by Matthew Gaetano As I hope to discuss in future posts, one of the clearest differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant soteriologies is how each confession thinks about original sin in the justified. Roman Catholics hold that it is taken away, while confessional Protestants believe that it remains (though, of course, it is not imputed).… Read More Regensburg (1541) on Original Sin
by Matthew T. Gaetano In my previous post, I wanted to challenge the perspective of some (unnamed) Catholics who are wrongly suspicious of Protestant views of learning. The great writers of ancient Greece and Rome (such as Aristotle and Cicero) were appropriated by Reformed and Lutheran writers, just as they had been by medieval and Renaissance… Read More Protestantism, Liberal Learning, and Scholasticism: Part 2
by Matthew T. Gaetano In certain circles, I think that ecumenical dialogue may be hampered by mutual mischaracterizations related to liberal learning. Some Reformed thinkers criticize Roman Catholics for being excessively optimistic about human reason. Catholic thinkers, it is said, fail to recognize the damage done to human reason by original sin–in other words, the noetic… Read More Protestantism, Liberal Learning, and Scholasticism: Part 1
by Matthew T. Gaetano In what follows here and in future posts, I hope to address specific ways in which Roman Catholic and Reformed theologians have historically mischaracterized one another for a variety of reasons. At the same time, I will seek to avoid the appearance of reducing serious confessional differences to mere misunderstandings. And I would like to… Read More Faith and Works in Cajetan