The Christian Mission in the Third Millenium

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 -0500

That They May All Be One: The Imperatives and Prospects of Christian Unity

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 -0500

Relations between Catholics and Evangelical Christians have traditionally been rather cool at their very best. While Catholics in pluralistic societies have throughout the twentieth century slowly built up new contacts with Protestants from the mainline churches, they have found it difficult to find common ground with “Evangelical” Christianity. The term “Evangelical” itself seemed to cover such a vast spectrum of doctrine, discipline, and organization so far removed from the Catholic understanding of the Church that any kind of deep relationship appeared impossible. Evangelicals, for their part, have generally looked upon Catholicism as a total distortion of the Gospel, teaching works––righteousness instead of justification by faith alone, substituting the Church for the Lord, encouraging such non-biblical practices as veneration of Mary and the saints. Evangelicals and Pentecostals have been generally reluctant to become involved in the ecumenical movement. They do not easily identify with the goals that other Christian churches seek to attain through ecumenical commitment. Catholics, for their part, have often been guilty of stereotyping Evangelicals and Pentecostals. In certain parts of the world, and particularly in Latin America, Catholic-Evangelical relations have been characterized by deep hostility and intense proselytism.

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The Christian Mission in the Third Millenium

That They May All Be One: The Imperatives and Prospects of Christian Unity