy sometimes and frail at others that saves us. If justification were contingent on us having perfect faith it would lead to the same psychological problems as Aquinas view that we are made righteous. Therefore our faith that unites us to Christ is the faith that saves us, and the reality of this faith is that it too is facilitated by Christ and the works of the trinity. We don’t look at Christ from the outside; we put on Christ and He makes us one with Him through the work of the Holy Spirit who also works in an alien fashion, independent of any action of ours. Therefore none of our salvation by faith has anything to do with us, but everything to do with the works of the trinity.
In spite of all of this, Calvin still fails on one major point in his doctrine of justification. This is seen most clearly when he relates our being viewed as righteous to Jacob’s deception of his father to get the birth-right. As Jacob deceived his father, "we in a like manner hide under the precious purity of our first born brother, Christ, so that we might be attested righteous in God’s sight" (Calvin 228). The idea that we must hide under Christ in order to be saved is partly ridiculous. Calvin implies our salvation is made possible though Christ metaphorically sneaking us in the side door to heaven. It makes no sense for God to declare us righteous if we will never actually be righteous; perhaps Calvin would agree with me, but he offers no discussion of this concept. While we are living on earth God can declare us as righteous because it is a reality that we will be righteous. On earth, while we are still alive in our sinful flesh, it is necessary for Christ to cover us with His righteousness; yet once we die our sinful flesh dies as well, therefore now making it possible to actually be righteous. During our time on earth we live in the contradiction of the sinful desires of our flesh and the righteous desires of our soul, but when we die this contradiction disappears. When we enter heaven it will be because we are now righteous; we could never have been while living, but the death of our sinful flesh has made this possible. Thus it makes sense for Christ to cover us and God to declare us righteous while we are living; for as soon as we die our righteousness becomes actualized with the death of our sinful flesh, and we no longer must hide to be justified.
There are apparent differences between Calvin’s and Aquinas’ view of justification, and upon examination of these differences Calvin is shown to be more correct. Yet Calvin leaves a hole which opens up criticism to his doctrine. When this hole is filled in accurately the doctrine of justification becomes sound. It is by faith alone that we are justified and saved; yet this faith has nothing to do with us. It is not absurd for God to declare us righteous when Christ only covers us because as soon as we die we become righteous, thanks to the death of our sinful flesh. Yet the most important concept in this doctrine is the recognition of the continual need to focus our gaze only on Christ.
posted by gregor at 2:16 PM
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