AVatican document issued earlier this month is not setting
well with Southern Baptists and other evangelicals and Protestants.
The 36-page document declares that persons can attain full
salvation only through the Catholic Church and that other faiths – including
Protestant ones – have defects that place followers in a “gravely
deficient situation” regarding salvation.
AVatican document issued earlier this month is not setting
well with Southern Baptists and other evangelicals and Protestants.
The 36-page document declares that persons can attain full
salvation only through the Catholic Church and that other faiths – including
Protestant ones – have defects that place followers in a “gravely
deficient situation” regarding salvation.
The document is designed to counter what it calls “religious
relativism.” It was released by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, the principal Vatican body for defining and upholding
theological tradition.
Vatican officials said the document is the culmination of two
years of study and has the explicit approval of 80-year-old Pope John Paul II.
It is entitled “Declaration Dominus Iesus (Lord Jesus)… On the Unity
and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church.”
Reaction was immediate, with many mainstream religious leaders
expressing dismay at the document and questioning how much damage it will cause
to relations between Catholics and other faith groups.
Other observers said the document is the product of a struggle
within the Catholic Church and is a means of reasserting the authority of the
church.
“I think most Southern Baptists would strongly agree that
the trend toward religious relativism and pluralism should be rejected,”
emphasized Jerry Rankin, president of the Southern Baptist International Mission
Board. “The way to salvation is a narrow path. We emphatically disagree
with the Vatican, however, on the direction that path takes.
“Salvation comes by Gods grace through faith in
Jesus Christ and Christ alone – not through any institutional church body,
be it Baptist, Catholic or otherwise,” Rankin continued.
“Thats why we have always sent missionaries even
to Catholic countries, because people come to salvation only though
personal faith in Jesus Christ. That is the message of the Christian gospel
according to Scripture, and that is the message shared worldwide by our missionaries.”
Rudy Gonzalez also responded to the document. Gonzalez is director
of interfaith evangelism for the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board.
“I agree with the Vaticans statement of respect
for all faith groups and share their concern that our culture and our world
have all but deified religious relativism,” he said. “I also agree
that the Bible teaches salvation is through Jesus Christ.
“However, I am bound by biblical teachings that salvation
is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through faith alone, and
not through sacramental or ritualistic religion,” Gonzalez continued.
“That conviction is not born out of a disrespect for other
faiths, but out of a love for the Bible. True unity will only be found in that
personal relationship with Jesus Christ and his teachings.”
The recently-released Vatican document breaks no new ground,
relying largely on references to Scripture and previous papal pronouncement
and church statements.
Instead, as stated, it seeks to call bishops, theologians and
all the Catholic faithful back to “certain indispensable elements of Christian
doctrine” and to “reiterate certain truths that are part of the churchs
faith.”
The document charges that the churchs efforts are endangered
by relativism and religious pluralism, which have eroded certain biblical truths.
Part of the problem has been “the tendency to read and to interpret sacred
Scripture outside the tradition and magisterium of the (Catholic) Church,”
the document emphasizes.
The document reasserts the completeness of Christ, noting he
is the full revelation of divine truth. “The theory of the limited, incomplete
or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ … is contrary to
the churchs faith,” it states.
The document distinguishes between what it calls “theological
faith” in the full revelation of Christ and belief in other religions,
noting that distinction is not always maintained. What is found in other religions
represents a search for absolute truth but is still lacking when it comes to
salvation, the document says.
The document also emphasizes the importance of the Bible as
opposed to sacred writings of other religions. The Bible teaches truth “without
error,” it states.
In addition, the document affirms Jesus as the sole Son of
God and the only true source of salvation. “Jesus is, in fact, the Word
of God made man for the salvation of all, …” it states. “The Lord
is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and
civilization, the centre of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfillment
of all aspirations.”
The document insists that Christ established one true church
– and it is represented by the Catholic Church. It leaves the door ajar
for other valid churches that hold to apostolic succession and practice a valid
Eucharist but does not recognize the authority of the Catholic Church.
However, others are “not churches in the proper sense,”
and persons baptized into those churches are in “imperfect” communion
with the one true church.
Other religions have “gravely deficient” chances
for salvation due to “superstitions or other errors (that) constitute an
obstacle to salvation,” the document notes.
The document insists the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.
It does allow for salvation to some others, but even then, it insists that such
salvation only is accessible by virtue of a grace that somehow still is tied
to the Catholic Church.
And while acknowledging that various religious traditions contain
some religious elements that come from God, these are not enough for salvation,
the document continues. And while the Catholic Church may have sincere respect
for religions of the world, any idea that “one religion is as good as another”
must be rejected, it states.
God desires all persons to be saved – and the church has
a duty to evangelize adherents of other faiths, the document adds. Dialogue
with other religions is part of that process. But when it comes to equality,
that relates to each persons dignity and not to doctrinal content, the
document states.
Release of the document comes just five months after Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler appeared on a national television
talk show and said the Catholic Church is “a false church and teaches a
false gospel” and the pope “holds a false and unbiblical office.”
(A Southern Baptist North American Mission Board interfaith
evangelism bulletin on Roman Catholicism is available by calling 800-448-8032.
This article includes information from Associated Baptist Press and Baptist
Press release and from the recently-released Vatican document.)