EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER ???

[[ ECT endorsers have been quiet as church mice since the recent "ECT+5; A Biblical Response" conference in Dallas, Texas. Even so, some others have not been so quiet. Dr. Paige Patterson, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, issued a statement of response to the conference's call for ECT endorsers to repent. Dr. Patterson wrote, "While I wish that our Southern Baptists who signed the ECT document would not have done so, I understand why they signed it." Dr. Patterson did not elaborate on his understanding of "why they signed it." (There are more Southern Baptist endorsers listed on ECT documents than from any other evangelical group.) Dr. Patterson went on to say, "until Rome disavows the conclusions and anathematizations of the Council of Trent [1545-1563], I cannot imagine how significant progress can be made in any reproachment..." and then, "On the other hand, those who demand repentance on the part of leaders who signed ECT are misguided." Additionally, Dr. Patterson said, "Repentance is the appropriate response to sin. ECT+5 conferees have confused the issues of sin and cerebral judgment." In defense of his personal friend and ECT endorser Richard Land, Dr. Patterson said that endorsing the ECT was "in my judgement, an error, but not a sin demanding repentance." (emphasis added)

Dr. Patterson may indeed be a victim of his own incorrect "cerebral judgement." After all, no one is perfect. (Is it not an "error" for such public Christian leaders as Dr. Patterson to shield from proper biblical accountability those who have, even inadvertently, publicly endorsed heresy? It would seem that the best thing that Dr. Patterson could do for his friend would be to urge him to act consistently with the Holy Scriptures. This would then be consistent with the stated position of Dr. Patterson and other conservative leaders.) ECT endorsers have continued to resist the pleas of concerned Christian brethren for over five years now. This is far past merely bad judgement. To endorse heresy, come to realize that you have done this, and then not publicly repent and correct the impression of your support of perverted doctrine that damns souls to Hell... this is sinful. As Dr. Patterson said, "Repentance is the appropriate response to sin." Again, to be true to the inerrant Word of God, it is repentance - not glossing over sin - that is mandated by the Holy Scriptures. (ASIDE... The editor counts Paige Patterson as a personal friend and close ally in the Lord's work, but I respectfully disagree with him in this instance. And yes, we have discussed this at length, face to face.) ]]

** A few weeks later... Baptist Press, June 8, 1999,
3 Former SBC Presidents Among 129 Endorsers of

[[ This document may be found on our website at http://www.pinn.com/ect/newec/articles.htm While the text of this statement called "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration (EC)" is a very good re-statement of the Gospel, several have questioned its release at this time, particularly due to the fact that 15 of the 20 "evangelical" endorsers of ECT are also endorsers of EC. Theological statements in the ECT contradict statements in the EC, thus creating questions as to the motivation of the drafters of this EC statement. For a further discussion of this important topic, "An Evangelical Celebration: A Time to Celebrate or a Time to Repent?" by Richard Bennett, Richard Knolls, and Cecil Andrews, and also a letter from myself to EC signatories may be obtained free from RADEN, or viewed on our website. Southern Baptists Timothy George, Richard Land, and Charles Colson are signatories on both the EC and ECT documents.

Probably the most poignant comments published to date regarding the connection of EC and ECT documents come from Dr. R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary. On June 8, 1999, Baptist Press reported... ]]

"I did not sign the (EC) document because I am concerned that evangelicalism is now confused by the existence of several statements purporting to deal with the gospel...." The confusion "is the direct result, though certainly unintended, of the ECT statements and related public controversy," Mohler said in a reference to "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" statements in 1994 and 1997 involving many of the latest statement's signers and various Catholic notables. The ECT statements sparked strong controversy in various Southern Baptist and other evangelical quarters.

"I believe that the ECT statements effectively confused the nature of the gospel, even as the organizers sought to unify the church.... I recognize that the drafters of 'The Gospel of Jesus Christ' intend to clarify as well as to unify," Mohler said of the latest statement. "Nevertheless, I remain unconvinced that an exchange of such statements is now the best means of clarifying the vital doctrinal issues involved." [[ Public repentance by ECT endorsers would go a long way toward "clarifying the doctrinal issues involved." ]]

Religion Today, May 24, 1999
Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox leaders in Chile have signed an historic agreement recognizing baptisms performed in each other’s churches. Each church will honor all water baptisms "celebrated as a sacrament" in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Latin American and Caribbean News Service said. "...Baptism is an unbreakable tie that unites Jesus Christ to all Christians in all times and places," a document signed by the leaders says. It recommends that a common format for baptism be established. This is "a step along the way toward the visible unity of the single Body of Christ, so that the world can believe," the document says. (emphasis added)

...Ten theologians from the churches worked for two years to create the document. Signers include representatives from Roman Catholic, Orthodox Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Methodist Church, Pentecostal, Evangelical Reform, Evangelical Wesleyan, Apostolic Mission Church, and the Evangelical Corporation of Sendas Antiguas.

