Ok, I have a friend, a former non-denominational, now Baptist friend, who is asking me questions about Catholicism. She's asking questions about salvation, and frankly, I am afraid of giving her the wrong answer. I know we don't agree with the sola fidei, and that it is not just a one time thing. But beyond that, I am a new Catholic, and NO theologian, and I really am at a loss.

HELP!!!!!!

juststartn,

DOn't worry about not being 'up to speed'. It's not a race.

There are lots of references - both online and off - to help you understand what the Church teaches on the matter of jusftification. A good place to start is at New Advent: Justification. THis will give you a good overview and a starting place to address things with your friend.

Keep in mind a few things during your discussion. Make sure you guys are talking about the 'right' words (ie, that everyone knows up front what words like 'redemption', 'justification', etc., mean. It will save much time if you don't have to go back midway through the discussion and clear up definitions). Second, as you've already done, if you aren't sure of something or the best way to present it or the best way to respond to something, don't be afraid to say, 'Hmm, I'm not sure. Let me do some research.' or something along those line.

After looking over the article at NewAdvent, see what kind of more specific questions you can come up with.

Thanks, student! I have gone to that site...it's a little heavy on the deep theology though...is there something out there to "baby food" for those of us not ready to gnaw on the meatier parts of the faith? I'll need to work my way up to that...

Rachel

Do you have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Get a copy asap.

Here is one online-
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Another excellent resource is Jimmy Aiken's book - The Salvation Controversy.

Not a very think book but chock full of great information and will definitely provide what you need in terms of Biblical references.

As Seatuck said, the CCC is excellent. (Sidebar - get the large, i.e. trade, paperback version -- the Green Book -- rather than the pocket edition. The pocket edition doesn't have the index of citations which I think is an necessity. That index provides the link between the Bible and the CCC by showing where in the CCC the Bible verses are used. If you can't afford a new one, check out local used book stores. I've found the first edition for just as little as $3.00. The errata / changes between the 1st and 2nd edition are available on the net so you can d/l and print those out and you've effectively got a new CCC for practically nothing.)

More reading material:

http://www.scborromeo.org/glad/c15.htm

http://www.cpats.org/CPATSAnswerDirecto ... vation.cfm

http://www.chnetwork.org/journals/justi ... tify_6.htm

http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/PASTPRES.htm

Be warned. Protestants tend to completely misrepresent the Catholic position on justification, salvation, sanctification, etc. Part of this is terminology but most is just lazy scholarship. Stick with Catholic sources on this and you should be fine.

Dave Armstrong has an awsome website with a huge amt of information on many topics includeing the difference between the protestant view vs the catholic truth on the subject of justification.

Check out the website-it will be wealth your time. It contains many debates onthis subject.

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZHOME.HTM

What I really need is a good explanation from the Protestant standpoint...

She's dissected the new Advent site. To be hoenst with you, I am going to ask if I ought to just mail her these books ("Rome, Sweet Home", "Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic", "Catholicism and Fundamentalism"). THat way, she can read at her leisure. And I don't find myself in the very bad position of mistakenly misrepresenting the Church.

I'm also going to direct her here, so maybe she will come and ask some questions.

Whew. My eyes are crossing from all this typing...I need alot less screen time than this.

Thanks for your help--please keep it coming, cause I doubt that anything I send her now will be "the end" of it, if ykwim (she's not being mean or argumentative--we really aren't debating, even....it's just me trying to explain why Catholics believe this, or what they believe in regard to that...sigh. With three kids, errands to run, and life to live, this gets a little too much sometimes.....)

If ya'll have any suggestions, please let me know...

Rachel