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Atonement |
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BASIC R.C. BELIEF
The redemptive activity of Christ. The word also applies to prayers
and good works, with which men join themselves with Christ's
work (CATHOLIC WORD BOOK, Knights of Columbus, page 5).
Dr. Ludwig Ott, in FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA, builds a strong case
for the Christian understanding of Christ's Atonement. He says,
"Christ, through His Suffering and Death, rendered vicarious atonement
to God for the sins of man...Christ's Vicarious Atonement is
adequate or of full value, by reason of its intrinsic merit...Christ's
Vicarious Atonement is superabundant, that is, the positive value of the
expiation is greater than the negative value of sin." [Then, he reverts
to Catholic thought.] "The universality of Christ's vicarious
atonement refers to the objective Redemption only. Christ made
sufficient atonement for all men without exception. The subjective
appropriation of the fruits of Redemption is, however, dependent
on the fulfillment of certain conditions. Accordingly, the
Schoolmen distinguish between sufficienta (adequacy) and
efficacia (efficacy, success) of the atonement."
POST VATICAN II
The late
Fulton Sheen
in his book, THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF CHRIST, prayed
this prayer to God, "Reconciliation is Thy work; atonement is mine.
St. Peter's Catechism (1972), page 19, states, "All the souls in purgatory
will go to Heaven when they have atoned for their sins."
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