St. Robert Bellarmine: Fasting, Legalism, and Cheap Grace

I try to read a bit of everyone to get my head around the Catholic Tradition. I've read some St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Thomas Aquinas, and only a tiny bit of St. Thomas More & St. Edmund Campion, and some modern saints and theologians like Cardinal Newman and JPII.

But the theological era I probably know least about in the Catholic Tradition is the Catholic Counter/Catholic-Reformation. From Trent to Vatican I, I am in need of learning.

The other problem I find is that these writers tend to be the "scary" Catholics. The super-guilt promoting, super-Marian, ultramontantists. But the one thing I like is that they know proper Catholic morality. What Lutherans would call "the Law". St. Robert Bellarmine a counter/Catholic-Reformation Cardinal and Tridentine theologian. Here is just a taste of his writing on fasting:

"This is also the constant doctrine of the holy fathers: Tertullian says: “As we refrain from the use of food, so our fasting satisfies God." (De Jejunio) St. Cyprian: “Let us appease the anger of an offended God, by fasting and weeping, as he admonishes us. "(De Lapsis) St. Basil: "Penance, without fasting, is useless and vain; by fasting satisfy God." (De Jejunio) St. Chrysostom: "God, like an indulgent father, offers us a cure by fasting." St. Ambrose also says: "Fasting is the death of sin, the destruction of our crimes, and the remedy of our salvation." St. Jerome, in his Commentary on the third chapter of Jonas, remarks: "Fasting and sackcloth are the arms of penance, the help of sinners." St. Augustine likewise says: “No one fasts for human praise, but for the pardon of his sins." So also St. Bernard in his 66th Sermon on the Canticles: “I often fast, and my fasting is a satisfaction for sin, not a superstition for impiety."" - St. Robert Bellarmine "The Art of Dying Well" Ch. VIII p. 21

But what some would call his legalism (even though here he just ends up quoting Church Fathers), I find to be an authentic assessment of the Christian moral tradition. The thing I find disturbing about modern Jesuit-style moral theology is that it diminishes sin to a point that promotes legalism rather than repentance or abstinence. Philip Yancey in his book "What's So Amazing About Grace" says that those who have a low view of the law actually end up having a lower view of grace and the gospel. Bonhoeffer calls a similar issue "cheap grace" where we cheapen the forgiveness and grace of God because of a moral laxity that doesn't understand how deeply we've offended him. While St. Robert here seems harsh, he also writes the solution to sin, which IS a reality:



"nothing can be imagined more useful than for those who value their salvation, , twice every day, morning and night, diligently to examine their conscience; what they have done during the night, or the preceding day; what they have said, desired, or thought of, in which sin may have entered; and if they shall discover anything mortal, let them not defer seeking the remedy of true contrition, with a resolution to approach the sacrament of penance on the very first opportunity. Wherefore, let them ask of God the gift of contrition, let them ponder on the enormity of sin, let them detest their sins from their heart, and seriously ask themselves who is the "offended and the offenders." Man, a worm, offends God the Almighty; a base slave, the Lord of heaven and earth! Spare not then your tears, nor cease to strike your breast: in fine, make a firm resolution never more to offend God, never more to irritate the best of Fathers. If this examination be continued morning and night, or at least once in the day, it can scarcely happen that we shall die in sin, or mad, or delirious. Thus it will be, that every preparation being made for a good death, neither its uncertainty will trouble us, nor the happiness of eternal life fail us." - St. Robert Bellarmine "The Art of Dying Well" Ch. VI

Repentance, true repentance is necessary. When we understand sin in it's entirety and God's mercy in it's entirety we avoid cheap grace and legalism.

Fasting is a practice I need to cultivate.

Newman : Sermon 2 - The Religion of the Pharisee

I was saying to an Evangelical Seminarian friend of mine that the prayer I pray every night has been either the Jesus Prayer (in English or Latin) or a modified version of it: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinful man'. This comes from the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in St. Luke's account chapter 18, verse 3.

I read a sermon by the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman about it today : http://www.newmanreader.org/works/occasions/sermon2.html

It was an alright sermon, if you don't like Newman I wouldn't bother reading it.

His main message was that Paganism was the Same Religion of all mankind and that of the Pharisee. It was based on self-sufficiency and social rewards. He calls it 'religious in the worst sense of the word'. It is not a religion of repentance, but pride. He states that the "The Catholic saints alone confess sin, because the Catholic saints alone see God" and his argument is that because as Christians we see God, we know we can never reach his standard without resting wholly on his grace and mercy. Thus the prayer of the Christian is always for God's grace and mercy.

