A Short Explanation of Catholic Theology

It begins with a small error.

Augustine contended that justification makes us righteous. This means that we are justified because we actually are righteous.

This became progressive justification, or a justification that is intermixed with sanctification. Justification begins when the soul is made alive by grace and continues until the soul is fully righteous. When a man is righteous, God declares him so to be.

The whole progression:

1. The soul is infused with righteousness by the grace of the sacraments. The soul is brought to life in baptism, which cleanses the soul of original sin. However, the penalty of sin must still be paid, and this is done through a righteous life.

2. There are two types of sin. Venial sins, which are small and minor and are wiped away at the mass, do not kill the life of grace in the soul. Mortal sins, defined as conscious breaking of the 10 commandments, are mortal in the sense that they kill the life of the soul.

3. Confession and penance are sacramental acts in which grace is infused into the soul. For those in mortal sin, the soul is reconciled anew in confession. For all, the process of penance increases the righteousness of the soul and brings one closer to justification (the process of justification continues).

4. In order to make up for past sins, we all are in need of merit, or favor earned by good deeds. There exists a great treasury of merit, filled up by Christ and the deeds of the saints (especially Mary). The merit of these good deeds can be applied by the power of the Church to others by indulgences. It is a misconception that the counter-reformation ended the giving out of indulgences. It did not. It tightened up some abuses, like selling indulgences.

5. A saint is defined as a Christian who here on earth became fully righteous and was thus justified before God. At death, they go straight to the presence of God. Anyone who dies in a state of mortal sin goes to hell (whether baptized or not). Anyone who dies reconciled to God but no yet fully justified goes to purgatory. Purgatory is a period of cleansing in which the soul becomes righteous. Purgatory is temporary.

6. Mary the mother of Jesus is the greatest of the saints because she not only was fully justified on earth, but she never sinned. When Mary was in the womb, her soul was cleansed by God, so that she never inclined towards sin. This is known as the Immaculate Conception.

7. By praying to the saints, and especially to Mary, we can acquire merit and grow in righteousness. Mary is the queen of the saints and all grace is given out through her. Thus, she is considered co-redemptrix with Christ, because of her participation in redemption. But she is not the author of redemption.

8. By good deeds, participation in the sacraments (especially penance and the mass), and prayer to God and to the saints, one grows in righteousness, provided one refrains from mortal sin. This continues until the soul is fully infused with righteousness, and the soul is justified. Justification is a work in which we participate.

----------

This is what Luther reacted to. It has not changed but remains the same today. All the various parts of Catholicism which seem so odd and bizarre to many Protestants are not traditions which can be ignored in the name of unity, but part of an integrated whole which preaches a righteousness of human works.

Don't be a fool. Just because a Catholic can affirm salvation is by faith in Christ does not mean their theology is Biblical. A Mormon may say the same thing.