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Entry: The Addams Family Chapel Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_addams_family_chapel#11000 Post contents: Theology is a tough trade, folks, and requires great subtlety and feeling for nuance and shades of grey. 1. Luther’s heretical idea that the Grace of the redemption only “covers” our original sin, instead of the orthodox view that this Grace ontologically removes the stain of original sin altogether – this heresy has brought about a host of others. Obviously, in the Lutheran/Calvinist view, no one ever could be or become immaculate. Thus for such Protestants, we are not “made right” (justification = jus + facere) but only “pronounced right”. The Catholic view is the opposite. For such Protestants, it is God the Father Who would change, not man, by how God would look on man; formerly, He would see only our “total depravity”; now he would see us hidden by the grace of The Son’s redemption, as snow would cover dog droppings – which is to say that He wouldn’t see us at all. Catholics regard this as heresy. We are made right by Baptismal Grace (the infusion of the sanctifying Grace coming from the Redemption – (1.) by being “born again [for from above] by water and the spirit/wind/breath” of Baptism [John 3], and (2.) by dying and rising in/with Christ in Baptism [Romans 6] – and of course these citations need to be read in co-text and context). Note also in the Protestant view the split in the unity of the Blessed Trinity – a vindictive hateful Father and his innocent (and kitschy) Son, a split even more obvious in the repugnant teaching of penal substitutional atonement. And upon receiving Baptismal Grace, we are ontologically changed. It isn’t God who changes, but He who changes us. “Total Depravity” is another repugnant teaching. The orthodox view is that we are not totally depraved by original sin, but "wounded" by original sin. And God is pleased by all good works, even good works done before the receiving of Sanctifying Grace. Not that there are many fine things to be said about Protestants. There some very fine things to be said about good ans smart people who (out of ignorance) otherwise defend the Clerical Fascist Dollfuß. But we’ve been already over that. 2. Now, with reference to John Ball, I’ll have more later to say about St. Augustine’s big boo-boo, his bad theory of “the inheritance view of original sin”, based the faulty text he had of Romans 5:12. Had he a better text, he wouldn’t have developed this theory. But I’ve got a Ron Paul meeting. I’ll get back with y’all, and relate this to the Immaculate Conception. Sent at: 2008 10 07