The formula, salvation by "faith alone" is not the ordinary way the gospel has been preached in history but it is not without precedent. Some of the early Fathers used the phrase at least once in their writings including Origen, St. Hilary, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Alexandria, and St. Bernard. Even St. Thomas Aquinas used this wording a couple times: "Therefore the hope of justification is not found in them (the moral and ceremonial requirements of the law), but in faith alone." - Commentary on 1 Timothy, Ch. 1, Lect. 3.
So why the controversy during the Protestant Revolution & Catholic Reformation? It had to do with how groups defined and used terms. The majority of time in Scripture and Tradition, "faith" meant "intellectual belief" in God and all He has revealed. "Hope" means assurance and "trust" in God's promises and "Charity" is unselfish love of God above all things and loving neighbor as self. These are supernatural gifts we cannot merit at the BEGINNING of our walk with God (our inability to reach heaven requires Christ as Savior) and any active use of them AFTER initial justification (first gifted in water Baptism, or obtaining God's righteousness through desire) is a response and cooperation with the work of God who reaches out to us first and helps us remain holy at every stage of our life (to aid us in obeying the Commandments). But intellectual belief is not sufficient or effective enough for CONTINUED growth in Christ's righteousness and deepening of our relationship with God, what Scripture and Tradition call continual justification or "sanctification". "Even the demons believe and shudder" but remain outside of the Light because of their narrow "faith" and twisted wills (James 2:14-26).
Faith in the broad sense for a Christian means "faithfulness", a response to God with the whole mind, heart, strength, and being, which is the way Catholics and most Protestants can properly understand together what "faith" means after Baptismal regeneration (a combo of belief, trust, and love). Christ is always faithful and helps us to be like Him, and we must freely and continually accept his gifts of grace. Faith in the narrow sense (belief) is not enough to save but is the seed of this relationship with God.
But Luther drew suspicion because he added "alone" to "faith" in his translation of Romans (Paul's letter in which the apostle also speaks of the obedience of faith or belief coupled with hope and the works of love) and deleted James from the New Testament. Luther at first spoke vaguely about the definition of faith, the nature of free-will, and the distinction between Original Sin and Concupiscence (although he acknowledged in his later writings the necessity of freely chosen works which flow from grace in a process of justification. He stated that just as heat and light are distinct but not separate from flame so too faith and works cannot be completely separated). The Catholic Church guarded against a narrow definition of saving faith but could accept a broader definition of faith. Unfortunately, politics and polemics, primarliy instigated by greedy princes supporting Luther, often clouded dialogue in 16th century Europe.
So why the controversy during the Protestant Revolution & Catholic Reformation? It had to do with how groups defined and used terms. The majority of time in Scripture and Tradition, "faith" meant "intellectual belief" in God and all He has revealed. "Hope" means assurance and "trust" in God's promises and "Charity" is unselfish love of God above all things and loving neighbor as self. These are supernatural gifts we cannot merit at the BEGINNING of our walk with God (our inability to reach heaven requires Christ as Savior) and any active use of them AFTER initial justification (first gifted in water Baptism, or obtaining God's righteousness through desire) is a response and cooperation with the work of God who reaches out to us first and helps us remain holy at every stage of our life (to aid us in obeying the Commandments). But intellectual belief is not sufficient or effective enough for CONTINUED growth in Christ's righteousness and deepening of our relationship with God, what Scripture and Tradition call continual justification or "sanctification". "Even the demons believe and shudder" but remain outside of the Light because of their narrow "faith" and twisted wills (James 2:14-26).
Faith in the broad sense for a Christian means "faithfulness", a response to God with the whole mind, heart, strength, and being, which is the way Catholics and most Protestants can properly understand together what "faith" means after Baptismal regeneration (a combo of belief, trust, and love). Christ is always faithful and helps us to be like Him, and we must freely and continually accept his gifts of grace. Faith in the narrow sense (belief) is not enough to save but is the seed of this relationship with God.
But Luther drew suspicion because he added "alone" to "faith" in his translation of Romans (Paul's letter in which the apostle also speaks of the obedience of faith or belief coupled with hope and the works of love) and deleted James from the New Testament. Luther at first spoke vaguely about the definition of faith, the nature of free-will, and the distinction between Original Sin and Concupiscence (although he acknowledged in his later writings the necessity of freely chosen works which flow from grace in a process of justification. He stated that just as heat and light are distinct but not separate from flame so too faith and works cannot be completely separated). The Catholic Church guarded against a narrow definition of saving faith but could accept a broader definition of faith. Unfortunately, politics and polemics, primarliy instigated by greedy princes supporting Luther, often clouded dialogue in 16th century Europe.
