Mortification (theology)
Image: St George wood carving.gif of St George and the Dragon.]]Mortification in Christian theology refers to the subjective process of sanctification, drawn from the "putting to death" of sin in a believer's life mentioned in Colossians 3:5: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature".{{bibleverse|Colossians|3:5|NIV}}: New International Version
Theological distinctions
=Roman Catholic theology=
{{See also|Mortification in Roman Catholic teaching}}
Roman Catholic theology frames mortification within the believer's personal struggle against sin. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "What it slays is the disease of the soul, and by slaying this it restores and invigorates the soul's true life."'Mortification,' The Catholic Encyclopedia. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10578b.htm Retrieved 20 May 2009. Mortification is also practiced by some Catholic subgroups for the purpose of saving sinners from hell, as devotees of Our Lady of Fátima believe the Virgin Mary asked her child visionaries to do.Lúcia de Jesus, Fátima In Lúcia's Own Words. Ravengate Press 1995, pp. 101, 104.
=Calvinism and Reformed theology=
John Calvin observed that if believers died with Jesus then He would destroy our sinful earthly members and their lust, "so that they may no longer perform their functions".John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (II.16.7). Mortification in Reformed theology has been generally understood to be the subjective experience of sanctification.Bruce Demarest, The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997): 402. Reformed theologian J.I. Packer describes it in the following way: "The Christian is committed to a lifelong fight against the world, the flesh and the devil. Mortification is his assault on the second."James Packer, God's Words (London: Christian Focus, 1998): 180.
See also
References
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Further reading
- [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/owen/mort.toc.html The Mortification of Sin by John Owen]
{{Christian Soteriology}}
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