ECT OVERVIEW & CHRONOLOGY
Most of this information was originally posted by BaptistPress on March 29, 1999, compiled by Art Toalston. All emphasis and bracketed portions were added by Jerry Moser on April 7, 1999.
OVERVIEW
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (formerly the Christian Life Commission, which Land served as executive director at the time), and Larry Lewis, retired president of the former SBC Home Mission Board and current national facilitator of the evangelical Mission America movement (see footnote A), weathered criticism from a number of SBC conservatives and Hispanic Baptists for signing "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium," which critics contend makes compromises to Catholic doctrine [[regarding the doctrine of "baptismal regeneration" and the validity of efforts by evangelicals to evangelize practicing Roman Catholics.]]. The document, released in March 1994, was signed by 40 evangelical and Catholic leaders.
In April 1995, ongoing controversy prompted Land and Lewis to announce they were removing their signatures from ECT.
The first formal salvo in the controversy came when trustees of the then-Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) voted unanimously in April 1994 to express concern that the document "is subject to interpretations harmful to the work of foreign missions."
In June 1994, the Southern Baptist Convention, at its annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., overwhelmingly adopted a resolution which affirmed "the benefit of conversation with any religious group, which is willing objectively and openly to discuss their faith, and to examine it on the basis of Holy Scripture." The resolution also called on the SBC to continue evangelism and missionary witness among groups "not characterized by genuine faith in Christ alone." The resolution called for cooperative efforts between Christian organizations on moral concerns, but reiterated the "historic Baptist doctrine" of salvation through grace alone and denied any view of salvation adding or subtracting from "the sole sufficiency of Jesus as redeemer."
That August, HMB board of directors voted down a proposed resolution rejecting ECT, embracing instead the SBC resolution, although 11 directors signed a "statement of dissent" in September listing six areas of concern over the document.
CLC commissioners unanimously affirmed Land's signing of the document in their September 1994 meeting.
In February 1995, the controversy sharpened when Lewis was confronted and asked to repent of signing ECT during an associational missions rally in Louisiana. In March, the three top-ranking officers of the Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas issued a statement disassociating themselves from ECT. Additionally, they, along with presidents of 30 regional Hispanic fellowships of Texas, sent a letter to Lewis asking him to rescind his endorsement of the accord.
Land and Lewis, in a joint statement on April 6, 1995, announced they were removing their signatures from ECT, saying in part, "... we believe it is in the best interest of our agencies that we eliminate the persistent perception that our agencies have endorsed ECT. It appears that the only way to do so is to remove our names from the document."
See Baptist Press story March 29, 1999, for reporting on any calls to repent issued to signers of ECT and ECT II, including Land and Lewis, issued during "ECT+5: A Biblical Response," the annual conference of the ExCatholics For Christ" organization, March 26-27 in Southlake, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Land, in response to an invitation from Louisiana pastor Jerry Moser to defend his involvement in the ECT process, declined an opportunity to participate in a "point-counterpoint discussion" March 25 prior to the ECT+5 conference. Moser is the mission pastor of Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church, Theriot, La., who led the 1995 confrontation of Larry Lewis at an associational missions rally in Louisiana. [[Dr. Lewis did not respond to the same invitation from pastor Moser.]]
Land, in a March 9 letter to Moser, recounted that he and Lewis had removed their names from ECT "because it proved to be virtually impossible to separate ourselves as individuals from the impression that our respective agencies were endorsing the document."
"For me to come to a public forum and defend the document would re-kindle that confusion," Land continued, "and would serve, in my opinion, no productive purpose. In fact, I believe that it would be a distraction from my primary calling of encouraging Southern Baptists to be salt and light for our Lord and Savior."
In an interview March 24, 1999, Lewis said he stands behind the statement he and Land issued when they formally removed their names from the ECT document, "and as far as I'm concerned, that's final."
The ECT was "a good effort" to attempt a "united voice against the moral, social ills of our day," Lewis said, and for that effort he said he does not feel a need to repent.
