wfn.org | LWF on Joint Declartion -- A. Background 1 & 2 -- Declaration

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

                        DOCUMENTATION
               Action taken by the LWF Council
on the recommendation of the Standing Committee for Ecumenical Affairs

The Lutheran-Roman Catholic 'Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
                        Justification'
          (Adopted by the LWF Council 16 June 1998)
NOTE: Section references [] throughout this document refer to paragraphs
           in the text of the "Joint Declaration."

                        A.  BACKGROUND

1.   Development of the "Joint Declaration"
     Informal conversations between Catholics and Lutherans were occurring
in some places already before the Second Vatican Council. Only in 1967,
however, after the Council, did the official dialogue mandated by the
churches begin.

     Renewed common listening to the good news proclaimed in the Bible,
and the reception of insights of biblical, theological, and historical
study, led to a significant convergence in the understanding of the
justification of the sinner by God's grace, through faith in the saving act
of Christ.

     The possibility of expressing agreed understanding of justification
became clear already in the first phase of the dialogue with its final
report "The Gospel and the Church" (1972).

     Two national Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogues made decisive
contributions: the dialogue--in the USA ("Justification by Faith," 1985)
and the dialogue in Germany ("The Condemnations of the Reformation Era,"
1986). The latter of these reports was given a binding response in 1994 by
the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany.

     The international Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue was able to
conclude its third round with the report "Church and Justification" (1994).

     Also in dialogues with other churches, regional and international,
the central significance of the doctrine of justification for the content
of right preaching of the gospel has been the object of specific focus.

     Within the LWF itself, the theme of justification has been an
important topic. The LWF Assembly in Helsinki (1963) sought to address this
theme in all its complexity. Later developments led to fruitful deepening
of reflection on various aspects of the message of justification. The
ecumenical dialogues in which Lutheran churches of the LWF have been a part
have been important in this process.

     The time is now ripe for a Lutheran-Roman Catholic joint declaration
on the doctrine of justification. A balance of the dialogue results has
been drawn, and the results summarized and formed into a declaration to
which the churches can officially respond.

2.   Nature of the "Joint Declaration"

     The intention of the "Joint Declaration" is formulated by the
document in the following terms (5):

"The present 'Joint Declaration' has this intention: namely, to show that
on the basis of their dialogue the subscribing Lutheran churches and the
Roman Catholic Church are now able to articulate a common understanding of
our justification by God's grace through faith in Christ. It does not cover
all that either church teaches about justification; it does encompass a
consensus on basic truths of the doctrine of justification and shows that
the remaining differences in its explication are no longer the occasion for
doctrinal condemnations."

     The "Joint Declaration" is not a new and separate presentation of
justification... . Nor is it formulated with an intention that it should be
adopted as a new creedal statement in the churches.

     The "Joint Declaration" affirms "a consensus in basic truths of the
doctrine of justification." These agreements presented in the common
statements of the "Joint Declaration" are asserted although there are
differences as mentioned in 18-39.

     In the "Joint Declaration" the Lutheran churches and the Roman
Catholic Church are encouraged to recognize mutually that if the two
churches teach justification as formulated in the "Joint Declaration," then
the mutual condemnations on justification in the sixteenth century do not
apply.

     In the letter from the General Secretary to the LWF member churches
of February 1997 the question raised only refers to the Lutheran
condemnations with regard to the teaching on justification of the Roman
Catholic Church. However, the exposition of justification in the "Joint
Declaration" is also intended as a basis for the Roman Catholic Church to
make a similar affirmation regarding the Roman Catholic condemnations of
the Lutheran teaching of justification.

     The mutual character of the "Joint Declaration" is essential to its
method, and is therefore basic to a proper understanding of the project.
The "Joint Declaration" is an ecumenical agreement, i.e., an agreement
between the Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic Church on a
traditionally church-dividing issue.

     The "Joint Declaration" is a statement, also, to the effect that the
agreement in the understanding of justification "must come to influence the
life and teachings of our churches. Here it must prove itself." (43).

     The acceptance of such an agreement, therefore, does not mark the end
of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue on justification and its significance.
On the contrary, it implies an obligation to continue the dialogue on the
basis of the agreements reached. The "Joint Declaration" itself names
important issues where further clarification is called for. Specifically
mentioned are the relationship between the Word of God and church doctrine,
as well as ecclesiology, authority in the church, ministry, the sacraments,
and the relation between justification and social ethics. (43).

     The doctrine of justification has, in recent years, become the focus
of increased theological attention along with a deepening discussion of its
ecumenical meaning. The "Joint Declaration" must be read in this context.
In addition to the need for further common investigation of the
consequences of this doctrine for specific areas of teaching and practice
in the church, there is also a need to continue the fundamental theological
study of the doctrine of justification as such.

Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
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