YoungCatholic,
In order:
1) I see from a quick search that the attribution for the quote you provided--which you called a "good explanation" of the doctrine of justification--which I requested but you did not provide, turns out to be from Wikipedia's article on "Justification (theology)", subheading "Catholic views". In the future it would be both helpful and appropriate to document such attributions.
2) I have attempted to parse your answer(s) to my "easy question":
I can not grant you your wish of a yes or no answer- I don't believe in such
The fact that your initial response to a serious theological question is one of sarcastic humor is worthy of note.
Justification is a one-time thing- one in which cannot be taken away from a person.
Which means that your answer to my question is in fact
"no"--there is no possible circumstance which would cause God to regard a person as justified and then later as unjustified.
Now saying this- this personal belief of mine is held by liberal Catholics (of which I associate myself with). We [liberal Catholics] hold that sometimes the grace aspect of Justification can be taken away if one renounces the God of the Trinity but can always be regained by repenting this action.
Which means that your answer to my question is in fact
"yes"--there is a particular circumstance which would cause God to regard a person as justified and then later as unjustified, which invalidates your own unqualifed statement "Justification is a one-time thing- one in which cannot be taken away from a person"..
The Council of Trent stated that the grace aspect of Justification could be lost via a mortal sin in which one is unrepentant.
Which means that your answer to my question is in fact
"yes"--there is a set of particular circumstances (a larger set than that defined by the liberal wing) which would cause God to regard a person as justified and then later as unjustified, which either invalidates your own unqualifed statement "Justification is a one-time thing- one in which cannot be taken away from a person" or says that you are not faithful to Trent.
This is a point of contention still today in the Church and was addressed by Vatican II- but not concluded.
Which means that your answer to my question is in fact
"Maybe Yes and Maybe No"--there may or may not be a particular circumstance which would cause God to regard a person as justified and then later as unjustified, which cannot be logically reconciled with your own unqualifed statement "Justification is a one-time thing- one in which cannot be taken away from a person".
YoungCatholic, I will leave you to wrestle with the implications of placing your soul in the hands of men who cannot clearly articulate an essential theological question without contradiction, equivocation and ambiguity. But regarding your use of the term on this site, you should acknowledge that your use of the word "justification" is one or more of
undefined, unknowable, or unrepresentative of the Magisterium, and in all cases, a
fundamentally different usage than that used by the non-Roman church. Failure to acknowledge that distinction will make any discussion of the term meaningless.
3) As to your following question:
I am also curious to know your thoughts on this. If I am a Catholic and if you believe Catholics go to hell- what about me- a Catholic who was born in a protestant Church (baptist) who was Justified in a protestant setting and accepted Him and was baptized in the protestant Church. I'm technically Justified in the protestant way- does that not mean Catholic or not even by your words- I am going to heaven?
As above, there can be no meaningful answer to your question without a common usage of the term "Justified".
4) Your following points all reference the post made by MarieP. I will leave it to her to address them.