[[In reply, pastor Moser strongly disagreed with Land and Lewis, stating, "Our church has NEVER ONE TIME accused any SBC agency of endorsing the ECT. We have never had any difficulty seeing that it is you (Dr. Land) and Dr. Lewis who are personally responsible for this problem.... Scripture plainly illustrates that even the appearance of a public endorsement of doctrinal error by a Christian leader is to be confronted and corrected (see Galatians 2)."]]
CHRONOLOGY
The 25-page "EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium" [ECT] was released in New York City.
Among the 40 signers: Richard Land, then-executive director (now president) of the former Christian Life Commission (now Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission) and then-President Larry Lewis of the former Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board).
Baptist Press, on March 31, quoted Land as saying, "Nothing in this document should be construed as in any way diminishing the task of every Christian to seek to evangelize the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Lewis said, "It was an effort to build bridges between Catholics and evangelicals on those critical issues of our day."
Baptist Press reported that Land and Lewis had offered six pages of critiques of the first working draft, and most of their concerns were incorporated in the fifth and final draft of the document.
BP quoted Don Kammerdiener, executive vice president of the then-Foreign Mission Board, as saying the document "goes overboard." "I think our evangelical brethren have given up a great deal here," he said.
Foreign Mission Board trustees voted unanimously to express concern that ECT "is subject to interpretations harmful to the work of foreign missions."
In reaction to ECT's calls for reduced conflicts between evangelicals and Catholics and avoidance of proselytizing or "sheep stealing" of each other's converts, the trustee statement affirmed "missionary witness among populations and individuals characterized by nominal or former allegiance to any Christian denomination." And it rejected "any suggestion that such witness should be characterized as 'sheep stealing,' proselytizing or a wasteful use of resources."
Trustees also affirmed the FMB's "commitment to the Lordship of Christ and our fellowship with all who share a personal faith relationship with Him." It affirmed "commitment to the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible" and pledged to conduct mission work in accordance with scriptural teaching.
Baptist Press reported that Larry Lewis had issued a 10-page letter to HMB directors, with copies to state Baptist newspaper editors and others, defending ECT and rejecting a call that he publicly withdraw his endorsement of the document.
[[Note: Lewis was urged to remove his "endorsement," not just his "signature," something that both Land and Lewis apparently see as separate issues.]]
Lewis contended that a "strong emphasis on missions and world evangelism is interwoven throughout the document." Concerning the ECT condemnation of proselytizing, Lewis wrote, "We clearly stated that our primary thrust is to evangelize the unsaved, regardless of where they may be members and to congregationalize the unchurched, even if they are inactive members of some denomination, even our own."
Lewis' one concession to critics concerned a passage referring to the Catholic doctrine of salvation "through the sacrament of baptism." "It appears those of us who endorsed the document are lending credence to that heresy," he wrote. "Frankly, I did not catch this when I reviewed the original draft or I would have insisted on a rewrite. I apologize."
[[Note: Nowhere in Scripture is a private "apology" equal to a public repentance." See 1Timothy 5:19-20.
Dr. Land and Dr. Lewis say that they submitted six pages of notes and suggestions to just the first draft of the ECT, and yet through all FIVE different drafts they BOTH just overlooked this major promotion of sacramentalism... i.e., another gospel.]]
Members of the HMB executive committee passed a resolution affirming the agency's commitment to evangelization, which Baptist Press reported as being seen by many as affirmation of Lewis' involvement in the ECT document. A motion by HMB director Everett Geiss of New Delhi, La., that the executive committee "respectfully ask Dr. Lewis to consider removing his endorsement of this document thus distancing himself and the HMB from these volatile issues" died for lack of a second.
The Southern Baptist Convention, at its annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., overwhelmingly adopted a resolution backing dialogue with Roman Catholics while affirming historic Baptist principles different from Catholics. The resolution affirmed a commitment to evangelism while noting some concerns expressed about ECT.