Later Protestants and Evangelicals debated within their own circles the meaning of "faith", but few used "faith" simply as a synonym for "belief", but rather as a general word for the whole of Christian discipleship. "Faith alone" may be risky to use without explanation, but it is not heretical if understood as inclusive of other supernatural virtues that connect us to God. But "faith alone" is to be rejected if it is used to deny obeying the Commandments or deny partaking of the sacraments in order to stress a completely passive role for the believer. In the original manuscripts, St. Paul stated we are justified by the gift of "faith" without the qualifier "alone" because authentic faith entails more than belief; it leads to love.
But likewise, Catholics must be careful with slogans like saved by "faith and works" without explanation as this can cause one to understand that good works place us in an INITIAL state of grace, an understanding condemned by the first canon of the Council of Trent and earlier by the Council of Ephesus against Pelagius. Works do contribute, secondarily, AFTER the beginning of justification, NOT BEFORE, and only in the sense that they are aided and preserved by the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us become more like Christ and grow closer to God in the process of ongoing justification. Each good human work made holy by Christ doesn't earn one a place in heaven but further unites one with the Triune God and Communion of Saints. It is faith formed by love, a relationship akin to a marriage which has an event (wedding), ongoing process (lifetime relationship), that leads to eventual fruit (union in heaven). This is how all humanity is set apart as God's people, not by a wall of ceremonial precepts, but by faith which includes hope and love, graces given and nurtured by the miraculous actions of Christ called sacraments (See Acts 15:9-11). Therefore, a Christian's good works can be pure and not partially sinful (mixed with less noble intentions) but pleasing in God's eyes because they are done with, in, and through Christ who is the first and primary cause of our salvation and all its aspects (forgiveness, redemption, justification, sanctification, deification).
But likewise, Catholics must be careful with slogans like saved by "faith and works" without explanation as this can cause one to understand that good works place us in an INITIAL state of grace, an understanding condemned by the first canon of the Council of Trent and earlier by the Council of Ephesus against Pelagius. Works do contribute, secondarily, AFTER the beginning of justification, NOT BEFORE, and only in the sense that they are aided and preserved by the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us become more like Christ and grow closer to God in the process of ongoing justification. Each good human work made holy by Christ doesn't earn one a place in heaven but further unites one with the Triune God and Communion of Saints. It is faith formed by love, a relationship akin to a marriage which has an event (wedding), ongoing process (lifetime relationship), that leads to eventual fruit (union in heaven). This is how all humanity is set apart as God's people, not by a wall of ceremonial precepts, but by faith which includes hope and love, graces given and nurtured by the miraculous actions of Christ called sacraments (See Acts 15:9-11). Therefore, a Christian's good works can be pure and not partially sinful (mixed with less noble intentions) but pleasing in God's eyes because they are done with, in, and through Christ who is the first and primary cause of our salvation and all its aspects (forgiveness, redemption, justification, sanctification, deification).
Ultimately, the Christian understanding of salvation rests upon the reality of participation in divine Sonship. Because God became man and reversed our downward spiral into doom because of his love and obedience, he makes possible again mankind's ascent back to God to share, by grace, in the glory of what Christ is by nature: the offspring of God. We are remade in Christ's image to reflect the glory of God who is Love eternal.
The Vatican's Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (signed by the Lutheran Federation, Methodists, & Reformed communities) affirmed substantial agreement on these points with the Catholic Church:
"If we translate from one language to another, then Protestant talk about justification through faith corresponds to Catholic talk about justification through grace; and on the other hand, Protestant doctrine understands substantially under the one word 'faith' what Catholic doctrine (following 1 Cor. 13:13) sums up in the triad of 'faith, hope, and love'" (LV:E 52).
The Vatican's Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (signed by the Lutheran Federation, Methodists, & Reformed communities) affirmed substantial agreement on these points with the Catholic Church:
"If we translate from one language to another, then Protestant talk about justification through faith corresponds to Catholic talk about justification through grace; and on the other hand, Protestant doctrine understands substantially under the one word 'faith' what Catholic doctrine (following 1 Cor. 13:13) sums up in the triad of 'faith, hope, and love'" (LV:E 52).
