A Roman Catholic Looks At T.U.L.I.P.

[Cole]

Although a Catholic may agree with unconditional election, he may not affirm “double-predestination,” a doctrine Calvinists often infer from it. This teaching claims that in addition to electing some people to salvation God also sends others to damnation.

The alternative to double-predestination is to say that while God predestines some people, he simply passes over the remainder. They will not come to God, but it is because of their inherent sin, not because God damns them. This is the doctrine of passive reprobation, which Aquinas taught.

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/TULIP.htm

[anon12438761]

he simply passes over the remainder

That a good hearty Calvinist approach! Of course, on an EU website, it won’t get a lot of traction. In fact is was just exactly that phrase that finally caused me to get my sorry butt out of Calvinism and into the light.

[Cole]

It’s not only Calvinism that teaches sovereign grace but so does Catholicism. And, I might add, sovereign grace is something I hold to because it is humbling. There is no room to boast. Granted, man chooses but the paradoxical mystery is that God is in control. I learned this also in A.A. Quoting from the Big Book:

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I can accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes

Trusting that God is in control when He promises to work all my circumstance together for my good brings peace and hope getting rid of bitterness and anxiety. In this way I love from a position of humble security. Rather than insecurity.

[Cole]

Also, knowing that God doesn’t owe me anything keeps me grateful for what I do have. This in turn also keeps me humble.

[Cole]

Total depravity

Despite its name, the doctrine of total depravity does not mean men are always and only sinful. Calvinists do not think we are as sinful as we possibly could be. They claim our free will has been injured by original sin to the point that, unless God gives us special grace, we cannot free ourselves from sin and choose to serve God in love. We might choose to serve him out of fear, but not out of unselfish love.

What would a Catholic think of this teaching? While he would not use the term “total depravity” to describe the doctrine, he would actually agree with it. The accepted Catholic teaching is that, because of the fall of Adam, man cannot do anything out of supernatural love unless God gives him special grace to do so.

Thomas Aquinas declared that special grace is necessary for man to do any supernaturally good act, to love God, to fulfill God’s commandments, to gain eternal life, to prepare for salvation, to rise from sin, to avoid sin, and to persevere

A Catholic can agree with the idea that enabling grace is intrinsically efficacious and, consequently, that all who receive this grace will repent and come to God. Aquinas taught, “God’s intention cannot fail… Hence if God intends, while moving it, that the one whose heart he moves should attain to grace, he will infallibly attain to it, according to John 6:45, ‘Everyone that has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.’” Catholics must say that, while God may give efficacious grace only to some, he gives sufficient grace to all. This is presupposed by the fact that he intended the atonement to be sufficient for all. Vatican II stated, “[S]ince Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate calling of man is in fact one and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.”

[Cole]

God is not the author of evil.

Either God directly causes something or He permits something (evil) to happen. It’s a mystery how God’s grace transforms the heart and moves the will yet at the same time we freely choose love. Moreover, God doesn’t directly cause evil. For this would make Him the author of evil. Rather He permits it (for morally sufficient reasons) to bring about His overall plans and purposes. For example: Satan gets permission from God to torment Job. God allowed Satan to take Job’s family and make Job sick. Yet Job says, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away” and “Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil” - to which the writer responds: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”. This too is a mystery. God can bring about His plans and purposes by permitting the free actions of evil choices. His wisdom is that much greater than ours. He is in control yet we are responsible agents. It’s a paradox.

[anon12438761]

It is a paradox. That was a well-thought-out post, thank you Cole.

[Cole]

Predestination And Free Will: Paradox

The difference between Protestants and Catholics on this issue is not that one believes in predestination while the other believes in free will. That is the difference between Calvinists and Arminians. The difference is that Catholics believe in mystery and paradox and embrace both halves of this paradox. - Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli.