State (religious life)

Not to be confused with State (theology).

In Christianity, the word state may be taken to signify a profession or calling in life. St. Paul says, in I Corinthians 7:20: "Let every man abide in the same calling in which he was called".[1] States are classified in the Catholic Church as the clerical state, the religious state, and the secular state; and among religious states, again, we have those of the contemplative, the active, and the mixed orders.[2]

In Christianity, another use of the term state is a person's standing before God. Catholic theology and Evangelical Lutheran theology both teach that through the committal of mortal sin, an individual falls from the 'state of grace'.[3] Both Catholicism and Evangelical-Lutheranism teach that through the sacrament of absolution individuals may be restored to the 'state of grace'.[4][5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "1 Corinthians 7:20 Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called".
  2. ^ "State or Way (Purgative, Illuminative, Unitive) - Encyclopedia Volume - Catholic Encyclopedia".
  3. ^ Schmid, Heinrich (1876). The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Lutheran Publication Society. p. 274. For a venial sin exists in the regenerate, a mortal sin in those who either never were regenerated, or, having been overcome by the predominating power of the flesh, fell from a state of grace.
  4. ^ Becker, Matthew L. (25 January 2024). Fundamental Theology: A Protestant Perspective. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-70572-3. Unitl that final revelation of the church, when it will be revealed to be what the apostles have said it is, the church proclaims the gospel and administers the sacraments (especially baptism, the Lord's Supper [also called Holy Communion or the Eucharist], and Holy Absolution [the formal proclamation of the forgiveness of sins)—all for the sake of calling people to faith, hope, and love and keeping them united with Christ and with one anothe rin the one church of Christ. And where the gospel is proclaimed and the sacraments administered in accord with that gospel, there the church truly is. Indeed, the Holy Spirit acts through the word and the sacraments, in Luther's phrase, "to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian church on earth" (the church is not a Platonic reality) and keep it united to Christ. Because of the power of the Spirit to create and preserve the church, even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Mt. 16.18).
  5. ^ "What Gives the Pastor the Power to Absolve?". The Lutheran Witness. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
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