Doctrine, Dynamic and Difference To the Heart of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Differentiated Consensus on Justification

by De Witte, Pieter

• ISBN13: 9780567236654
• ISBN10: 056723665X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-24
• Publisher: Bloomsbury T&T Clark

Summary

One of the most divisive issues in Western Christianity since the Reformation is the question of how humans are justified by God. In 1999, after many decades of ecumenical dialogue, Lutherans and Roman Catholics have declared that this issue of 'justification by faith' is no longer a cause of division between them. One of the fascinating features of this Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) is that it expresses a 'differentiated consensus' on justification. The method of differentiated consensus is generally regarded as an important methodological step forward in the ecumenical dialogue. It has been used and referred to in ecumenical documents published after 1999. But what are its meaning and implications? This study attempts to clarify the method of differentiated consensus by (1) investigating the process of doctrinal rapprochement which led up to the JDDJ, (2) examining the way the consensus takes shape in the document itself, (3) analyzing arguments offered by critics and advocates of the official dialogue and (4) reflecting on the concept of doctrinal difference.

Author Biography

Pieter de Witte is Lecturer at the Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at KULeuven, Belgium.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. xii
Abbreviations	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
The Joint Declaration on Justification and the Problem of Difference	p. 5
Introduction	p. 5
The Absence of a Fundamental Difference in the JDDJ	p. 6
An Ambiguity	p. 13
The First Issue: The Location of the Fundamental Difference	p. 19
The Second Issue: Theological Concerns and Ecclesial Doctrines	p. 24
Summary	p. 33
Reception of Theological Advances	p. 35
Introduction	p. 35
Otto Hermann Pesch and the Ambiguities of Difference	p. 36
Introduction	p. 36
Mutual Challenges	p. 38
Existential and Sapiential Theology	p. 44
Comprehensive Models of Thought	p. 51
The Basis of the Paradoxes of Difference	p. 58
The Finnish School of Luther Interpretation and the Justification Debate	p. 60
The Finnish School of Luther Interpretation: General Characteristics	p. 61
The Finnish School and the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Debate on Justification	p. 63
Forensic and Effective Justification	p. 64
Simul iustus et peccator	p. 67
Confrontation with a Renewed Roman Catholic Approach to Justification	p. 71
The Fundamental Theological Problem of Relation and Ontology	p. 78
Some Concluding Reflections	p. 83
Summary	p. 95
The Reception of Previous Dialogue Results	p. 99
Introduction	p. 99
Diversity and Ecumenical Strategies	p. 101
Exegesis, History and the Challenge of Doctrinal Difference	p. 102
Fears, Concerns and Patterns of Thought	p. 105
Affirming the Consensus	p. 110
Existential and Sapiential Theology Revisited	p. 119
Freedom and Salvation (JBF)	p. 120
An 'Existential' Common Ground and 'Sapiential' Differences (LK)	p. 123
Different Implications of Recognizing the Consensus	p. 133
The Problem of Doctrine	p. 137
Doctrine and the Reality of Faith	p. 137
Primary and Secondary Criteria	p. 142
Ecclesiological Ramifications	p. 144
The German Dialogue and the Problem of Reception	p. 147
Summary	p. 154
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: Analysis	p. 157
A Brief History of the JDDJ	p. 157
Characteristics of the JDDJ as an Official Reception of Previous Dialogues	p. 164
The Content of the JDDJ	p. 169
Sin and Human Powerlessness	p. 169
Justification as Forgiveness of Sins and Making Righteous	p. 175
The Theme in Relation to Human Cooperation	p. 175
A Lutheran Tension	p. 180
Faith and Grace	p. 183
Trust, Hope and Love	p. 183
Justification as Communion	p. 186
Faith Alone - or Trust Alone?	p. 190
The Sinfulness of the Justified	p. 194
Sinfulness, Renewal and Baptism	p. 194
Tendencies in the Separate Paragraphs	p. 195
A Structural Change in the Lutheran Paragraph	p. 197
The Vatican Response	p. 200
Law and Gospel	p. 202
Faith as Assurance of Salvation	p. 206
Faith and Good Works	p. 210
onclusion	p. 219
The JDDJ and the Fundamental Difference	p. 219
Doctrinal Demarcation	p. 222
The Assessment	p. 225
Justification as Criterion and the Church	p. 232
Bibliography	p. 241
Index	p. 251
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