wfn.org | Reinterpreting Justification and Relevance of the Joint Declaration

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

Reinterpretation of Justification and Relevance of the Joint
Declaration
Bridging the Gap between Academic and Life-orientated Dialogue

DUBUQUE, IOWA, United States of America/GENEVA, 13 May 2002 (LWI)
- Two and a half years after the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
and Roman Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) what difference is this
ecumenical breakthrough making?

Thirty-five theologians from all parts of world participating in
an LWF symposium at the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque,
Iowa, April 14-18, ventured further from the study of
justification to its meaning and implications today following the
JDDJ imperative to make the common understanding of justification
"bear fruit in the life and teaching of the churches."

The mainly Lutheran and Roman Catholic theologians as well as
representatives of Orthodox, Reformed, and Anglican communions
raised important hermeneutic, theological, anthropological and
ethical challenges such as: 'How do we relocate our understanding
of God?' and 'How does justification inform the method, focus, and
substance of social ethics?' It was the intention of the
conference to overcome the gap between the so-called "academic
dialogue" and "life-orientated dialogue."

For Margaret O'Gara, representing a Catholic faculty of theology
in Toronto, Canada, reinterpreting justification and receiving the
JDDJ "were deeply related" leading to the insight that the
"differentiated consensus of the JDDJ provided the model for the
process of reinterpretation of a central doctrine, and for next
steps in the mutual reconciliation among Christian communions." It
was obvious that the achieved agreement on the importance of the
doctrine of justification between Lutherans and Roman Catholics
finds its relevant consequences in the joint efforts to examine
"justification today."

The hermeneutic challenge was at the core of the conference. It
was agreed that translation is always more than transporting the
same meaning from one language and culture to another. It always
entails some levels of transforming meaning, opening new
possibilities and closing off others.

The understanding of justification in the Asian and African
contexts was seen as significantly different. As was evident at
many points in the symposium, the major differences that surfaced
were more often due to divergent cultural contexts, than to
different confessional or theological differences. As a
participant from Hong Kong pointed out, it is very difficult to
communicate the real meaning of justification through Chinese
characters. In the European context the hermeneutic assumption is
strong, that the God question is set out today in the midst of the
experience of secularity and at the same time increases religious
plurality. The contemporary world creates quite different
hermeneutic challenges.

The difficult theological tasks were also addressed in the area of
social ethics and new appreciation emerged for what the different
traditions could contribute. For example, Lutherans help to
understand the ambiguity and paradox in the face of ethical
challenges, but Roman Catholic social teachings, when
reinterpreted through justification, could be helpful in guiding
common ethical action in the public arena.

Many participants were enthusiastic about how these shared
understandings of justification need to re-shape much of what is
being taught in local parishes.

Organized by two desks of the LWF Department for Theology and
Studies-Theology and the Church, and the Church and Social
Issues-the meeting deepened the insight of the 1998 Wittenberg,
conference "Justification in the World's Contexts," and was a
significant follow-up to the 31 October 1999 signing of the JDDJ
in Augsburg, Germany. A publication from the consultation is
anticipated.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70
countries representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million
Lutherans. Its highest decision making body is the Assembly, held
every six or seven years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed
by a 49-member Council which meets annually, and its Executive
Committee. The LWF secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (lwi), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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