by Bob Totterer

Created on: December 05, 2008   Last Updated: August 09, 2010

Many Catholic people these days believe that the Vatican and other Christian faiths are essentially saying the same thing; that they share a common view of salvation. This they believe in spite of the clear, dogmatic teaching of Rome. In fact, any Catholic who professes a mode of salvation that is common to both Catholics and non-Catholics contradicts the very faith he or she has chosen to embrace. At issue here is the doctrine of justification: the believer's reconciliation to God through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. To accurately answer the question, we must examine the official stance of the Vatican, rather than the maverick notions of its followers.

When Martin Luther penned his 95 Theses, he launched the Protestant Reformation and fired a shot heard round the world. Through his efforts and the efforts of others who followed his lead, the movement grew and refined itself in both faith and practice. The fundamental point of departure from Catholic doctrine was that of salvation by grace, as opposed to salvation through the aid of human works. Though the Vatican is very careful to characterize the rituals and machinations of their religion as the administration of grace, theirs is, nonetheless, a works-based system. Protestant reformers vehemently took exception on the biblical grounds that salvation is sola gratia (by grace alone), sola fide (by faith alone), solus Christus (through Christ alone). The two camps could not have been further apart in their professions of faith. There they have stood for nearly five hundred years.

In the twentieth century, the Roman Catholic Church established a series of Ecumenical Councils in an attempt to re-gather professing Christendom under the rule of the Vatican. Sweeping changes were made in the Catholic Church's image, which had previously failed to advance very far from its medieval roots. Prayers and hymns were re-written in the vernacular, rituals were made less threatening and participation from the congregation was increased. The ceremonial vestments and everyday mode of dress for the clergy were modernized. The roman church was attempting to make itself more appealing and relevant to a changing society. Doctrinally, however, nothing had changed. In large part, the same held true with protestant Christians.

The 1980s witnessed the publishing of ECT: Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a treatise claiming kinship between Catholics and Evangelicals, a growing movement of fundamental Christianity which crossed

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