The resolution affirmed "the benefit of conversation with any religious group, which is willing objectively and openly to discuss their faith, and to examine it on the basis of Holy Scripture." The resolution called on the SBC to continue evangelism and missionary witness among groups "not characterized by genuine faith in Christ alone."
The resolution:
-- recognized that born-again believers may be found in all Christian denominations.
-- affirmed the benefit of conversation with other religious groups.
-- called for cooperative efforts between Christian organizations on moral concerns.
-- reiterated the "historic Baptist doctrine" of salvation through grace alone and denied any view of salvation adding or subtracting "from the sole sufficiency of Jesus as redeemer."
-- affirmed the convention's commitment to evangelism and rejected the view of Southern Baptist evangelism as "sheep stealing."
One motion offered during the convention called for the convention to disavow ECT. It was referred to the Committee on Resolutions which opted not to present it to the convention.
At an Aug. 10 meeting of HMB directors, Bill Streich, a deacon at First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, offered a resolution to reject ECT and to nullify the HMB executive committee's June resolution. Instead, directors passed a substitute resolution to affirm both the executive committee's resolution and the resolution on Catholic dialogue passed during the SBC annual meeting in June. (The substitute resolution was proposed by Wade Armstrong, an evangelist and retired pastor from Ceredo, W.Va.)
Lewis was quoted as saying he was "aghast" that some interpret ECT as opposing missions. "I would not sign on to anything that was opposed to evangelism or missions." The document was designed to address such common concerns as abortion and pornography, not theology, he said.
Baptist Press reported that 11 HMB directors had signed a "statement of dissent" intended to disassociate themselves from ECT. The statement was in response to a motion passed Aug. 10 by HMB directors which affirmed both the June SBC resolution and the resolution adopted by the HMB executive committee June 13.
The statement noted that the Aug. 10 HMB directors' resolution passed by a vote of 40-28 with 12 abstentions, thus "half of the directors declined to support Dr. Lewis'" endorsement of ECT.
While the statement of dissent expressed support for moral concerns addressed in ECT, it said "sound doctrine must be protected and guarded beyond all else" and listed six grounds for dissent:
1) ECT claims evangelicals and Catholics are on the same mission presenting the same gospel, a concept most Southern Baptists would reject.
2) ECT denies "grace alone" is essential for justification, conflicting with the SBC resolution and with most Southern Baptists' beliefs.
3) ECT contains heretical statements admitted to by Lewis, thereby prioritizing a socio-political agenda above sound doctrine.
4) ECT claims Catholicism is an "evangelically assertive" religion, conflicting with the stance of the then-HMB's interfaith witness department.
5) ECT contains confusing and controversial language concerning proselytizing, or "sheep stealing," creating concern and difficulties in missions at home and abroad.
6) ECT, while pointing out differences, claims Roman Catholicism as a legitimate form of discipleship, encouraging a born-again believer to continue in Mariolatry, sacraments, transubstantiation, etc., in order to grow in Christ.
HMB board chairman Bob Curtis told Baptist Press, "The board has expressed itself. Those who disagree have now expressed themselves. It's time for us to move on and work together to reach our nation for Christ."
Lewis likewise said, "I feel it has been adequately dealt with." He said although ECT "declares our agreement on some basics of the faith such as the virgin birth and divinity of Jesus, his sacrificial death and bodily resurrection, and the infallibility of Scripture, it was not meant to be a theological or doctrinal accord and clearly says so."
"The document is primarily a statement of our common opposition to abortion, pornography, violence, moral deterioration and an affirmation of religious freedom," Lewis said.
Christian Life Commission trustees unanimously affirmed Land's signing of ECT during their Sept. 13-14 annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. The trustees also affirmed "the desirability of [the CLC staff] pursuing efforts with like-minded groups" outside the convention.
