Lutheran And Catholic Reconciliation On Justification

After centuries of estrangement between Lutherans and Catholics, new ecclesial relationships began at Vatican II and continued to develop during the following decades. In this broader context, Lutheran and Catholic Reconciliation on Justification traces the evolution of the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. While describing the steps that led to the Declaration and showing the Lutheran initiatives indispensable for making those steps, John Radano pays particular attention to the Holy See s contributions.

This volume presents in English the official Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, confirmed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church in Augsburg, Germany, in October 1999. The result of decades of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue, this primary document represents an ecumenical event of historical significance. Included in the volume are the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and the Official Common Statement with its Annex. These texts are recommended for careful study in seminaries and parishes and for reading by individual Christians. It is hoped that the Joint Declaration will deepen understanding of the biblical message of justification and also serve to further reflection within the wider ecumenical movement.

On October 31, 1999, officials of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church in Augsburg, Germany, signed and "Official Common Statement" with its "Annex" and the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," declaring publicly and in a binding manner that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics. A number of the essays in this book emanate from a conference at the Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University in 2000 that discussed the import of this momentous declaration for ecumenism.

Reconciliation and Justification offers a thorough historical and theological background on reconciliation and justification. It is an excellent textbook for theology, a good stimulus for discussion, and a significant contribution to all theological libraries. Since Vatican II the sacrament of reconciliation has met with both successes and difficulties. Author Kenan B. Osborne, O.F.M., contends that one of the main reasons for difficulty with the renewal of this sacrament is that it lacks the integration of justification theology. He outlines key issues on justification within the biblical theology of St. Paul and traces the historical, theological, and liturgical developments from the first century to the present. Thus, Fr. Osborne enriches our conception of reconciliation through these reflective christological and ecclesiological dimensions.

Catholics and Lutherans signed the Joint Declaration on Justification in 1999. This ecumenical agreement claims to resolve all church-dividing differences on justification without requiring doctrinal revision, a claim that Engrafted into Christ challenges with a twofold thesis. First, the historic disagreement over justification was substantial; thus, doctrinal revision is a sine qua non condition of rapprochement. Second, portions of the Declaration appear irreconcilable with Catholicism. A concluding series of original reflections illustrates the intelligibility of Catholic teaching, identifies a self-destructive element in «sola fide», and challenges structural elements of Lutheran theology. Experts as well as educated laypersons will be interested in this book.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.