In case you missed it....
Remember that story I reported a while back that Pope Benedict was considering issuing a statement "rehabilitating" Martin Luther?
Somehow I missed this at the time (chances are that you did, too; the publicity wasn't exactly overwhelming) but the Vatican promptly denied it.
It is to be even further regretted, of course, that the press release from the Catholic News Service linked to above repeats the nonsense that the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in any sense resolved the differences between Catholics and at least those Lutherans who actually still hold Luther's doctrine of justification. The document simply finessed the point that "justification," "grace," and "faith" all have different meanings in Lutheran and Catholic theology, rendering mere agreement on a common formula essentially meaningless.
The "Lutheran" participants were from the Lutheran World Federation, membership in which requires only a nominal Lutheran identity. To call the LWF's espousal of the historic Lutheran Confessions and the essentials of historical Lutheran doctrine merely ambiguous would be charitable.
Here's more.
Somehow I missed this at the time (chances are that you did, too; the publicity wasn't exactly overwhelming) but the Vatican promptly denied it.
It is to be even further regretted, of course, that the press release from the Catholic News Service linked to above repeats the nonsense that the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in any sense resolved the differences between Catholics and at least those Lutherans who actually still hold Luther's doctrine of justification. The document simply finessed the point that "justification," "grace," and "faith" all have different meanings in Lutheran and Catholic theology, rendering mere agreement on a common formula essentially meaningless.
The "Lutheran" participants were from the Lutheran World Federation, membership in which requires only a nominal Lutheran identity. To call the LWF's espousal of the historic Lutheran Confessions and the essentials of historical Lutheran doctrine merely ambiguous would be charitable.
Here's more.
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