jaredlogan on Nostr: Your argument is against a caricature of Catholic teaching, not the actual Catholic ...

Your argument is against a caricature of Catholic teaching, not the actual Catholic faith. I hope and pray that what I'm saying here comes across as fraternal correction and defense of my faith that bears fruit. As 1 Peter 3:15 says, "always be prepared to give a defense".

Trent explicitly affirmed that we are justified by grace, freely, without any merit of our own: "none of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification" (Session 6, Ch. 8). And "it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:13). We deny that grace leaves us unchanged. James 2 and Phil 2:12–13 aren't footnotes. I know we disagree on how we read Trent, but I'm trying to honor how the Church reads it and teaches it.

Imputed vs. infused righteousness is a real theological divide worth discussing, but framing it as "gospel vs. not-gospel" requires misrepresenting what Rome actually teaches.

On who is saved, you're asking me to draw a line I don't have the authority to draw. The Church doesn't claim Muslims are "brothers in Christ" in the sacramental sense. But she also doesn't presume to limit God's mercy.

"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation." (CCC 847)

The Church distinguishes between what she can affirm (Christ is the only Savior; the fullness of the means of salvation subsists in the Catholic Church) and what she leaves to God (who, finally, is saved). Lumen Gentium 16 and CCC 847 don't draw a line around the elect because that line isn't ours to draw.

That's not universalism. Christ remains the only Savior, and the Church is His instrument. But final judgment belongs to God. Presuming to know who is outside His grace is itself a sin against hope.

You ask where I draw my line. I don't draw one around who is finally saved because that's not my authority or yours. The Church draws clear doctrinal lines. What she refuses to do is define who is saved. Claiming that authority is the presumption I'm talking about.

Gal. 4:16 can cut both ways. If I'm telling you that you've misrepresented what my Church actually teaches, it's not hostility either. It's the same charity you're claiming for yourself. Your original post was targeted towards fellow baptized Christians as if we are outside the walls of faith entirely.

I'm not asking you to soften the gospel. I'm asking you to argue against what Rome actually teaches, not what you've been told she teaches.

References:

CCC 153 — Faith as a gift
CCC 846 — "Outside the Church there is no salvation"
CCC 847 — Those who through no fault of their own do not know Christ
CCC 2002 — Necessity of cooperation with grace
CCC 2010 — Grace preceding any merit
CCC 2092 — Presumption as a sin against hope
Lumen Gentium 16 — On those who have not yet received the Gospel
Council of Trent, Session 6 — On Justification