.
... Your
Word Is Truth
.
A
Statement by
Evangelicals
and Catholics
Together
.
August
2002
In the spring of 1994, a group
of Roman Catholics and evangelical
Protestants issued a much-discussed
statement, “Evangelicals and Catholics
Together: The Christian Mission in the
Third Millennium” (First Things, May
1994). That statement, commonly referred
to as “ECT,” noted a growing “convergence
and cooperation” between Evangelicals and
Catholics in many public tasks, and
affirmed agreement in basic articles of
Christian faith while also underscoring
the continuing existence of important
differences. The signers promised to
engage those differences in continuing
conversations, and this has been done in
meetings of noted theologians convened by
Mr. Charles Colson and Father Richard John
Neuhaus. At a meeting in the fall of 1996,
it was determined that further progress
depended upon firm agreement on the
meaning of salvation, and especially the
doctrine of justification. After much
discussion, study, and prayer over the
course of a year, the statement “The Gift
of Salvation” was agreed to at a meeting
in New York City in October 1997, and
published in the January 1998 issue of
this journal. The next question taken up
by ECT participants was the relationship
between Scripture and tradition. The
following statement, “Your Word Is Truth,”
is the product of intense and extended
deliberation and was first published this
summer by Eerdmans in a book by the same
title. The participants express the hope
that those responding with critical
evaluations of the statement will consult
the scholarly papers prepared for their
deliberation and to be found in the book.
The ECT project continues and is currently
studying Roman Catholic and evangelical
Protestant understandings of “the
communion of saints” (communio
sanctorum).”
- The Editors
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ prayed for his
disciples: “Sanctify them in the truth; your
word is truth.... I do not pray for these only,
but also for those who believe in me through
their word, that they may all be one; even as
you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they
also may be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me” (John 17:17,20-21).
We thank God for the years of prayer, study, and
conversation in the project known as
“Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” Among the
many blessings resulting from this cooperative
effort, we note especially our common
affirmation of the most central truths of
Christian faith, including justification by
faith, in the 1997 statement, “The Gift of
Salvation.” From the beginning of this venture,
and at each step along the way, we have insisted
that the only unity among Christians that can be
pleasing to God is unity in truth. Therefore, we
have understood it to be our duty to note,
carefully and clearly, matters both of agreement
and of disagreement between Evangelicals and
Catholics.
Among matters of utmost importance, and
involving both agreements and disagreements, is
the question traditionally framed as the
relationship between Scripture and tradition. As
we have together explored this question, we have
prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and
we believe that prayer has been answered. We
respectfully submit the following considerations
and conclusions to the ecclesial communities and
transdenominational fellowships of which we are
part, with the hope that they will be received
and examined as possible contributions to our
better understanding of one another and our
greater unity in Christ’s truth.
From before the foundation of the world, God has
desired a people to share forever in His life
and love (Ephesians 1:4). To that end, God
disclosed Himself and His loving intention by a
sequence of revelatory and redemptive acts that
involved the uttering of verbal messages and the
producing of written records (Hebrews 1:1). He
created a world that bears witness to His glory
(Psalm 19:1-6), and when humanity sinfully
rebelled against His purpose, He chose Israel to
be instructed by word and deed in the ways of
covenant fidelity in order to become a light to
all the nations (Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy
4:1-8). To this people He promised a Savior, who
is Jesus the Christ, the very Word of God who
was in the beginning with God, and who is to be
recognized and confessed as the Son of God (John
1:1-14). The God of Israel is the One whom Jesus
calls Father and teaches us to call Father (John
17:1-5; Matthew 6:6-13). To Jesus’ disciples,
and to those who would become disciples through
their word, he promised the Spirit to guide them
into all truth. Thus the new Israel worshiped,
obeyed, and proclaimed the one true God—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit—in faith-filled
anticipation of participating in the divine life
forever (Hebrews 12:18-24; John 16:3; Acts 1:8).
Already now, God’s promised redemption is
fulfilled in the mediatorial ministry of Jesus
Christ that is centered in his cross,
resurrection, ascension, present reign, and
assured return in glory to establish his eternal
kingdom (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).