Baptist Press reported the CLC action was in response to a motion referred from the 1994 SBC annual meeting (submitted by messenger Robert N. Good Sr. of Mississippi) proposing to censure Land and HMB President Larry Lewis for signing ECT and to bar future cooperative efforts.
Land commented on controversy ECT had stirred particularly among conservatives in the SBC. "I must tell you that we were all genuinely shocked by the degree and the venom of the attacks," Land said. "We assumed that an attack would come from liberals who shake in their boots at the potential of Catholic-evangelical cooperation on the culture war that we face. Had I had any inkling that it was going to cause this kind of controversy, I would have certainly consulted with more people and with some of the people on this commission [board] before I signed it."
To support their stand, CLC trustees cited passages from the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message on "Religious Liberty," "Cooperation" and "The Christian and the Social Order."
HMB President Larry Lewis was confronted with a call to repent for signing ECT during a Feb. 10 missions rally at Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church, Theriot, La., the host church for the event sponsored by the 36-church Adolphe Stagg Baptist Association based in nearby Houma.
The mission's pastor, Jerry Moser, explained in a nine-page letter afterward that the mission had unanimously approved the confrontation with Lewis after [[individually considering the matter for a year, culminating in]] three meetings, encompassing more than 12 hours, to pray and discuss the matter.
"We decided that we were supposed to confront Dr. Lewis and not allow him to speak until he had a chance to hear us and consider how he is hurting us with this heretical document," Moser wrote. Included in the rationale Moser gave for the mission's action were the autonomy of the local church and 1 Timothy 5:19's instruction that an accusation against a church leader is to be brought by two or three witnesses and, "Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning."
"We maintained control of the meeting and gave permission to no others to speak but Dr. Lewis, four of our men, and myself," Moser recounted, acknowledging, "Most of the innocent congregation from other churches were shocked, stunned, or steaming mad at us. ... We are not prideful about what we did; we are sad that it had to be done. ... Common decency would have caused us not to act in this way. We are convinced that biblically defending the faith sometimes supersedes what man considers proper."
Lewis issued a statement March 1, recounting, "When I was introduced, Brother Jerry Moser, the host pastor, went to the pulpit and refused to allow me to speak despite repeated requests to do so from both the director of missions and the pastor of the church which sponsors Brother Moser's mission. For more than half an hour, he verbally assaulted and opposed me and called several of his church members to the pulpit to do likewise. When finally given an opportunity to respond, I was told I was not worthy to speak from the pulpit and was directed to speak from the floor, which I did. I thank God that he gave me the graciousness to endure these attacks and respond in a Christlike spirit."
[[The videotape of the meeting clearly reveals that Dr. Lewis' accusation of his being "attacked" and "verbally assaulted" as false. It also reveals that Dr. Lewis and all speakers except pastor Moser spoke from the same podium at the front left-had side of the congregation. Pastor Moser maintained control of the meeting and spoke from the pulpit. Dr. Lewis was not told that he "was not worthy to speak from the pulpit." He was told that the pulpit was a place of high respect, where God's Word was preached and upheld. Dr. Lewis was then allowed to speak from the podium.]]
Moser was fired Feb. 22 by Christ Baptist Church, Houma, the sponsor of the 100-member mission that Moser had, at the time, led 11 years. Moser continues as pastor of a Southern Baptist-affiliated mission with the same name, Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church, in the same town, Theriot, La., and has continued as an active opponent of ECT.
[[The Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church, pastored by Jerry Moser, is the same SBC church he has pastored since 1983, and is the same church that has been in continuous existence since 1936. The only difference now is in where the church meets. The church now meets in members’ homes, being locked out of their own building by their former sponsoring church.]]
Baptist Press reported on March 13 that Land, Lewis and Charles Colson had issued a 250-word clarifying statement, committing to "the historic Protestant understanding of salvation by faith alone" and stating that "evangelism and church planting are always legitimate, whatever forms of church life are present."
Cooperation with Catholics "for the pursuit of agreed objectives does not imply acceptance of Roman Catholic doctrinal distinctives or endorsement of the Roman Catholic church system," the statement also noted.
