A Sensible Evangelical Response to the CDF Document: "I'm Not Offended"

(Hat tip: Alexham at Vox Nova)

We've all heard about the irrational sky-is-falling hand-wringing from many liberal Catholics, mainline Protestants, and other faiths in response to the latest document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which merely states what the Catholic Church has always claimed for itself: that it is the one and only true Church founded by Jesus Christ.

But there have also been some voices of reason from a few of our separated brethren. First, there was the Russian Orthodox Church, which called the CDF document an "honest" statement that helps to further rather than hinder dialogue. "For an honest theological dialogue to happen, one should have a clear view of the position of the other side [because] it helps understand how different we are," a Russian Orthodox spokesman responded.

And now, Dr. Albert Mohler - President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - has responded "No, I'm not offended":

Aren't you offended? That is the question many Evangelicals are being asked in the wake of a recent document released by the Vatican. The document declares that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church -- or, in words the Vatican would prefer to use, the only institutional form in which the Church of Christ subsists.

No, I am not offended. In the first place, I am not offended because this is not an issue in which emotion should play a key role. This is a theological question, and our response should be theological, not emotional. Secondly, I am not offended because I am not surprised. No one familiar with the statements of the Roman Catholic Magisterium should be surprised by this development. This is not news in any genuine sense. It is news only in the current context of Vatican statements and ecumenical relations. Thirdly, I am not offended because this new document actually brings attention to the crucial issues of ecclesiology, and thus it presents us with an opportunity.

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Now, I couldn't disagree more with Dr. Mohler's views on ecclesiology and theology, but at least he is taking the CDF's document in the spirit in which it is intended.

No ecumenical dialogue can take place without all sides laying their cards on the table. Muddling the issues isn't true ecumenicism because you're watering down and not respecting the real differences that exist, as well as playing down or ignoring what all parties to the dialogue claim for themselves about their respective faiths.

(Of course, the only legitimate end of any ecumenical dialogue is that all those who claim to be Christians be convinced that what the CDF asserts in its recent document is TRUE, and that all come back home to the ONLY Church established by Christ - the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church with the Supreme Pontiff in Rome at its head.)


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
"As a Lifelong Faithful Catholic ..."