Religion Today, May 25, 1999
Evangelicals and Catholics in Chiapas, Mexico, have reached an uneasy truce. Evangelicals have been the target of persecution by Catholics in the village of Saltillo, Compass Direct News said. Representatives of the two communities reached an agreement allowing 17 Tojolabal Indian Presbyterians who were forcibly expelled from the village to receive land to build a church and school. The agreement exempts evangelicals from paying for Catholic festivals or school projects. The evangelicals and Catholics agreed to not proselytize each other [translation = not to witness to each other, just like in the ECT accords in the U.S. and in Ireland], and the evangelicals promised not to demand enforcement of arrest warrants issued against 20 village leaders and others accused of a March attack on their community.

Ecumenical News International, May 27, 1999
Suffering unites, doctrine divides, S. African ecumenist tells Vatican

East London, South Africa (ENI). A pastoral institute in Cape Town has caught the attention of the Vatican with its original method of promoting ecumenism - by focusing on the struggles that unite churches in their ministry rather than on debates on doctrine and dogma.

Ecumenical News International, June 8, 1999
Hanover church elects Germany's second Lutheran woman bishop Geneva.

Dr. Margot Kassmann, a leading ecumenist and theologian who was elected on 5 June as Germany's second Lutheran woman bishop, has described her election as a "sign of hope" for the participation of women in the church. Dr Kassmann was elected to be bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, which with 3.3 million members, is the country's biggest regional Protestant church.

Ecumenical News International, June 22, 1999
Anglican bishop hopes to set up 'United Religions' organization

Jerusalem. Leaders of an initiative to set up a united body of the world's religions, paralleling the United Nations, claim that their campaign is gaining momentum.

Ecumenical News International, June 23, 1999
Justification agreement sets new ecumenical example

A major theological agreement between the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church "establishes a new ecumenical path" for other churches to follow, according to the LWF's general secretary, Dr. Ishmael Noko.

Ecumenical News International, 7 July 1999
In quest of religious tolerance, Geneva cathedral to welcome Dalai Lama

Geneva (ENI). Geneva's St Pierre Cathedral is to welcome the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhists, to preach at a Sunday service on 8 August. Between 5000 and 15,000 worshippers are expected to attend the service at the 12th-century building in Geneva's Old Town, which in the 16th-century became the church of John Calvin, the most influential thinker in Reformed Christianity. The event is the latest in a series which indicates a growing role for the cathedral - one of the most important places in Reformed church history - as a centre for inter-faith dialogue.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is moving closer to allowing homosexuals to be ministers. The denomination’s Church Orders and Ministry Committee voted 24-14 this week to recommend striking a clause in the PCUSA Book of Order that forbids ordination of gays and lesbians.

RELIGIONTODAY 6-28-99
The topic of homosexuality continues to create discord in denominations. ...The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted last week to stick to its policy against ordaining openly gay ministers. The 2.6 million-member denomination’s General Assembly voted 319-198 to put off any action for two years while church members discuss the idea. Only the United Church of Christ allows homosexual ordinations

Associated Press, June 25, 1999
Reformed Church Retains Ties. Delegates of the Reformed Church in America defeated proposals to sever ties with the United Church of Christ over UCC acceptance of homosexuality. Last year four denominations - the Reformed Church, the UCC, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and Presbyterian Church (USA) - entered a close fellowship, but not full organizational merger, involving 10.5 million members.

Associated Press, June 25, 1999
Gay Christians establish a fundamentalist Bible school. Grace Institute Bible College and Seminary is conservative, fundamental and evangelical. It even uses some of the same texts as the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. But there is a key difference. Most of Grace Institute's students and faculty are homosexuals. Its founder, the Rev. Jerry Stephenson, insists that being a gay or lesbian fundamentalist is not a contradiction in terms.

WORLD Magazine, July 3/10, 1999
Pro-homosexual Episcopalian Bishops Win. The gay agenda advanced last month when clergy and lay delegates elected a new bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester... who supports same-sex marriages and ordination of openly homosexual priests.... In the Diocese of Connecticut, delegates chose priest Andrew D. Smith... Mr. Smith supports the ordination of noncelebate homosexuals.

Methodist group funds gay high-school organization. The United Methodist Women's Division contributed $11,000.00 of church money to assist a pro gay/lesbian high-school group in Salt Lake City, Utah.

THE CHARISMATIC CONNECTION...

ReligionToday May 6, 1999
Benny Hinn

More than 100,000 people attended evangelistic services in Papua New Guinea. Crowds packed the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby April 30-May 1 to hear American charismatic evangelist Benny Hinn, The National newspaper said. Hinn spoke at the invitation of Prime Minister Bill Skate, a Christian. "The prime minister of this country is none other than Jesus Christ [and] I am his ambassador," Skate said at the opening session.

...The two-night crusade was broadcast live to more than 100 countries, The National said. Hundreds of people said they were supernaturally cured of sickness at the services, and many responded to Hinn’s invitation to become a Christian. Several cabinet members attended, including the ministers of finance and education, and the head of internal revenue. Hinn prayed for government leaders, including the speaker of parliament, at a prayer breakfast at the Legislature.

...The crusade was one of the most successful the country has ever seen, church leaders said. Most in the Pacific island nation profess Christianity but have only a nominal faith, Operation World says. Church unity helped make the crusade a success, organizer Roger Hau’fa said. Churches worked together to organize, publicize, and motivate people to attend.