God gives His people full and final knowledge of
His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. “In
many and various ways God spoke of old to our
fathers by the prophets; but in these last days
He has spoken to us by a Son, whom He appointed
the heir of all things, through whom also He
created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Son sent
and sends the Holy Spirit who, bestowing the
gift of faith, creates the community of faith
for whose unity Jesus prayed. Christ himself is
the head and cornerstone of his Church, which is
built on the foundation of apostles and
prophets. In its understanding, believing,
celebrating, living, and proclaiming the gospel
of Jesus Christ, the Church is guided by the
Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Both Evangelicals and Catholics affirm the one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, as set
forth in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed,
but they define the Church and its attributes in
distinctive ways. Evangelicals stress the
priority of the gospel over the Church whose
primary mission is to herald the good news of
God’s salvation in Christ. For Evangelicals, the
Church as the one body of Christ extending
through space and time includes all the redeemed
of all the ages and all on earth in every era
who have come to living faith in the body’s
living Head. Everyone who is personally united
to Christ, having been justified by faith alone
through his atoning death, belongs to his body
and by the Spirit is united with every other
true believer in Jesus. Evangelicals maintain
that the one Church becomes visible on earth in
all local congregations that meet to do together
the things that, according to Scripture, the
Church does.
Catholics hold that the Church is the body of
Christ, a sacramental and mystical communion in
which Christ is truly and effectually present
and through which his justifying and sanctifying
grace is mediated. While Christ is the unique
mediator of salvation for all humanity, the
Church of Jesus Christ “subsists in” and is most
fully and rightly ordered in the Catholic
Church, meaning the Church governed by the
bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome,
the successor of Peter. Although there have been
variations through history in the exercise of
that governance, and may be further variations
in order to accommodate a fuller expression of
Christian unity, Catholics believe that Christ
has endowed the Church with a permanent
apostolic structure and an infallible teaching
office that will remain until the Kingdom is
fully consummated.
While Catholics and Evangelicals have not been
able to reconcile these different views of the
Church, with both communities finding serious
aberrations in the ecclesial understanding of
the other, as individual believers we do
recognize in one another, when and where God so
permits it, the evident reality of God’s grace
expressed by our trust in Jesus himself as
Master and divine Savior. All who truly believe
in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are brothers
and sisters in the Lord even though they are not
in full ecclesial fellowship.
In communion with the body of faithful
Christians through the ages, we also affirm
together that the entire teaching, worship,
ministry, life, and mission of Christ’s Church
is to be held accountable to the final authority
of Holy Scripture, which, for Evangelicals and
Catholics alike, constitutes the word of God in
written form (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
We agree that the phrase “word of God” refers
preeminently to Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14). It
is also rightly said that the gospel of Jesus
Christ is the word of God, as is the faithful
preaching of the gospel (Acts 6:7; 8:4). Then
the canon, the listed set of writings making up
the Bible, is recognized by the community of
faith as the written word of God, possessing
final authority for faith and life. On the
extent of the canon we do not entirely agree,
though the sixty-six books of the Protestant
canon are not in dispute. In every form—the
gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments—the
word of God is in service to Jesus Christ, the
Word of God preeminent.
The divinely inspired writings of the New
Testament convey the apostolic teaching, which
is the authoritative interpretation of God’s
revelation in Christ. The early Christian
community recognized the authority of the first
apostles who planted local churches and urged
them to be faithful to the teaching they had
received. Still today we possess that apostolic
teaching in the New Testament, which, together
with the Old Testament of which the New is the
authoritative interpretation, is the written
word of God. This entire process of the
reception and transmission of God’s revelation
is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 2
Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
Evangelicals and Catholics alike recognize the
promised guidance of the Spirit in the
elucidation and unfolding of apostolic teaching
that took place as historic Christian orthodoxy
emerged. This continuing work of the Spirit is
evident in, for instance, the formulation of the
Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, and in
the conciliar resolution of disputes regarding
the two natures of Christ and the triune life of
God. Such development of doctrine, typically in
response to grave error and deviant traditions
built upon such error, is to be understood not
as an addition to the apostolic teaching
contained in Holy Scripture but as Spirit-guided
insight into the fullness of that teaching. In
this way, the Lord has enabled faithful
believers both to counter error and to make
explicit what is implicit in the written Word of
God.
In the course of that same history, and in the
context of crises posed by philosophical and
cultural changes as well as manifest
ecclesiastical corruptions, the question of how
to determine authentic apostolic teaching came
into intense dispute. The mainline Reformers of
the sixteenth century posited what is called the
“formal principle,” which holds that the
Scriptures are (in the words of the 2000
Amsterdam Declaration) “the inspired revelation
of God . . . totally true and trustworthy, and
the only infallible rule of faith and practice.”
The Reformers vigorously protested what they
viewed as deviations from biblical teaching, but
they never used Scripture to undermine the
Trinitarian and Christological consensus of the
early Church embodied in the historic creeds
that had come down from patristic times. The
Reformers stoutly resisted the charge of
innovation: they did not seek to found new
churches but sought simply to reform the one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church on the
basis of the word of God.
