Meriting Heaven

Mr. Blue is not merely a Christian, he is a committed Roman Catholic, and as such exhibits many of the unique distinctive qualities of a Roman Catholic Christian. He is strongly monastic, apparently celibate and has taken on a vow of poverty, something many Protestant denominations scorn. He often wonders about the lives of the saints and speaks of them admirably, again, another Catholic distinctive.

But perhaps the most uniquely Catholic of his attitudes is his understanding of theological merit. He believes that heaven has given him happiness beyond any other living human but he is frightened because he knows that he could not earn this happiness even if he tried. He believes that heaven will exact a price for his gift because he could not earn the gifts of God. A Protestant would reject this attitude, arguing that all of God's gifts are essentially unmerited but...