Your Word Is Truth

I took a break from Augustine's Confession, and just finished a book, "Your Word Is Truth." It's a book issued in 2002 by a project called Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a group of prominent Evangelicals and Catholics who have been exploring areas of agreements and disagreements between the two groups. This book contains a statement, the third by this group. The first statement in 1994 was simply called, Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millenium. The second statement in 1997 delved into the touchy area of justification which they called, The Gift of Salvation. (I may go back to these statements sometime.)

They issued their third statement in 2002, entitled, Your Word Is Truth. This time, they combined the statment with 6 essays, three written by Evangelical scholars, and three written by Catholic scholars. It explores the relationship between Scripture and tradition in both communities. The six essays are:

1. An Evangelical Reflection on Scripture and Tradition by Timothy George. (Evangelical)
2. Revelation, Scripture, and Tradition by Cardinal Avery Dulles. (Catholic)
3. The Bible in Use: Seeking Truth From Scripture by J.I. Packer. (Evangelical)
4. Catholic Reflections on Discerning the Truth of Scripture by Thomas G. Guarino. (Catholic)
5. The Role of "Tradition" in the Life and Thought of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism by John Woodbridge. Evangelical
6. Reading Scripture in the Catholic Tradition by Francis Martin. (Catholic)

I very much enjoyed this book for learning the different perspectives of prominent Catholic and Evangelical scholars in their approach to both Scripture and tradition (or Tradition). It helped my understanding immensly. They agreed, "In communion with the body of faithful Christians through the ages, we also affirm together that the entire teaching, worship, ministry, life, and mission of Christ's Church is to be held accountable to the final authority of Holy Scripture, which, for Evangelicals and Catholics alike, constitute the word of God in written form (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21)." This is bascially a statement for Sola Scriptura, which Catholics in the essay say the Roman Catholic Church affirms, while the Evangelicals, best stated by J.I. Packer, say they affirm tradition. I found in reading through the essays and the joint statements that Catholics and Evangelicals are not that far apart on this, though their emphasis differ. However, both did not try to overlook their differences in an effort to promote ecumenical unity, and they stated their remaining diffences.

I was greatly encouraged in reading the statement and essays in this book, though it takes effort and is not easy reading. Besides, I very much enjoyed the history in the essays of Trent, the Reformation, and especially 20th Century Evangelicism.