GroshLink

Mark Noll strikes again with Is the Reformation Over? This piece, co-authored with Carolyn Nystrom, has caused quite a conversation in circles which span Evangelicals and Catholics. I find myself agreeing w/J.I. Packer, professor at Regent College in Vancouver, author of Knowing God:

The drafters of ect [Evangelicals-Catholics Together] declare that they accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, affirm the Apostles' Creed, "are justified by grace through faith because of Christ," understand the Christian life from first to last as personal conversion to Jesus Christ and communion with him, know that they must "teach and live in obedience to the divinely inspired Scriptures, which are the infallible Word of God," and on this basis are "brothers and sisters in Christ." … Do we recognize that good evangelical Protestants and good Roman Catholics—good, I mean, in terms of their own church's stated ideal of spiritual life—are Christians together? We ought to recognize this, for it is true.

My love for the One True God, leads me to the Mere Christianity explified by figures such as J.I.Packer, C.S. Lewis, Rich Mullins . . . and communities which seek conversation framed by such a direction . . . The Inklings, First Things, Mars Hill Audio, and

Conclusion of Is the Reformation Over?

Evangelicals respond to Catholics in many ways ranging from outright rejection to conversion. Most evangelicals who enter into greater contact with Catholics, however, practice various forms of partnership pointing toward mutual acceptance. The dramatic religious and cultural shifts of the past forty years have increased the sense of a shared Christian faith—shared but not identical. Differences remain and deserve to be faced. But where those differences do not preclude joined efforts, more and more evangelicals and Catholics are joining to serve God together with as much creativity as God-given skills and divinely appointed limitations allow. The needy of the world care little whether the Christian before them is evangelical or Catholic but much whether they might encounter the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel that can redeem the soul.

Meanwhile, evangelicals who remain highly critical of Catholic theology and practice have much to teach members of both traditions. Their persistence in criticism points to genuine weaknesses within Catholicism as well as to outdated prejudices. Both bodies can also become self-corrective as they listen to firsthand accounts of conversion. To tell the full story, it would be important to hear from the many who convert from Catholicism to various branches of Protestantism. Heeding the reasons why people find Christ or see Christ more clearly in one tradition instead of the other involves questions of great importance. But this shared love of Christ also prepares for eternity, where, at least in the hopes expressed by Peter Kreeft, evangelicals will teach Catholics to sing and Catholics will teach evangelicals to sculpt and to dance—all in praise of God.