The clarification also was signed by Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, and theologian J.I. Packer.
The three top-ranking officers of the Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas released a statement March 10 disassociating themselves from ECT.
Also, along with presidents of 30 regional Hispanic fellowships of Texas, they sent a letter to HMB President Larry Lewis asking him to rescind his endorsement of the accord. The Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas represents about 100,000 Hispanics in more than 800 churches. The statement of protest was signed by the convention's president, Roland Lopez of McAllen, and vice presidents, Ramiro Pena Jr. of Waco and Victor Lopez of San Antonio.
Their statement noted:
"We, the Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas, have supported the Home Mission Board through our Cooperative Program for many years. However, because of the Evangelical/Catholic document, many of our congregations have confronted resistance in their witness.
"This document not only goes against Vision 2000, a report that Hispanic Baptists of Texas put together, but also denies the grace of God as revealed in the Bible concerning how a person is justified before God.
"We, the Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas, disassociate ourselves from the document. We support those whose witness has been hindered by the Roman Catholic Church's use of the document."
Lopez said Hispanic Texas Baptists felt the need to distance themselves from ECT because it was being used by Catholic priests in various communities to accuse Baptists of "sheep-stealing" and "not submitting to their superiors" who signed the accord.
At the 1994 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo, messengers approved a resolution clarifying the BGCT had not endorsed the Catholic/evangelical document and affirming Texas Baptists' commitment to "evangelize all people groups who do not have faith in Christ."
Lewis, in a statement issued March 14, took note of the Hispanic leaders' concerns related to the evangelical-Catholic document and commended Hispanic Baptists for "dedication to evangelism and missions."
"However, as others have done, they appear to have misunderstood the intent and focus of ECT," Lewis wrote. "It does not prohibit, but rather encourages, evangelization of all who have not accepted Christ whether they are members of the Catholic church, a Baptist church or no church.
"The document does not imply all Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ any more than it implies all Baptists are Christian brothers and sisters," Lewis continued. "It says all those who truly profess Christ as Savior and Lord are Christian brothers."
Lewis noted that Hispanic Baptists "were not contacted about endorsement of ECT nor was anyone else because the signers very clearly stated we did not represent our denominations or constituencies. I signed ECT because I believe evangelical Christians must work with those who are in agreement with us on the vital moral and social issues which threaten our families and society.
"Neither do I accept responsibility for misuse or misunderstanding of the document by Catholic priests, Baptist pastors or anyone else," Lewis said. "I have heard claims that the document has been used against converted Catholics or to prevent witnessing to Catholics, but no one has given me the name and address of a single priest, bishop or archbishop to substantiate such claims."
[[Note: It seems particularly offensive that Dr. Lewis is here questioning the truthfulness of Mr. Lopez and other leaders of the Mexican Baptist Convention of Texas, the leaders of 30 Hispanic fellowships, and others who have opposed his endorsement of a document that he had himself already admitted is "lending credence to... heresy." One is forced to ask, "Why is the testimony of a SINGLE Roman Catholic priest, bishop, or archbishop of more substance to Dr. Lewis than the testimony of literally thousands of Southern Baptists?]]
Lewis concluded, "I along with other signers of ECT have endorsed a clarifying statement which states emphatically that ECT does not imply acceptance of Roman Catholic doctrinal distinctives or endorsement of the Roman Catholic church system, but reaffirms our commitment to salvation by faith alone, and evangelism and missions of all people. I trust this clarification will resolve much of the misunderstanding."
[[Regardless of any number of "clarifying statements," according to Dr. Lewis’ own statement, the ECT continues to promote "perverted doctrine" and "heresy."]]
Land and Lewis, in a joint statement, announced they were removing their signatures from ECT.
In the statement, Land and Lewis affirmed "efforts which consolidate the influence of evangelicals and Catholics in addressing moral issues .... We are not personally rejecting the intent of the document, nor are we agreeing with unjust criticism of it."
