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XXXIII - 1(00) “Watchman, what of the night?” "The hour has come, the
hour is striking and striking at you,
The Signing of
the Joint Declaration In the second special issue
of WWN for 1999, we discussed what was then to be the forthcoming signing in Augusburg, Germany, on October 31 of the "Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification." It did occur. As Cardinal
Edward Cassidy signed the document on behalf of more than a billion Roman
Catholics, he declared - "In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common
life." "The agreement is
significant beyond the dispute over the doctrine that it supposedly resolved.
It has deep implications for future relations among Catholics and
Protestants." Many theologians and church leaders, both Lutheran and Roman
Catholic, "said this accord gives added promise to the ideal their
denominations champion of full communion, or merger, between the churches. ...
Now, as the Augsburg accord suggests, the value of separate denominations is
under question." (Washington Post, Nov. 1, 1999,
p. A01). H. George Anderson,
presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the
signers and negotiators of the accord declared, "This is a critical
breakthrough: It's the first major step toward reconciliation between the two
churches since the Reformation. Now we understand we have creeds in common, and
that removes the taint of heresy from both sides." (ibid.) This document appears to be
saying that the doctrine that Luther thought was central to the Reformation,
and which led him to undertake it, is not one on which there are serious enough
differences between Catholics and Lutherans to justify the division of the
church" was the opinion of Joseph Komonchak,
professor of theology at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. According
to the press release, "The agreement declares, in effect, that it was all
a misunderstanding." (ibid.) The Lutheran and Catholic
negotiators have been involved in 30 years of discussion in formulating this
joint declaration concerning the doctrine of justification. While "the
Lutherans have believed that faith alone, an acceptance of God renewed every
day, ensures eternal salvation," and while "the Catholic Church has
long taught that salvation comes from the sum total of faith and good
works," it is perceived that in the signing of the accord, "there are
no winners and losers." Augsburg Bishop Viktor Josef Dammertz
observed, "We are Christians of different backgrounds but we are all on
the same path seeking the truth of God." The signing service itself
sought to emphasize that the participants were on "the same path." It
began with "a penitential service in the Augsburg Roman Catholic
cathedral." There Pastor Ernst Offner, regional
dean of Augsburg and Schwaben presented one of the
welcoming addresses before the walk to the Church of St. Anne where the signing
took place. Speaking on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, he
explained: We
shall now get started on the road literally. In this worship service we want to
walk from one church to the other, ... We deliberately
walk in the street, publicly, because we are convinced that the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, the message of justification of the sinner, is relevant and seeks to
become public. We believe this together. We do this together. (Origins, Vol. 29,
#22, p. 341) In his remarks, Pastor Offner declared that the worship service in the Cathedral
"makes clear that the road continues. The will of Jesus is `that they ail
be one.' The signing ceremony is not an end point but a colon." He
indicated that "Eucharistic sharing remains our goal; first of all the
mutual invitation to the Lord's table and the mutual
recognition to this being (the one) church of Jesus Christ. All this deepens
our faith which, as we officially confirm today, is common in its central
elements." He recalled the question asked by Pope John Paul II in a visit
to Augusburg in 1987, in that same cathedral -
"Why should we have separate paths in those areas where we can already
walk together?" (ibid., p. 343) Not alone in Augsburg,
Germany, was there "unity meetings" between Lutherans and Roman
Catholics, but in cities of the United States and Canada joint services were
conducted. In Baltimore, Maryland, Cardinal William Keeler commented -
"Today marks a historic landmark. In addition to agreeing on a key
teaching of our faith given us in Jesus Christ, our two churches have modelled a style of joint study in which there are no
winners or losers no compromises, (but rather) mutual enrichment." He,
with Bishop George Paul Mocko of the
Maryland-Delaware Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran nailed copies of the
"Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" to the doors of
their respective churches in Baltimore and held a brief prayer service at each
church. In New Engiand,
the eleven Roman bishops headed by Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston signed a
pastoral letter with Bishop Robert Isaksen of the New
England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Its final paragraph reads: As
we rejoice together in what takes place in Augsburg, we are mindful that much
theological work has yet to be accomplished as we proceed toward the goal of
full unity for which our Lord fervently prayed. Indeed, we all need to be attentative that our dialogue with other
Christians continue undiminished until this objective is achieved. Pray
with us that we may all be open to the work of the Spirit, who often moves
among us more quickly than we plan. (ibid., p. 349) While this euphoria was
evidenced on the ecclesiastical level, a well known Jesuit theologian looked at
the joint declaration from an analytical perspective. In a lecture given at
Fordham University in October, Avery Dulles, notes the declaration as "Two
Languages of Salvation." This cannot be, and thus his analysis demands a
critical review. He succinctly stated the heart of the issue involved in the
first paragraph of an essay adapted from the lecture. It reads: One of the central themes of the New
Testament, if not the central theme, is the way to obtain salvation. To be on
the right road is, in New Testament terminology, to be justified. The corollary
is that unless we are justified we are unrighteous and are on the road to
perdition. In other words, justification, as a right relationship with God, is
a matter of eternal life or death. If it is not important, nothing is. (First Things, Dec. 1999, p. 25) Stating that
"according to Christian faith, justification is a gift of God, who grants
it through His Son and Holy Spirit;" however, Duties affirms that
"fifteen hundred years of intense reflection have left us with a number of
questions." He then lists four questions: 1) Is
justification the action of God alone, or do we who receive it cooperate by our
response to God's offer of grace?" 2) "Does God, when He justifies
us, simply impute to us the merits of Christ, or does He transform
us and make us intrinsically righteous?" 3) "Do we receive
justification by faith alone, or only by a faith enlivened by love and fruitful
in good works?" 4) Is the reward of heavenly life
a free gift of God to believers, or do they merit it by their faithfulness and
good works?" (ibid.) Dulles then proceed to place the whole issue in the historical setting
of the past and present at Augsburg, Germany. He declared that Luther
"came up with answers to all these questions based primarily on his study
of Paul." At the Diet at Augsburg in 1530, the Emperor Charles V ordered
the Lutherans to explain their position. This resulted in the Augsburg
Confession prepared by Melanchthon and approved by Luther. However, a group of
Roman theologians responded to the Confession and faulted it, "especially
for its teaching on merit." The schism in Western Christianity was
finalized. On October 31, 1999, in the same German city by the signing of the
"Joint Declaration," the chasm has been supposedly bridged; there are
"two languages of salvation." Indeed, there are two languages which
claim to be; one the Pauline gospel, and the other the Tridentine doctrine of
Rome. Dulles fingered the key
factor in this controversy which has plagued the Christian Church from its
first Council to the present. It is at the core of the issue which convulsed
the Adventist Church in 1888, and is still in evidence today. That factor is to
be found in the single word - "merit." How do I "merit"
salvation? Who generates or generated the "merit"? This past Fall, we received copies of two publications with Week of
Prayer readings in each. Both, one published under the claim of "Historic
Adventism," and the other by the Reform Movement, echoed the Tridentine
doctrine of Rome. We are nearing the end of all things, and this issue needs to
be settled, for as Dulles pointed out, it "is a matter of eternal life or
death." It must take high priority for the year 2000. In Adventist
terminology, it involves the final atonement, and the final atonement can only
be correctly understood in the light of the sanctuary truth. |