"...whether it be the thief on the cross, Magdalen at the feast, or St. Paul before his martyrdom:—not that one of them may not have, what another has not, but that one and all have nothing but what comes from Him, and are as nothing before Him, who is all in all.... Let us thank Him for all that He has done for us, for what He is doing by us; but let nothing that we know or that we can do, keep us from a personal, individual adoption of the great Apostle's words, "Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief." - John Henry Cardinal Newman 1856

I love Newman, he always focuses on God's grace, he's very Augustinian.

Lent: True Repentance

Today was the rite of election for Catechumens and Candidates at our Roman Catholic Cathedral. Our bishop presided and preached an amazing and passionate sermon which spoke to me powerfully. The text was St. Mark's account of the desert temptation and his sermon was all about temptation and conversion. To explain why this was anything more than your average sermon let me QUICKLY explain recent happenings in my life.

I had a Christian friend almost died and still in hospital, I got bluntly rejected by a girl I (sort of) asked out, I found out I have a dentist appointment this monday (one of my biggest fears), I had a terrible night at work, my computer got a virus and is completely destroyed meaning that I've lost all my lecture notes and school work for this year. The computer part was probably the worst as it happened while I was trying to look up the lyrics for "Abide with me" which was going to be my worship song to God in spite of my terrible week. ....and then my comp broke...and I pretty much decided to follow Job's Wife's advice: "Curse God and die". So God and I have been on rough ground recently.

SO, at mass today our Bishop was discussing how Christ is the essence of the Kingdom of God and that unless Christ is sovereign in our hearts/souls then we are denying God's sovereignty in our lives, and excluding ourselves from the Kingdom of God. He tied this to the Rite of Election which he defined as 'the process where God in sovereign freedom chose you to join the body of Christ and to turn your life to him'. Which wasn't Calvin or Augustine, but was still good. So he tied this idea of sovereignty in the Kingdom of God to sovereignty in our own lives. He also said that Satan is never so obvious as to tempt us to openly disown God and side with him (satan). But rather he said Satan tempts us with good things which we overglorify and these become the temples or idols in our hearts. He says this leads us to spiritually write a declaration of independence from God (sorry to the Americans). And so the purpose of Lent is to deprive ourselves of inherently good things to remind us that we need to destroy these temples in our own hearts and lives. As the Lord led Jesus into temptation, so he will lead us, and this is done to remind us who is sovereign in our lives. Is Christ's flag flying in our lives, or have we set up our own rule, our own independence.

I'm reading a book by Brother Andrew called "The Calling" with all these wild evangelistic stories. One of them recounts how difficult it was to get the gospel into China, and how the borders are closed, and the only book permitted is 'Mao's little red book of sayings'. He talks about how they smuggled in bibles disguised as these books, etc, and began by evangelizing the borders and gradually made their way in.

I thought about my own life this afternoon, have I declared a revolution in my heart, have I closed off the gospel and built idols to lust and gluttony and self-centredness. Is my heart more populated with 'Andrew's red book of rationalizations' or sayings that excuse me of my own sin and responsibility, than with God's Word. Is the Lord trying to penetrate the borders of my soul.

Well, today I learned a little more about true repentance, and tried to remember whose side I am on and re-declare my allegiance to Christ. Today's readings also talked about authorities and rulers in the heavenly realms, and so in the language of spiritual warfare, I realized today that maybe Lent will be a beneficial time for God's hostile takeover of my soul, for my unconditional surrender, and for the flag of the gospel to fly high once more. All of this state/warfare/kingdom language and metaphors remind me of something the Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman said in a sermon on the prodigal son:

