Friday Review: Is the Reformation Over? 2

In his first chapter, Noll and Nystrom present evidence that "Things Are Not As They Used to Be."

The first contestant was Billy Graham, whose organization in the 50's thought it ridiculous to suggest that they would send decision cards to local Roman Catholic churches. Now they do. In fact, Graham met with Pope John Paul II and has been supported by the Vatican. As one bishop put it, "I wish I could get more Catholics to have such enthusiasm for their faith in Christ" and as Graham put it in 1964, he felt "much closer to Roman Catholic tradition than to some of the more liberal Protestants."

Mention of the change in political climate from 1960, when evangelicals vigorously opposed J. F. K. as President to today where Catholics and evangelicals cooperate strongly in the pro-life movement. Noll and Nystrom quote Gary Bauer remarking on the amazing turn around in evangelical-catholic cooperation now in comparison to attitudes at the time of JKF.

The next section gives instances of the Vatican inviting evangelicals to come. In particular, they note Catholic praise for the InterVarsity Press Ancient Christian Commentary series. As of 2004, 20% of sales were to Catholics. The RCC (Roman Catholic Church) has also praised and supported the charismatic leaning Alpha Course.

Local cooperation is even greater. Hyms, worship songs, Christian music has no clear boundary. Evangelicals like Michael Card. Catholics sing Wesley and Watts' hymns--even Luther's "A Mighty Fortress." "[A] remarkable 50 percent of American Catholics provided the 'evangelical' response to at least three of the four indicators; 13 percent of the Americans who affirmed all four evangelical markers were Roman Catholic" (23). Catholics are reading evangelicals like Max Lucado and Richard Foster. Protestants are reading Catholics like Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen.

Gone are the days of separate Catholic and Protestant scholarship. Gone are the days when Catholics could only read the Douay-Rheims English translation. Gone are the days when Martin Luther is decried by Catholics as "a lewd satyr whose glandular demands were the ultimate cause of his break with the Christian Church" (quoted on 25). Catholics celebrated the 450th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession and the 500th anniversary of Luther's birthday. As one Catholic put it, Luther "could not, of course, have foreseen that the Church of Rome would some four centuries later, at Vatican Council II, adopt many of the reforms that he championed" (quoted on 27).

Catholic-evangelical relations are not moving together as quickly in some other parts of the world (e.g., Latin America). But Noll and Nystrom's book, published in 2005, clearly show that relations in general improved significantly under John Paul II. Of course the RC Church is the RC Church. As Piper pointed out in one of his chapters, there remain significant distinctions. But there are significant distinctions between Wesleyans and Presbyterians too.

For my part, it is very easy for me to include my Catholic brothers and sisters within the kingdom of God. The Pope is the bishop of Rome, the most significant bishop in the world at present. Can he make infallible pronouncements? I do not believe he can on the basis of his office or declaration of ex cathedra. But I believe that any Christian can make an infallible pronouncement when they are speaking by the Holy Spirit.

The RCC considers me a "separated brother" because I am not a part of the one true church. Do I begrudge them that? Of course not. They are simply following through on their theology--it's not personal. I am at peace with God and couldn't care less where their theology places me in relation to them. I am not bothered that a United Pentecostal would not consider me quite a Christian because I don't speak in tongues. I am neither offended nor bothered by the playing out of others' theology, except of course when such ideas hurt others (and of course ideas can hurt others).

But if a Roman Catholic has genuine faith in Christ and submits to his lordship in every way they know how, then they are as much a Christian as I or any other believer.

The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, suggested that a phrase from the Second Vatican Council's "Decree on Ecumenism" points to the way forward--and I would say not just between Roman Catholics and Protestants but also between Protestant denominations. The phrase is "a hierarchy of truths." In other words, none of us should give up our distinctives--that would just lead to a melange of gray.

But there is a great deal that all the Christian traditions hold in common--and I would say unofficially a very great deal that all truly converted Christians hold in common beyond the official statements of the churches they are in.

The chapter ends with comments by J. I. Packer in which he expresses his amazement at how the Catholic situation had changed within his lifetime. The spark for his comments was a 1980's book titled, The Born-Again Catholic. Packer concludes, "Things are not as they were!"