According to this historic joint declaration, signed by American evangelical and Catholic leaders on March 24, 1994, evangelical Christians are no longer to question the veracity of Roman Catholicism’s Mary worshiping, rosary praying, pope following, penance paying, purgatory suffering, saint venerating, candle burning, sacrament observing salvation. Instead, we are to refrain from witnessing to Roman Catholics and begin acknowledging them as our brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of whether or not they have been born again. After all, in these politically-correct times, easing religious tensions and sparing peoples’ feelings is far more important than sharing Christ with lost souls.
The signing of “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” by such evangelical luminaries as Charles Colson (one of the chief originators), Pat Robertson, Richard Land, Os Guinness, J. I. Packer, and the late Bill Bright should give all of us pause. If such renowned Christian leaders fail to see how such a contract with Roman Catholicism compromises the gospel, undermines the Great Commission, and puts us in bed with the “great whore” of Revelation 17 and 18, what hope is there that today’s uninformed Christian laity will catch it? Truly, these perilous times of spreading worldwide apostasy are being made even more perilous by an easily compromised, undiscerning church.
He has researched this and has enough "controversial" information to write a book. I have encouraged him to do so.
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that Scripture is only equal to "Holy Tradition." It also teaches a form of baptismal regeneration, works salvation, inclusiveness toward other "religions," and much more that is unacceptable from a Biblical view.
My friend Rand (A Form of Sound Words blog) is very dogmatic about the evil he perceives in the "Romanist" church. I am equally opposed to the RC Religion, but I feel there is a born-again remnant even there. My fight is not against the few RC Christians, but against the evil incorporated in the RC religion embodied by the pope and bishops all the way to most priests.
I hereby reject the foundations of the agreement entitled Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the 3rd Millennium. I will not refrain from sharing my faith with any unbeliever- whether they be from a Romanist church or an atheist, muslim, etc.
The Roman Catholic religion believes- in Constantinian fashion- that all can be saved, even if they do not know Jesus:
The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church. Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the gospel revelation or to enter the Church. The social and cultural conditions in which they live do not permit this, and frequently they have been brought up in other religious traditions.
For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his Sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation.
For this reason the Council, after affirming the centrality of the Paschal Mystery, went on to declare that "this applies not only to Christians but to all people of good will in whose hearts grace is secretly at work. Since Christ died for everyone, and since the ultimate calling of each of us comes from God and is therefore a universal one, we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in this Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God."
Excerpt from Redemptoris missio - Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on December 7, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Conciliar Decree Ad Gentes, in the year 1990
I will defy people like Marcelo Rossi and evangelize Romanists, pagans and all- not accepting inclusion but transformation. More about Marcelo Rossi:
In the yahoo.com/FT story Pope's man fights to turn back Brazil's Evangelical tide , "Father" Marcelo Rossi is depicted as a faithful man of God doing his best to follow the will of the "vicar of Christ" Pope John Paul II and rid Brasil of Evangelicals (termed Evangelists in this article).
Mr. Rossi (I will not call him father) uses many means to sway people into Mary-worship and into the Catholic religion. His goal is supposed to be to do a work for God, but his work is solely for the Catholic church.
I know there are true believers in the Catholic church, but it is in spite of the Catholic doctrines. More information is available at the Southern Baptist Convention's Mission Board page on Catholicism. (from my old weblog)
I call to task Billy Graham- the new wave of heretic, Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson, Bill Bright, James Packer, et al despite some of them clarifying their positions later on.
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