The word “evangelization” is used across the spectrum of the Christian world. The question is: What is the meaning of it? How is it defined? What does it refer to?
The Holy Spirit is neither present nor active in a mission in which sin and the cross of Christ are absent.
Pope Francis focuses on the primacy of conscience rather than the prescriptive nature of law.
The traditional theological structure was geared to give Yes or No answers. The post-Vatican II structure is more inclined to suggest Both-And types of answer on all kinds of issues.
A stamp to commemorate Cardinal Cisneros will be issued. Evangelicals had proposed a stamp on the first Spanish Bible translation, but it was denied.
What the Pope has in mind is an altogether different kind of reformation, i.e. a reformation that will make his church more catholic and more Roman, doubtfully more evangelical.
Protestants find it difficult to come to terms with this Marian dogma. This is due to not finding even a hint of evidence for this belief in the Bible.
With Pope Francis the Roman Catholic Church is simply becoming more “catholic”, i.e. embracing and absorbing all, without losing its being “Roman”.
In assessing the ecumenical scene, the risk of looking at Lund without being aware of what happens in Rome is real.
Where is the Roman church headed After Vatican II? An interview with Leonardo de Chirico.
Theresa of Calcutta was well-known for her work among the poor but the New Testament teaches that every Christian is a saint, explains theologian José Hutter.
The territorial dimension of the hierarchical church, centered on the authority of the bishop, has found it difficult to come to terms with the charismatic energy of the movements, more inclined to follow their own lay leaders than the local bishops.
The issue at stake is whether or not Luther is to be rescued from himself in order to be heard by the church and the world.
There is a Catholic understanding of justification just as there is a Protestant view. These two perspectives are mutually exclusive.
What does it mean to be Catholic? The question is simple but the answer is fraught with complexities.
Italian pastor Giovanni Traettino believes “the Word of God is moving and acting in the Catholic Church.” The Pentecostal leader encourages other churches to have an “open” approach to the Vatican. “Pope Francis is my brother in Christ”, he says in an interview with Evangelical Focus.
Any accommodation to the idea that we are ultimately capable of saving ourselves, any accommodation to the fact that salvation is not God’s gift from beginning to end is a slippery slope towards a false gospel.
“Catholicism continues to add places to the table and extend the menu”. The talk Leonardo de Chirico gave at the 2016 AEI annual assembly in Rome.
The way in which Catholicism perceives time - the sense of definitiveness as well as that of a progression - is a solid indicator of its basic theological framework.
It is one thing is to work together on areas of common concern in society, e.g. the promotion of Judeo-Christian values in society; it is an altogether different issue to engage in common mission and evangelism.
In terms of the Protestant evaluation of Roman Catholicism, Barth’s theology of the Word has weakened the evangelical ability to assess Rome having the Bible as supreme standard.
According to the Pope, mercy achieves justice by avoiding tribunals, sentences, and prices to be paid.
Building Christian unity on baptism brings several challenges. In my corner of the world (Italy), a vast majority of people have been baptized and yet very few show any sign of appreciation of basic gospel truths.
There is the risk of elevating “unity” to the absolute principle, a little “god” claiming pre-eminence. It takes courage to make unity dependent on the Biblical truths and not elevating it to the place of “first imperative”.
The Pope seems to think that the “letter” is a straitjacket to the mission of the Church and needs to be replaced by the “spirit” of it.
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