Topic this month: Historic Ecumenical Agreement on Evangelism 

  

Greetings in Christ! The topic for the June newsletter was to be on the Jesuits and Ignatian Spirituality. However, on June 28th an historic ecumenical document was released. For the first time, an accord was reached between the Papacy, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the World Council of Churches (WCC). The document discusses how Christians are to evangelize those of other religions. Because of the importance of this event, I have decided to devote this newsletter to the accord. I encourage you to read and critique the document -- it is brief.

  

Okay, so you have read the document. Do you have any concerns? Here are my top five issues with the agreement:

  

1) Unequal yoking with unbelievers

2) Hypocrisy in purposefully failing to define terms

3) Denial of Scripture as the sole authority

4) Papal history and denial of religious freedom

5) Unbiblical "cooling off period" prior to conversion is mandated

  

  

The WEA presumes to represent the interests of evangelicals. This joint agreement assumes that the Papacy and liberal churches are validly Christian. Historic evangelical teaching is that there are three main "marks" of a church:  the preaching of the Word, the true administration of the sacraments, and exercise of church discipline. The Papacy in particular fails the test, in that it places unbiblical Tradition in place of the Word and promotes a "magical" salvation through participation in her seven sacraments. The failure of the liberal churches to exercise discipline has led to such practices as the ordination of homosexual pastors.

  

  

The hallmark of these ecumenical documents is the deceptive practice of minimizing or ignoring critical differences in theology, especially by using an undefined vocabulary. "Conversion," "mission," and "the gospel" all have radically different meanings to each party. Originally, the document was to include a glossary that defined terms. This glossary was removed from the final document for obvious reasons.

  

  

The rallying cry of the Reformation was sola scriptura! Evangelicals believe that the scriptures are our authority. The Papacy teaches that she is the authority, with an infallible magisterium and an infallible pope. The ecumenical document mandates that missions be based on the example of Jesus and the early church. Paul warned that the early church would be infiltrated with wolves in sheep's clothing, and relying solely on the example of Jesus in defining missions denies the critical theology revealed to the apostles and inscripturated for our benefit.

  

  

The document states "Where any religion is intrumentalized for political ends, or where religious persecution occurs, Christians are called to engage in a prophetic witness denouncing such activities." The Papacy is by definition and history "instrumentalized for political ends." She has entered into concordats with nations; she has persecuted and killed countless martyrs; she has papal nuncios with diplomatic ties to almost every nation. I encourage you to research the history of the papacy, with its countless political intrigues.

  

  

The document states that "changing one's religion is a decisive step that must be accompanied by sufficient time for adequate reflection and preparation, through a process ensuring full personal freedom." Is this biblical? When an evangelical presents the gospel, it is a call to repentance and belief in Jesus and His Lordship. Justification is an event, not a process. When a Catholic presents the gospel, it is a call to membership into the Catholic Church, where salvation is received through participation in the sacraments. This is accompanied by a year-long process of conversion culminating in Catholic baptism. And the papacy teaches that assurance of salvation is anathema, because justification is a process that only ends after death and time in purgatory. This is the "second conversion" of the Catholic. 

  

 The bible proclaims an urgency in evangelism: Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.

  

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This document is quite deceptive, in that it presents much good advice regarding ethical behavior. For this reason, it will be received favorably by most evangelicals. The WEA is promoting this historic document as a triumph that furthers Christian unity. Here is their press release. Here the head of the WEA gives thanksgiving for the honor of being invited by the papacy and the WCC to participate!  

  

The bible provides a sober warning to those who proclaim unity where there is no unity. "Therefore, thus says the Lord God, 'Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold Iam against you,' declares the Lord God. So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations...They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the resister of the house of Israel, nor will enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord God. It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash.'" Ezekiel 13:8-1.

  

These ecumenical documents are defined by their whitewash.

  

This agreement between the papacy, the WCC and the WEA is another brick in the new Babel that is the institutional ecumenical movement. I pray that we will be discerning and respond appropriately as we contend earnestly for the faith once for all handed down to us (Jude 3).

  

In Christ,

Dale Rudiger
The Ex-Catholic Journal