Comparative Theology
Comparative Theology
Romans repeatedly makes claims where French Catholic and Reformed Protestant tradition have historically given different answers using the same vocabulary. Naming that fork explicitly, rather than silently picking a side, is part of this curriculum’s job.
| Romans doctrine | Catholic tradition (Trent-influenced) | Reformed/Protestant tradition (Segond-influenced) |
|---|---|---|
| Justification (justification) | Infused righteousness received progressively through grace mediated by the sacraments and “faith formed by love” (fides caritate formata) | Forensic declaration of righteousness by faith alone (sola fide), received once and complete |
| Grace (grâce) | Grace as a sacramental gift, maintainable or losable (“état de grâce,” restored through confession) | Grace as wholly unmerited favor, given apart from any human cooperation or ecclesial mediation |
| Saints (les saints) | Canonized individuals venerated as heavenly intercessors | Every believer, set apart by God, with no separate intercessory class |
| Church (l’Église) | The visible, hierarchical institution in communion with Rome | The gathered body of believers; historically met in “temples,” not “églises” |
| Election (élection) | God’s choice generally read as compatible with human cooperation (following Aquinas over Calvin) | God’s sovereign, unconditional choice, historically debated within French Protestantism’s own Reformed heritage |
Why this matters for translation
Each row above is a place where a single French word is not wrong in either tradition — it is underspecified, and Romans’ argument requires the more specific, forensic/sola fide sense in several of these cases. The comparative theology table above is the working reference for why translation_memory.json flags justification, imputed righteousness, saints, church, and election as Critical or High risk even though no alternative word is being rejected outright.