Title: Lutherans, Roman Catholics Find "Fundamental Consensus"
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 6, 1997
LUTHERANS, ROMAN CATHOLICS FIND "FUNDAMENTAL CONSENSUS"
97-08-022-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and
the Vatican have agreed on wording that could end four centuries
of bickering between the two churches. The Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification brings global attention to a
"fundamental consensus" the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America and Roman Catholic Church reached in the 1980s.
In 45 paragraphs the declaration summarizes Lutheran-Roman
Catholic dialogues on the subject around the world over the past
three decades. It draws special attention to "Justification by
Faith," a consensus document issued in 1983 after five years of
work by the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue.
The Rev. H. George Anderson was the Lutheran co-chair of the
dialogue on justification, the seventh of ten "rounds" of talks
in the United States. He is now presiding bishop of the ELCA.
"Justification is a central concept in how both of our
churches understand the gospel of Jesus Christ," said the Rev.
Daniel F. Martensen, director of the ELCA Department for
Ecumenical Affairs. It's also "the core of the difficulty ... in
the 16th century which lead to the Reformation.
"Over that doctrine there were condemnations thrown back and
forth between the Roman Catholic Church and the then-emerging
Lutheran community ... not so much against individuals but
against teachings," he said. The declaration states that those
condemnations no longer apply.
For Lutherans, the doctrine of justification is "that we
cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by
our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive
forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for
Christ's sake, through faith." The declaration states that Roman
Catholics agree but have a different way of looking at "grace"
than Lutherans.
Theologians recently finished editing a section of the
declaration involving "a very complex set of theological issues"
dealing with "concupiscence," said Martensen. Concupiscence is
"the tendency or the inclination toward sinning."
Lutherans have a slogan, he said: "`We are simultaneously
saints and sinners.' The Roman Catholic Church talks a different
way about the impact of salvation -- being saved by Christ --
that really you are no longer a sinner at that point, but you
have an inclination -- a tendency. There is concupiscence
involved."
Lutheran and Roman Catholic theologians wanted the
declaration to clarify that this difference requires continued
conversation between the two churches, said Martensen, but it
does not affect consensus reached on the doctrine of
justification.
The joint declaration is being studied "by all 122 member
churches of the Lutheran World Federation and by the Roman
Catholic Church at the world level," said Martensen. The
official English translation was sent immediately to all Lutheran
theological faculties in the United States, and it will be
available this spring for discussion at the assemblies of the
ELCA's 65 synods.
The 7.6-million-member Church of Sweden -- the world's
largest Lutheran church -- has already approved the declaration.
The ELCA is the second largest with nearly 5.2 million members.
The LWF will compile the results of all the responses from
Lutheran churches around the world.
The text is not to be amended, because the wording is being
considered in so many settings, Martensen said. "The bishop will
make a proposal at some point" whether there be a vote on the
declaration at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this August in
Philadelphia or there be further study.
The declaration on the doctrine of justification is one of
three ecumenical developments in 1997 for the ELCA. The
Churchwide Assembly is set to vote on two proposals for full
communion, one with the Episcopal Church and the other with three
Reformed churches -- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed
Church in America and United Church of Christ.
The joint declaration will not bring Lutherans and Roman
Catholics into full communion, said Martensen, "but it's an
important step to open new doors for further dialogue and for the
exploration of new topics in relationship to our Roman Catholic
sisters and brothers. And that we think is important. There
will be a mood change potentially if this is passed."
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
