"How I Became the Catholic I Was" by Richard John Neuhaus | Articles | First Things

" Although Lutheran theology discarded the phrase, it is the ex opere operato conviction evident in Luther's ultimate defiance of Satan's every temptation by playing the trump card, "I am baptized!" Ex opere operato is the sacramental enactment of
sola gratia. It is uncompromisingly objective. By it morbid introspection, the delusions of religious enthusiasm, and the endlessly clever postulations of the theological imagination are called to order by truth that is answerable to no higher truth; for it is Christ, who is the Truth, who speaks in the voice of his Church—"I baptize you . . . ," "I forgive you your sins . . . ," "This is my body ...."
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/04/how-i-became-the-catholic-i-was

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