Faith and Works

Question 1

What were the three ways for justification to be achieved in the middle ages?

Answer 1

-baptism
-confession and penance
-indulgences

Question 2

what is baptism?

Answer 2

-performed shortly after birth to remove the original sin we inherit from adam

Question 3

what is confession and penance?

Answer 3

acknowledgement of individual sins to a priest, and an imposed punishment such as prayer, asceticism or other good deeds to try to repair the wrong

Question 4

what were indulgences?

Answer 4

• a commercialisation of penance where a sinner could pay to get justification for themselves or others , the proceeds were often used by church leaders to fund projects

Question 5

justification

Answer 5

being made righteous in God’s sight

Question 6

asceticism

Answer 6

severe spiritual and physical self discipline

Question 7

purgatory

Answer 7

an intermediate state after death for purification rom sin before entry to heaven

Question 8

Who was martin luther? (1438-1546)

Answer 8

-a german roman catholic priest and professor of theology at the univeristy of wittenburg
- excommunicated by Pope Leo X for challenging papal authority and refusing to renounce his own writings

Question 9

How did luther try to cope with his sense of separation from God and resulting dispair?

Answer 9

• the path of confession and penance- but he could never confess enough or do enough works to amend for his sin
• the path of mysticism- yet the transient nature of religious experiences meant that he felt even further from God once it had passed

Question 10

Romans 1:17

Answer 10

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written ‘ the one who is righteous will live by faith’

Question 11

Sola fide

Answer 11

Faith alone
- Luther was led to realise this is how righteousness as a gift from God is earned after a conversion experience

Question 12

Ephesians 2:8-9

Answer 12

For by grace you have been saved through faith , and this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God- not the result of works, so that no one may boast

Question 13

Legalism

Answer 13

• putting a priority on observance of law over faith

Question 14

What did Luther decide about the law?

Answer 14

-its only function is to drive the believer to dispair so that they may come to faith
- legalism ( and thus the approach of judaism has nothing else positive to offer)

Question 15

Galatians 2:16

Answer 15

a person is justified not by works of the law but by faith in Jesus christ . and we have come to believe in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by doing the works of the law , because no one will be justified by the works of the law

Question 16

James 2:24

Answer 16

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone

Question 17

What did luther reject?

Answer 17

• he rejected the book of James as an epistle of straw as it did not back up his beliefs on justification
  -he also rejected the abuse and sale of indulgences for justification as an abomination

Question 18

what was the council of trent?

Answer 18

• held by the roman catholic church between 1545-1563
• called by Pope Paul III
• met 25 times to decide how to respond to the perceived heresy of the protestant reformation

Question 19

what did the council of trent declare?

Answer 19

-both scripture and church tradition are authoritative
-humans must co-operate with divine grace, they are not passive recipients
-the requirements for justification are
- baptism: Gods initial justification through grace
- confession,eucharist, penance and good deeds: righteousness is earned through works
-we cannot be confident that we are saved, but we need not despair either as we can have relative certainty in our salvation

Question 20

John 6:28-29

Answer 20

Then they said to him, ‘ What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’

Question 21

Who is E P Sanders?

Answer 21

• American new testament scholar
• best known for his work on the historical Jesus

Question 22

covenantal nomism

Answer 22

-the election of the jewish people into an agreement/covenant with God through grace not works

Question 23

What does sanders argue?

Answer 23

• most jewish people held basic assumptions that were not necessarily laid out as major principles in scripture
  -underlying pauline literature is the assumption of covenantal nomism

Question 24

what are the two fundamental underlying principles to covenantal nomism?

Answer 24

• God chose Israel through his grace to be his people , they are born into the covenant and the status is a gift not a reward
  -He gave them the law

Question 25

What are the principles worked out by Jewish people?

Answer 25

- the law implies God's promise to maintain the election - there is a requirement for Israel to obey the law to maintain the covenant - God rewards obedience and punishes transgressions -the law provides a means for atonement - atonement results in maintenance or re-establishment of the covenantal relationship -those who maintain the covenant are part of the group that are saved

Question 26

What did sanders say allowed for salvation?

Answer 26

God's mercy rather than human achievement

Question 27

What underlying assuptions does Pauline logic approach christ's death with?

Answer 27

- Christs death on the cross was for the purpose of salvation -humanity must have needed saving - the law exists, but if christ's death is our salvation, then the law is not for this purpose - the law's purpose must be for demonstratinf our sinfulness so that we may be saved

Question 28

Romans 7:7

Answer 28

What then should we say? that the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ' You shall not covet.'

Question 29

Why does Paul see the mosaic law as problematic?

Answer 29

because it excluded the gentiles and led Jewish people to boast about their status

Question 30

What laws are christians exempt from?

Answer 30

Laws that are required to keep Jewish identity, such as circumcision, food laws and keeping the sabbath , other laws are still needed to remain in the covenant

Question 31

What was Luthers standpoint on this issue?

Answer 31

He had an individual quest for justification, so judged Judaism as futile, but this is inaccurate . Christians should still do deeds as a result of their faith in Christ.