However, "we believe it is in the best interest of our agencies that we eliminate the persistent perception that our agencies have endorsed ECT. It appears that the only way to do so is to remove our names from the document," their statement continued.
"A significant number of Southern Baptists have been offended by the misperception that our respective agencies have endorsed the document," Land and Lewis said. "No matter how many times we explain that we signed ECT as individuals, not on behalf of our agencies or the Southern Baptist Convention, many do not understand. Confusion resulting from this continuing misperception has the potential to impact negatively the mission and ministries of our agencies."
[[See Land/Lewis April 6 statement and commentary.]]
Despite the controversy, Land told Baptist Press he did not regret signing ECT, and he might even be open to working on a similar document in the future. "However, I would want to enunciate more clearly differences between evangelicals and Catholics so there would be no possibility of misunderstanding," he said.
[[Defenders of Dr. Land argued that he would certainly never sign another such ecumenical document. But in November of 1997 he did indeed endorse a similar accord called "The Gift of Salvation." This second ECT statement was unpretentiously theological in nature. As with the original ECT, this statement glossed over fundamental differences between evangelical and Roman Catholic faith.]]
Without question, Land said, ECT "has furthered the cause of like-minded people working together on issues of common moral concern in society."
Lewis agreed, saying it was the "strongest affirmation of religious freedom in recent years."
The statement issued by Land and Lewis also expressed appreciation to their respective boards of directors "for their affirming and unstinting support of our right to have signed the document as individuals."
[[This statement gives a very false impression of support from at least HMB trustees. As reported by BaptistPress on numerous occasions, several HMB trustees were vocally opposed to Dr. Lewis' involvement in ECT, even publicizing a "statement of dissent." This could hardly be misunderstood as giving "unstinting support."]]
[[May 1995
ECT co-authors, Southern Baptist Charles Colson and Roman Catholic priest Richard Neuhaus, published Evangelicals and Catholics Together; Toward a Common Mission. The book contained the entire ECT document and, while acknowledging the removal of their "signatures," also noted the continued personal endorsement of Dr. Land and Dr. Lewis, who remained listed on the ECT as SBC agency heads.]]
Trustees of the North American Mission Board adopted a set of "Guidelines for Interdenominational Cooperation" during their Nov. 5 meeting. Agreement on essential theological truths, the guidelines state, is a foundation for any cooperation with non-Southern Baptist groups.
Involvement with non-Southern Baptist groups became an issue on the former Home Mission Board in debate over the agency's involvement in Reconciliation '97, a conference in Coventry, England, involving a wide variety of Christian groups, as well as the 1994 ECT statement. The NAMB guidelines affirm the theological framework articulated in the 1978 and 1982 Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy and Hermeneutics, as well as the "high view of Scripture developed by the 1987 Peace Committee and the 1994 Report of the Theological Study Committee."
Noting that Scripture encourages Christians to "share together in the work of the Gospel," the document states that NAMB will do so "only with groups who are self-described as evangelical: that is they adhere to a conversionist theology that all people must be born again by faith in Christ alone in order to enter the Kingdom of God; and that they uphold the Bible alone as the source of God's truth, and that salvation is by faith alone due to God's grace alone having Christ alone as its object."
The statement continues, "It is acknowledged by the North American Mission Board that genuine Biblical unity is built solely upon the affirmation and advocation of Biblical truth. Even temporary, non-binding cooperation must be exercised only where truth is confessed and held in sincerity."
The document further states that in cases where groups practice a "non-baptistic" form of church government or "where an indiscriminate use of 'spiritual gifts' is practiced" the board will be "particularly sensitive and alert to espouse SBC positions in all its relationships and operations."
Also, cooperation "will not be engaged for the mere sake of popular ecumenism. ... At the same time, while holding to our evangelical/biblical theology of salvation, we will not attempt to be 'spiritual isolationists.'"
