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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true work of understanding and charity, April 6, 2001
This review is from: Catholics & Evangelicals: Do They Share a Common Future? (Paperback)
This book was truly the result of what happens when people take their blinders off and look at each other objectively. Having a shared Catholic/Evangelical authorship made the book very interesting indeed, especially for someone like myself who has deep personal ties in both of these camps. The first part of this book discussed ECT, the Evangelicals and Catholics together pact, being careful to point out what it does NOT say, so that people don't get the idea that its false ecumenism. It does however go at lengths to explain the areas in which we do fully agree, and therefore can be said to have a common evangel. The middle parts were interesting to me, as they explained sotierology from early and modern viewpoints. It didn't get too heavy, but it may not be of extreme interest to some readers. Next, church structure is discussed in a way that should help both Catholics and Evangelicals understand what each mean by "church" and the historical and Biblical reasons them. Lastly was an essay by a man named David E. Bjork, an evangelical who tells of his experience evangelizing Catholics in France. What is so special about that? He encourages them to become better Catholics, rather than rip them away from a perfectly valid church, their roots, and their heritage! This was very heartening for me, as I've thought for some time now that this is how evangelism should be done in Central America and Western Europe. Further, his efforts seem to be having a good effect. This is an encouraging book that I recommend all Catholics and Evangelicals read. For those endowed with open mind and a spirit of charity, there is much to be learned from the authors. I pray that all future cooperation and dialogue is as charitable as this.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very gracious and refreshing, January 21, 2007
I have seen this book a number of times in my local Catholic bookstore and I have thumbed through it a number of times. So last week I chose to pick it up and purchase it and read it. Wow what a pleasent surprise. I am Catholic and my spouse is an Evangelical Protestant. This book is really a beautiful expression of what Christians can do when they stop focusing on their differences for a moment. It is really too bad that there was only one review of this book on amazon. I wish that every Christian would read this book and understand that even though there are differences between Evangelicals and Catholics in a lot of theological and biblical areas that there is much that we can agree on. If we put our differences aside for just a moment we could bring city blocks to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. What bothers me is a book like this is a work that really matters, and as Protestants and Catholics we could make a huge difference in this crazy world for Christ. It really bothers me to know that the top best sellers in the Christian book world are "the Left Behind series." Every one of these articles are great and well thought out. I especially like the last story in the book about the couple who do missionary work in France within the context of the Catholic Church and both of them are Evangelical Protestants. They both have basically had a ministry for 25 years of helphing Catholics understand their faith better and to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Talk about being obedient to God. I hope if I ever am faced with such a choice that I would obey the Lord like these folks did with such humility. I hope someday I can shake both their hands and say thank you for bringing unity.
Great book, excellent work and good articles. I will pray that as Catholics and Evangelicals that we can turn our attention to the needs of this world and wait for the answers to our differences when we all meet the Blessed Trinity in Heaven.
Finally, although there is much that we can work together on these authors do not compromise the truth that there are serious differences. Both Catholic and Protestant authors point out that there are serious theological differences that are not going to be resolved with one book. They are definately not putting on blinders and saying everything is just fine and dandy. The views are optimistic but realistic.
Pax Christi!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Building Bridges!?, December 8, 2008
This remarkable book should be better known by Latter-day Saints.
Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., explains that Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, "was one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Catholic/Evangelical Committee (1987), the first local Catholic/Evangelical dialogue in the United States" (p. vii). (As is now rather well-known, Mouw has also been for some time sponsoring informal conversations between his evangelical friends and groups of LDS scholars assembled by Robert Millet.)
In his foreword to Catholics and Evangelicals, Mouw indicates that it is time for Protestants to cease being stridently anti-Catholic, to stop seeing the Pope as an antichrist, and Catholicism as "uniformly a religion of 'pagan darkness'" (p. 2).
This is not to say that there are no significant disagreements, but the fact is that both "evangelicals and Roman Catholics have found common cause on a number of issues" (p. 2). And it is appropriate for those who speak for these two communities to cease "talking past each other," especially when both are confronted with the same "culture of unbelief" (p. 3).
Every essay in this collection should be of interest to the Saints. One example is the treatment of theosis or sharing in God's life (pp. 70--72) offered by Robert L. Wilken in his chapter on "Salvation in Early Christian Thought" (pp. 56--76). Wilken argues that, even in the West, for example, in some of Augustine's writings, there are signs of a deep commitment to deification as the ultimate promise of the sanctification that must follow justification. Neither the evangelicals nor Roman Catholics whose essays are included in this volume manifest the kind of certainty or ecclesiastical triumphalism that one sometimes finds in the literature produced by both camps, especially when they are in an adversarial mode.
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