We who are Evangelicals recognize the need to
address the widespread misunderstanding in our
community that sola scriptura (Scripture alone)
means nuda scriptura (literally, Scripture
unclothed; i.e., denuded of and abstracted from
its churchly context). The phrase sola
scriptura refers to the primacy and
sufficiency of Scripture as the theological
norm—the only infallible rule of faith and
practice—over all tradition rather than the mere
rejection of tradition itself. The isolation of
Scripture study from the believing community of
faith (nuda scriptura) disregards the Holy
Spirit’s work in guiding the witness of the
people of God to scriptural truths, and leaves
the interpretation of that truth vulnerable to
unfettered subjectivism. At the same time, we
insist that all Christians should have open
access to the Bible, and should be encouraged to
read and study the Scriptures, for in them all
that is necessary for salvation is set forth so
clearly that the simplest believer, no less than
the wisest theologian, may arrive at a
sufficient understanding of them.
We who are Catholics must likewise address the
widespread misunderstanding in our community
that tradition is an addition to Holy Scripture
or a parallel and independent source of
authoritative teaching. When Catholics say
“Scripture and tradition,” they intend to affirm
that the lived experience (tradition) of the
community of faith through time includes the
ministry of faithful interpreters guided by the
Holy Spirit in discerning and explicating the
revealed truth contained in the written Word of
God, namely, Holy Scripture.
Together we affirm that Scripture is the
divinely inspired and uniquely authoritative
written revelation of God; as such it is
normative for the teaching and life of the
Church. We also affirm that tradition, rightly
understood as the proper reflection of biblical
teaching, is the faithful transmission of the
truth of the gospel from generation to
generation through the power of the Holy Spirit.
As Evangelicals and Catholics fully committed to
our respective heritages, we affirm together the
coinherence of Scripture and tradition:
tradition is not a second source of revelation
alongside the Bible but must ever be corrected
and informed by it, and Scripture itself is not
understood in a vacuum apart from the historical
existence and life of the community of faith.
Faithful believers in every generation live by
the memories and hopes of the actus tradendi
of the Holy Spirit: this is true whenever and
wherever the word of God is faithfully
translated, sincerely believed, and truly
preached.
We recognize that confessing a high doctrine of
the nature and place of Scripture is
insufficient without a firm commitment to the
intense devotional, disciplined, and prayerful
engagement with Scripture. We rejoice to note
that in our communities, and in joint study
involving people from both communities, such
engagement is increasingly common. In this
engagement with Scripture, Evangelicals and
Catholics are learning from one another:
Catholics from the Evangelical emphasis on group
Bible study and commitment to the majestic and
final authority of the written word of God; and
Evangelicals from the Catholic emphasis on
Scripture in the liturgical and devotional life,
informed by the lived experience of Christ’s
Church through the ages.
There always have been, and likely will be until
our Lord returns in glory, disputes and
disagreements about how rightly to discern the
teaching of the Word of God in Holy Scripture.
We affirm that Scripture is to be read in
company with the community of faith past and
present. Individual ideas of what the Bible
means must be brought to the bar of discussion
and assessment by the wider fellowship.
“The church of the living God is the pillar and
bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Because
Christ’s Church is the pillar and bulwark of
truth, in disputes over conflicting
interpretations of the Word of God the Church
must be capable of discerning true teaching and
setting it forth with clarity. This is necessary
both in order to identify and reject heretical
deviations from the truth of the gospel and also
to provide sound instruction for passing on the
faith intact to the rising generation.
Evangelicals and Catholics alike are concerned
with these questions—What does the Bible
authoritatively teach? And how does Christ’s
Church apply this teaching authoritatively
today? Catholics believe that this teaching
authority is invested in the Magisterium,
namely, the Bishop of Rome, who is the successor
of Peter, and the bishops in communion with him.
Some Evangelicals see the communal office of
discerning and teaching the truth in the
covenanted congregation of baptized believers,
while others see it in a wider synodical or
episcopal connection. In either case, however,
Evangelicals believe that a true understanding
of the Bible is achieved only through the
illuminating action of the Holy Spirit. For this
reason, all attempts at discernment and teaching
must rely on prayerful attentiveness to the
guidance of the Spirit in the study of
Scripture.
While Catholics agree that the entire community
of the faithful is engaged in the discernment of
the truth (sensus fidelium), they also believe
that Evangelicals have an inadequate
appreciation of certain elements of truth that,
from the earliest centuries, Christians have
understood Christ to have intended for his
Church; in particular, the Petrine and other
apostolic ministries. While Evangelicals greatly
respect the way in which the Catholic Church has
defended many historic Christian teachings
against relativizing and secularizing trends,
and recognize the role of the present pontiff in
that important task today, they believe that
some aspects of Catholic doctrine are not
biblically warranted, and they do not accept any
claims of infallibility made for the magisterial
teachings of popes or church councils.
