Views During The Time of the Reformation (27): Views on the Church: The Material Principle

We will now continue with our quotation of Chapter VII of the Sixth Session of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, devoted to the subject of Justification: "Of this Justification the causes are these: the final cause indeed is the glory of God and of Jesus Christ, and life everlasting; while the efficient cause is a merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratuitously, signing, and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance; but the meritorious cause is his...