Expert: Andrew Foley - 7/4/2009

Question
Would you please explain the doctrine of the "total depravity of man.  Do Catholics believe in the total depravity of man doctrine.  If no, could you please explain why.  Thanks.  

Answer
Hello and thanks for writing. Total Depravity is the belief that man's nature is completely sinful and that we are totally incapable of doing good, pleasing God or even accepting freely offered salvation. Total Depravity is based on the belief that man does not have free will. Therefore, it stands to follow- if one accepts this belief- that the only way anyone can be saved is for God to predestine that person to salvation. In the purest form of this belief system, all of mankind are predestined either to salvation or damnation based on nothing more than God's arbitrary will. The Catholic Church does not hold to this teaching.

Total Depravity is one of the Five Points of Calvinism, known by the acronym of TULIP. They are:  1. Total Depravity, 2. Unconditional Election (you're either predestined to salvation or damnation, and it has nothing to do with you personally, but is based solely on the will of God#, 3. Limited Atonement #Jesus only died for the Elect, i.e. those who were predestined to salvation#, 4. Irresistible Grace #the Elect cannot resist God's influence and ultimate destiny for their soul#, 5. Perseverance of the Saints #the Elect cannot lose their salvation#.

Now, all of these points can really be summed up in the term Predestination. Although Protestant Reformer John Calvin #1509-1564) is the most famous teacher of predestination, it is in reality a basic Christian doctrine that is mentioned in the Bible and which had been debated in the Catholic Church for many centuries before the Reformation and even afterwards. You can be certain that if an issue is debated by the greatest minds in Europe for over a millenium, and still no resolution is achieved, you're dealing with a pretty knotty conundrum. It's problematic; it's a mystery, almost like that of the Trinity. If we say that God has predestined us to salvation or damnation based solely on His arbitrary will, then you've destroyed man's free will, which is constantly affirmed throughout Scripture. In that case, we weren't responsible for the Fall, there was no need for an Atonement, and we are all basically just robots performing the actions we were programmed to perform, for some bizarre purpose. However, if you say that God did not predestine all of existence, then you take away His omniscience, which makes Him less than God, and it contradicts Scriptural references to predestination and the Elect. So what's the answer?

Well, Calvin's idea on predestination is different from that of the Catholic Church. As far as I understand it, the Catholic Church condemns Calvin's double predestination which is based solely on God's arbitrary will. The Church does teach a predestination, which is based on God's omnicient foreknowledge from the beginning of time about whether we will choose to accept or reject His salvation. I cannot begin to explain the theological nuances involved in this issue but suffice it to say that the Catholic Church's position allows for both predestination and free will.

Some links are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_depravity
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1993/9309fea1.asp
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12378a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12376b.htm