The persistent Protestant charge — that Catholics believe in “works-salvation” — is the misunderstanding this book exists to dismantle. Dave Armstrong leads the reader through Catholic soteriology with 379 biblical passages fully written out in the RSV, demonstrating that Catholics, like Protestants, embrace grace alone and reject Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism alike.
The first nine chapters work the foundations: faith and works, the relationship of justification and sanctification, infused vs. imputed righteousness, the Pauline “law” passages, and the meaning of “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6) that gives the book its subtitle. Then 115 pages — chapters 10 through 16, the bulk of the volume — turn to a sustained biblical critique of Calvinism’s five points: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints.
Heavy on Scripture, light on jargon. The kind of biblical apologetics that meets Reformed Protestants on the ground they themselves treat as supreme: the text of the Bible.
Inside this book
- 379 biblical passages fully written out in the RSV — Scripture-first apologetics
- The first nine chapters: Catholic grace alone, faith and works, infused justification, the meaning of “faith working through love”
- 115 pages devoted to a chapter-by-chapter biblical refutation of TULIP — total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints
- Why the “Catholics believe in works-salvation” charge mistakes Catholic doctrine on its own terms
- Direct engagement with self-described “Reformed” theology rather than caricatures
