The children are going back to their mother.
Protestant Author Asks: Is the Reformation Over?
Mark Noll on Catholics and Evangelicals' Improving Relationship
WHEATON, Illinois, OCT. 5, 2005 (Zenit.org).- From antagonists
following the Reformation to allies in recent years, Catholics and
evangelical Protestants are forming new bonds and identifying points
of common Christian affirmation.
So says Mark Noll, the McManis Professor of Christian Thought at
Wheaton College, senior adviser to the Institute for the Study of
American Evangelicals, and co-author of "Is The Reformation Over?:
An Evangelical Assessment Of Contemporary Roman Catholicism" (Baker
Publishing Group) with Carolyn Nystrom.
Noll shared with ZENIT how he thinks Catholics and evangelicals are
bridging the gap -- and what may still stand in the way of Christian
unity.
Q: What evidence have you seen of an increasingly warm relationship
between Catholics and evangelicals recently? Could you briefly
describe what has been the relationship between the two groups in
the past?
Noll: Historically, evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics were
antagonists.
From shortly after the beginning of the Reformation in the 1520s
until the 1960s, the standard Protestant picture was that the
Catholic Church had perverted Christianity, and the standard
Catholic picture was that Protestants had wrecked Christianity.
Although it is possible to find views with more nuances in the
intervening centuries, things began to change seriously only in the
1950s and 1960s. Evidence of those changes abounds on every side.
More and more evangelicals and Catholics take part in ad hoc or para-
church religious movements such as Alpha.
More and more contacts for cooperation have been made in political
matters, especially between culturally conservative Catholics and
culturally conservative evangelicals, but also on some questions
between culturally liberal Catholics and culturally liberal
Protestants.
There is more evangelical respect for leading Catholics such as
Mother Teresa and John Paul II and more Catholic respect for leading
evangelicals such as Billy Graham.
Many evangelicals in academic life benefit from instruction or
models from Catholic intellectuals such as Alasdair MacIntyre or
Charles Taylor, and at least a few Catholic academics benefit from
the work of Protestant intellectuals such as Alvin Plantinga.
In many local neighborhoods, home Bible studies -- usually organized
by women for women -- draw in both Catholics and evangelicals to
study the Scriptures together.
Formal dialogues, as initiated by the Vatican after the Second
Vatican Council, have helped reduce tensions, as have a large and
growing number of opportunities for Catholics and evangelicals to
dialogue more informally in many different settings.
Informal but visible movements like Evangelicals and Catholics
Together also have spotlighted opportunities for cooperation.
Q: What issues in particular are bringing evangelicals and Catholics
together? Perhaps concerns about same-sex marriage and the rising
hostility toward traditional marriage?
Noll: High-visibility political issues such as opposition to
abortion-on-demand and to same-sex marriage have definitely played a
role.
My co-author, Carolyn Nystrom, and I feel, however, that seismic
changes in religious matters may be even more important.
We have seen evidence for at least some Catholics and some
evangelicals to identify points of common Christian affirmation --
on the Trinity, on the work of Christ in redeeming sinners, on the
truth-telling character of the Bible -- and then, on that basis, to
advance in dialogue concerning remaining differences, but also
cooperation in a wide number of social and religious matters.
Q: To what extent have long-standing hostilities of evangelicals
toward Catholics been really overcome?
Noll: The best answer, I think, would have to be "to some extent."
Just today I received two e-mails within minutes of each other.
One was a review in a Canadian paper in which the author more or
less celebrated the breaking down of former hostilities between the
two camps. The other was a long list of about 30 Bible passages that
the compiler, an ex-Catholic who had become an evangelical, was
presenting to demonstrate how wicked and dangerous the Catholic
Church remained.
I think these two e-mails would represent poles of evangelical
attitudes toward Catholics, but it would be possible to find
positions at every intermediate point along the spectrum between
these two poles.
Q: Is there anything in particular that evangelicals find attractive
about the Catholic Church? Its social doctrine? The magisterium of
John Paul II?
Noll: Evangelical churches tend to be populist and not overly
intellectual, but among evangelical academics I think there is
growing respect for Catholic intellectual traditions like the
philosophy of Thomas Aquinas or the social teaching of Leo XIII.
Certainly it is the case that many evangelicals admired John Paul II
for his courageous life of service under the Nazis and communists
and also for his obvious Christian piety as Pontiff.
Carolyn Nystrom and I both have quite a few personal acquaintances
who also have come to value tradition more highly, to stress the
corporate dimensions of Christian faith and to enjoy Christian
literature from the whole of the Church's past.
In all of such folk there is almost inevitably more respect for at
least some aspects of Catholic tradition and some leading exemplars
in Catholic history.
And it goes almost without saying that on many hot-button cultural-
political issues such as opposition to abortion-on-demand, many
evangelicals have been greatly stimulated by Catholic leaders.
Q: What is the general feeling of evangelicals toward Mary? Are they
warming to her? What obstacles remain?
Noll: Mary remains a sticking point for a number of reasons. With
our strong focus on Christ as the only redeemer of sinners, we
evangelicals are nervous about any talk concerning Mary that makes
her sound like a savior.
Practically speaking, what I think most Catholics consider devotion
to Mary is perceived by evangelicals as worship of Mary.
In addition, evangelicals by and large do not grasp what is spelled
out about Mary pretty clearly in documents such as the Catechism of
the Catholic Church: Mary stands as first among the faithful in the
Bride of Christ.
That is, the centrality of Mary in the Church and the identification
of the Church with Christ are Catholic convictions that most
evangelicals do not understand. Such issues are very sensitive
because they combine refined doctrine and popular practice.
On such issues, some progress has probably been made through the
efforts of Catholic leaders to spell out carefully what Catholic
tradition really does and does not affirm about Mary.
Evangelicals who take the time to study such careful statements come
away reassured, as least somewhat, about Catholic practice, but
attitudes toward Mary remain a major difference between the two
traditions.
Especially among earnest lay believers -- who know very well what
practices they treasure, or fear, but cannot offer sophisticated
theological explanations -- potential for mutual suspicion remains
high.
Q: What is the significance of current Catholic-evangelical
interaction in today's divided Christendom?
Noll: Christian believers, whether Catholic or evangelicals, who
believe in "the communion of saints" should be heartened by new
levels of discussion, mutual instruction, and dialogue that had not
been achieved since early in the 16th century.
My own sense is that, as Western cultures become increasingly
secular, it is easier for believers of different types to affirm
together basic Christian teachings -- on the Trinity, on Christ as
Word of God, on the Scriptures as authoritative revelation from God -
- while nonetheless still being able to recognize that serious
differences still separate the major streams of Christian tradition.
From another angle, as the Christian faith advances so rapidly in
parts of the world that did not pass through the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation -- much of Africa, Asia and the Pacific -- these
newer Christian movements do not have the same investment in old
religious quarrels as Western Catholics and Protestants.
They are more concerned about Christian faith in response to
difficulties today and far less concerned about historical
differences. When this attitude spins back to the West, ancient
antagonisms fade in importance.
Carolyn and I came to the conclusion as we worked on the book that
because both the Catholic Church and the evangelical world are both
facing rapid changes, it is hard to predict the future.
It is likely, however, that connections between a certain type of
evangelical and a certain type of Catholic will continue to expand
and deepen, although I don't think we would make that prediction for
all evangelicals and all Catholics as a whole.
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