"The most noble repentance (if a fallen being can be noble in his fall), the most decorous conduct in a conscious sinner, is an unconditional surrender of himself to God—not a bargaining about terms, not a scheming (so to call it) to be received back again, but an instant surrender of himself in the first instance. Without knowing what will become of him, whether God will spare or not, merely with so much hope in his heart as not utterly to despair of pardon, still not looking merely to pardon as an end, but rather looking to the claims of the Benefactor whom he has offended, and smitten with shame, and the sense of his ingratitude, he must surrender himself to his lawful Sovereign. He is a runaway offender; he must come back, as a very first step, before anything can be determined about him, bad or good; he is a rebel, and must lay down his arms. Self-devised offerings might do in a less serious matter; as an atonement for sin, they imply a defective view of {97} the evil and extent of sin in his own case. Such is that perfect way which nature shrinks from, but which our Lord enjoins in the parable—a surrender. The prodigal son waited not for his father to show signs of placability. He did not merely approach a space, and then stand as a coward, curiously inquiring, and dreading how his father felt towards him. He made up his mind at once to degradation at the best, perhaps to rejection. He arose and went straight on towards his father, with a collected mind; and though his relenting father saw him from a distance, and went out to meet him, still his purpose was that of an instant frank submission. Such must be Christian repentance: First we must put aside the idea of finding a remedy for our sin; then, though we feel the guilt of it, yet we must set out firmly towards God, not knowing for certain that we shall be forgiven. He, indeed, meets us on our way with the tokens of His favour, and so He bears up human faith, which else would sink under the apprehension of meeting the Most High God; still, for our repentance to be Christian, there must be in it that generous temper of self-surrender, the acknowledgment that we are unworthy to be called any more His sons, the abstinence from all ambitious hopes of sitting on His right hand or His left, and the willingness to bear the heavy yoke of bond-servants, if He should put it upon us." -John Henry Cardinal Newman (http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume3/sermon7.html)

May God show you this Lent, the heart of true Christian repentance.

Sin and Reconciliation

A friend of mine who is a Pastor's daughter once said her father was accused of only preaching the same message, and he responded that it was not his choice, but God's, and that God had only told him to speak on that issue.

In my own personal religious life, a similar situation has occured. I am unable to overcome a sin, the proverbial thorn in the flesh, and God and/or Satan has plagued me (see 1 Chron 21 vs 2 Sam 24) with this constant recognition of my great sin, and thus if I am to write theology, I should write on sin, as it is what I am being taught, through my own faillures.

"Many years ago, in the British TIMES newspaper, the editor asked for comments on what was wrong with the world. Among the many letters which came back to him, was the shortest ever letter to a newspaper editor. It read, 'Dear Sir, I am, Yours faithfully....' The writer was G. K. Chesterton, well-known author of such books as 'Father Brown'. He had put in two words what many of us took years to find out. He meant that what is wrong with the world is a problem of the human heart. The problem is - I am wrong inside. We are all wrong inside. " -(http://www.soon.org.uk/page53.htm)

I admire Chesterton for his honesty and the truth of the statement. Romans 3:23 reminds us 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" NIV (Catholics pull the Calvinist card out here and read 'all' as 'some', or 'all ... except Mary', and of course we all believe it 'should' read 'all ...except Jesus')

The real point without bringing Marian theology into the equation is that we have all sinned. Sin is a universal reality.

"For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. " - Ecclesiastes 12:14

" I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done." - Revelation 20:12-13

"I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it." - Saint Anselm of Canterbury

I've been trying to learn the 'De Profundis', an ancient monastic liturgical prayer in latin, based on Psalm 130. Thus far I have "De Profundis Clamavi Ad Te Domine" [Out of the depths to you I cry Lord]. There are other verses in the Psalm which says "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?...For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities."

Thus God gives us Christ who dies the atoning death and by his blood a propitiation is offered to the Father in forgiveness. Of course the debate is over how this sacrifice is applied to us, forensically, or actually. I again don't feel like entering into this debate right now.

I'd like to focus on 2 things in Christ's commands in the gospels and the pre-Pauline new testament. In these we see 2 ways Jesus, or the Church, describes as ways of absolving sin instantly.

1. Repentence/Confession. In the story of the Tax collector and the Pharisee the famous prayer 'Lord have mercy on me a sinner' is prayed by the sinful tax collector, and Christ says 'that man went home justified'. Likewise Christ gives to the apostles the power to forgive or retain the sins of individuals on his behalf (John 20:23).

2. Baptism. Acts 2:38, the first sermon of the Church given by Pope St. Peter, or Peter, or Simon - The guy has alot of names - but the point is when he says "'Repent, and be baptized ... for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The other day my Uncle was waxing philosophical about how the greatest sin of the Catholic Church was infant baptism, I doubt he knew that the Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Orthodox, Coptic Churches along with every church before 1500 AD baptized infants. The ironic thing in the early church for those arguing in favor of adult baptism from those cases of people being baptized later in life, is that Constantine and others - many others - in the early church, believed that baptism forgave you of all your sins, so it was best to do it right before you died, to 'make sure' that they were forgiven. That's where the debate raged. So ironically, the people believed so strongely in regenerative baptism that they didn't want to baptize infants at first, thinking that forgiveness was a difficult thing to come by later in life - hence the growth of the sacrament of Penance (or whatever happier modern name you call it).

So I've been baptized, and I wait for Confession, it can't come soon enough.