A six-page statement, titled, "The Gift of Salvation," was released Nov. 12 by a loose-knit group of Roman Catholic and evangelical theologians, including Charles Colson, president of Prison Fellowship, and Timothy George, dean of the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala.
BaptistPress reported Land had "concluded that readers will misunderstand the document and possibly even feel the document is contradictory," so he was removing his name.
Land said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that he would be unable to convince Southern Baptists and others that he was signing as a private individual and not as a part of his ‘ministry role with the ERLC.’ "]]
The authors of ECT II, as the document has been nicknamed, noted that "for the first time in 450 years, evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics have publicly agreed to a common understanding of salvation."
Several Southern Baptist theologians disagreed, as reported by Baptist Press Nov. 24.
"[The statement] was a coup for the evangelicals in which instead of winning they lose," said Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. "On the one hand, it was an achievement to get the Catholic signers to affix their signatures to a statement this lucid on justification by faith," he said. "On the other hand, Baptist evangelicals don't have any business signing any doctrinal consensus papers with Rome until Rome disassociates itself from the Council of Trent," he said, referring to the watershed meeting of 1545-64 which played a key role in defining Catholic doctrine.
R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., said, "Justification by faith alone, if genuinely affirmed by Catholics and evangelicals, would require repudiation of baptismal regeneration, purgatory, indulgences and many other issues presently affirmed by Roman Catholic doctrine."
Mohler said the contradictions appear to lie in definition of terms.
"Regretfully, I must conclude that the Catholics and evangelicals really do not define faith the same," Mohler said.
Phil Roberts, director of interfaith witness evangelism for the North American Mission Board, pointed out, "No presiding bishop or member of the Ecumenical Secretariat nor representative of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops signed the document. ... It should therefore be taken with a grain of salt."
[[ECT II leaders Richard Neuhaus and Timothy George acknowledged that Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, the Vatican's chief ecumenist, played a part in ECT meetings and documents. (See footnote B)]]
George acknowledged that "persistent and serious differences" remain between evangelicals and Catholics. But, he said, "I don't believe this document compromises one iota of historic Baptist theology or historic evangelical theology, in any way," he insisted. "If I felt that, I wouldn't have signed it and participated in it."
"ECT+5: A Biblical Response" is the theme of the annual conference of the ExCatholics For Christ" organization, March 26-27 in Southlake, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. See Baptist Press story March 29, 1999, for reporting on any calls to repent issued to signers of ECT and ECT II, including Land and Lewis.
Land, in response to an invitation from Jerry Moser to defend his involvement in the ECT process, declined an opportunity to participate in a "point-counterpoint discussion" March 25 prior to the ECT+5 conference.
Moser is the mission pastor of Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church, Theriot, La., and the pastor who led the 1995 confrontation with Larry Lewis at an associational missions rally in Louisiana.
Land, in a March 9 letter to Moser, recounted that he and Lewis had removed their names from ECT "because it proved to be virtually impossible to separate ourselves as individuals from the impression that our respective agencies were endorsing the document."
"For me to come to a public forum and defend the document would re-kindle that confusion," Land continued, "and would serve, in my opinion, no productive purpose. In fact, I believe that it would be a distraction from my primary calling of encouraging Southern Baptists to be salt and light for our Lord and Savior."
[[See Correspondence with Dr. Richard Land.]]
In an interview March 24, 1999, Lewis said he stands behind the statement he and Land issued when they formally removed their names from the ECT document, "and as far as I'm concerned, that's final."
The ECT was "a good effort" to attempt a "united voice against the moral, social ills of our day," Lewis said, and for that effort he said he does not feel a need to repent.
(A) Note... Mission America is not strictly an "evangelical" organization. There are non-evangelical groups as well as parachurch groups that include non-evangelicals in leadership involved in Mission America. Dr. Lewis is now employed by the SBC as our liaison to Mission America, US branch of the worldwide ecumenical organization, AD2000 and Beyond.
(B) See First Things, January 1997 and Christianity Today, December 1997 and April 1998.
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