Has the Roman Catholic Church changed its mind? Gordon Cheng

Could it be that you misunderstand the Council of Trent, Gordon?

John Sandeman06/07/2008 08:26 AM

In pointing to the official documents, Gordon concludes that the “Catholic Church” has not changed its mind. Which greatly relieves my anxiety about the Anglican Church of Australia. According to its official documents, it still believes in the 39 Articles and the doctrines set out in the 1662 Prayer Book.

Some slightly older articles, but very helpful on this topic:

  • Albert Mohler writes on the possibility of cultural co-belligerence between Catholics and Evangelicals without theological compromise.
  • Convert to Catholicism, David Mills responds, agreeing that there are continuing and profound doctrinal differences that cannot easily be papered over.

Both warn against a naive ecumenism amongst conservative evangelicals and Catholics.

Secondly, readers interested in understanding and evaluating recent developments in Catholicism and in avoiding the trap mentioned above might be interested in Scott Manetsch’s Trinity Journal review (pdf file) of the book by Noll and Nystrom Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism.

Michael Hutton14/07/2008 11:10 PM

Maybe it will change. The pilgrims on the news tonight were exuberantly singing recognizably protestant songs. If the keenest are being influenced by protestant culture, that may well leak into the structures over time. Or maybe it won’t. I guess the Roman church has been pretty good at incorporating all sorts of beliefs at grassroots while hanging onto the reins pretty well.

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