With specific reference to the subject of the
present statement, we are not agreed on the
exercise of teaching authority in the life of
Christ’s Church. To Evangelicals it appears
that, in practice if not in theory, the Catholic
understanding of Magisterium, including
infallibility, results in the Roman Catholic
Church standing in judgment over Scripture,
instead of vice versa. Catholics, in turn, teach
that the Magisterium exercised by the successors
of the apostles—which they believe is intended
by Christ, is guided by the Holy Spirit, and is
in clear continuity with the orthodox
tradition—enables the Church to explicate the
truth of Holy Scripture obediently and
accurately. We both recognize that judgments
must be made in the life of Christ’s Church as
to what is and what is not scriptural truth. We
are not agreed on how such judgments are to be
made, nor can either group accept all the
decisions that have resulted from what they
regard as a flawed way of deciding.
Among the Catholic teachings that Evangelicals
believe are not biblically warranted are the
eucharistic sacrifice and transubstantiation of
the elements, the doctrine of purgatory, the
immaculate conception and bodily assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the claimed
authority of the Magisterium, including papal
infallibility. Catholics, on the other hand,
believe that Evangelicals are deficient in their
understanding of, for instance, apostolically
ordered ministry, the number and nature of the
sacraments, the company and intercession of the
saints, the Spirit-guided development of
doctrine, and the continuing ministry of the
Petrine office in the life of the Church. On
these and other questions of great importance,
we are not agreed. Nor do we agree on how we
view our differences. Catholics view
Evangelicalism as an ecclesially deficient
community that needs to be strengthened by the
full complement of gifts that they believe
Christ intends for his Church. Evangelicals see
Catholicism as centering upon an idea of the
Church that clouds the New Testament gospel, and
so needs to be brought into greater conformity
with biblical teaching. The contrast here is
far-reaching and goes deep.
At the same time, we recognize that, during the
past five hundred years, the Holy Spirit, the
Supreme Magisterium of God, has been faithfully
at work among theologians and exegetes in both
Catholic and Evangelical communities, bringing
to light and enriching our understanding of
important biblical truths in such matters as
individual spiritual growth and development, the
mission of Christ’s Church, Christian worldview
thinking, and moral and social issues in today’s
world. We praise God for His faithful work
within each community as He has provided
instruction and guidance in these and other
important areas of Christian faith and life.
As Evangelicals and Catholics we are agreed on
what we have said together in the statement “The
Gift of Salvation” and on what we have been able
to say together in the present statement on
Scripture and tradition. The theological
disagreements that still separate us are serious
and require prayerful reflection and sustained
mutual engagement. But in the face of a society
marked by unbelieving ideologies and the culture
of death, we deem it all the more important to
affirm together those foundational truths of
historic Christian orthodoxy that we do hold in
common.
We are confident that the Lord is watching over
His gospel and over those who have been called
by the gospel, and we are sure that the forces
of hell will not be able to thwart His divine
purpose. By God’s grace, we will continue to
pray for one another, to seek greater mutual
understanding in continuing conversations, and,
in accordance with our deeply held convictions,
to work together to bring the love and light of
Christ to all persons everywhere. We earnestly
invoke the Holy Spirit’s continuing guidance in
further establishing and making manifest our
unity in the truth of Jesus Christ, so that the
world may come to believe (John 17:21). In union
with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we
together pray, “Sanctify us in the truth; Your
word is truth” (John 17:17).
EVANGELICAL
PROTESTANTS
Dr. Harold O. J. Brown
Reformed Theological Seminary
Mr. Charles Colson
Prison Fellowship
Dr. Timothy George
Beeson Divinity School
Dr. Kent R. Hill
Eastern Nazarene College
Dr. Frank A. James
Reformed Theological Seminary
Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns
Church of God School of Theology
Dr. T. M. Moore
Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church
Dr. Thomas Oden
Drew University
Dr. James J. I. Packer
Regent College, British Columbia
Dr. Timothy R. Phillips
Wheaton Graduate School of Theology
Dr. John Woodbridge
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School |
ROMAN CATHOLICS
Dr. James J. Buckley
Loyola College of Maryland
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
Fordham University
Father Thomas Guarino
Seton Hall University
Father Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J.
Fordham University
Father Francis Martin
John Paul II Institute for Studies
on Marriage and Family
Father Richard John Neuhaus
Institute on Religion and Public
Life
Father Edward T. Oakes, S.J.
Regis University
Dr. Robert Louis Wilken
University of Virginia |
illustration above (c)
by Kevin Carden |
