"Luther's Unfinished Reformation": What Protestants (and Catholics) Should Know about Vatican II

This year, 2012, marks the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, otherwise known as Vatican II.  While most Catholics are intimately familiar with this groundbreaking event (as it radically changed the way Catholics worship), many Protestants are left wondering, “What is this Vatican II that I’m always hearing about?  And why does it matter to me?” 

When Pope John XXIII called the council only ninety days into his pontificate, nobody could anticipate the colossal legacy of renewal and reform that would be inaugurated by the Second Vatican Council.  The son of Italian peasants, the lovable Pope John was famously asked why he called the council.  It is reported that “Good Pope John” opened a window and said, “I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.”

This symbolic act would characterize the great aggiornamento (or “updating”) that the Catholic Church would welcome as a product of the four-year deliberations of Vatican II between 1962 and 1965.  In the four hundred years since the beginning of the Reformation, the Catholic Church’s posture to both Protestants and the modern world at large was primarily closed, defensive and triumphalistic.  As the humble servant of the servants of God, Pope John XXIII effectively flung open the arms of the Church to embrace and illuminate the world as the “city on a hill” Christ called her to be.[1]

What is an “ecumenical council” anyway?

To provide a little background, Vatican II was the 21^st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church.  These historical councils have been called throughout the history of the church to settle theological disputes, define Christian doctrine and promote the effective promulgation of the gospel throughout the known world (the word ecumenical comes from the Greek word oikoumene which means “the inhabited world”). 

Interestingly, the precedent for ecumenical councils comes from the Bible.  More specifically their model draws from the fifteenth chapter of Acts of the Apostles where Peter, Paul, Barnabas and a whole host of elders and apostles proclaimed the true gospel at the Council of Jerusalem.[2]  Here the early church, as a forerunner to the twenty-one ecumenical councils that would follow to date, gathered to challenge unorthodox teaching (in this case the obligation to follow Mosaic law as Christians) and to proclaim that “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”[3] 

These biblically based councils have been convened throughout history to adjudicate some of the most intense disputes and define some of the most critical formulations of Christian theology.  The first official ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), condemned Arianism, which had denied that Jesus was fully God.  The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) repudiated Pelagius and his contention that humanity could overcome sin without God’s help.  At the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) the Nestorian heresy was finally condemned.  These ecumenical councils, particularly the first seven, are accepted by both Protestants and Catholics as the authoritative debates which established the essential doctrinal backbone for Christianity.

Vatican II & the Reformation

Avery Dulles, American theologian, Jesuit scholar and Cardinal of the Catholic Church, described Vatican II as “Luther’s Unfinished Reformation.”[4]  Of all the things that could be said about Vatican II, a crucial point of interest for those seeking unity within the body of Christ is that the Second Vatican Council can be understood as a long-awaited acknowledgment of some of Martin Luther’s concerns and an answer to his original desire to reform, not separate from, the Catholic Church.  Marquette University historical theologian Patrick Casey noted that “Luther had emphasized the Bible as more important than Aristotle, the need for a vernacular liturgy, the restoration of the role of the laity, a ministerial clergy, and better preaching – values that had sustained Protestantism throughout the centuries and values that Vatican II was now reasserting.”[5]

It would seem that Luther’s Reformation represents one chapter of an ongoing process of reform and renewal that can be witnessed in historic events like Vatican II.[6]   We, the church, are ever in need of continual reformation in the light of Christ and the restoration of unity among Christians is one of our highest callings.  We still have a road to travel before we arrive at total reunification.  It would be unwise to simply overlook those issues that still divide us.  Yet the openness, honest dialogue, and prayerful humility of the Second Vatican Council are models for us all as we hope for unity under “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.”[7]  May we continue to open the windows of our hearts to let the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit breathe new streams of aggiornamento into the church today. 

---

[1]             Mt 5:14.

[2]             Acts 15:1-35.  Some scholars also believe that the Council of Jerusalem was documented by the apostle Paul in Galatians 2:1-10.

[3]             Acts 15:11.

[4]             Patrick W. Carey, Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ: A Model Theologian, NY: Paulist Press, 2010, p.159.

[5]             Ibid.

[6]             Originally drawn from a sermon delivered by Avery Dulles entitled “Luther’s Unfinished Reformation,” this thesis was later published in the periodical Catholic Mind, issue 63 (April 1965), pp.32-35, quotation on 35.

[7]             Eph 4:5.

"The Other": Lessons for Protestants and Catholics on Forgiveness

One of the biggest obstacles to unity between any groups (be they ethnic, racial, political or religious) is the tendency to de-humanize “the other.”  We have this ugly tendency to consider the outsider, the stranger, the foreigner or the unfamiliar to be somehow less human.  This allows us, in an evil twist of logic, to justify our slander or mistreatment of those who are different from us.  The unthinkable argument used to justify slavery was the claim that people of color were not really people at all, that they were somehow sub-human.  The roots of sexism, even within the Christian tradition, date back to a time when women were considered second-class citizens and even “misbegotten men” who do not possess the image of God. 

While these errors seem so obvious and absurd to us, the Christian family is not exempt from this appalling penchant for dehumanization.   For centuries, Protestants and Catholics have been hurling insults and abuses back in forth in the name of “truth” and “righteousness.”  We trot out the worst and most sensational stories of the other as if to say, “See!  Look at how bad they are.  Can you believe they did that?!  What monsters!” 

In his twenty-five year stint as pope, John Paul II made over 100 official apologies for the wrongs committed by the Catholic Church or individual Catholics.  He apologized to Jews, to women, to the indigenous people of the Americas, to Muslims, to Galileo and to victims of the Inquisition.  Even before he was pope, John Paul II (then Karol Wojtyla) helped craft an extraordinary letter of reconciliation between Polish and German bishops following the atrocities of World War II.  After being brutally persecuted by the invading German army, the letter declared: “We forgive and ask for forgiveness.”[1]

In May of 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot four times in a failed assassination attempt.  The gunman, Mehmet Ali Ağca, was apprehended and sentenced to life in prison.  Moved by the spirit of Jesus, Pope John Paul II visited Mehmet in his cell, embracing him with grace and forgiveness.  They would develop a friendship over the years and the pontiff would frequently ask people to “pray for my brother Ağca whom I have sincerely forgiven.”  John Paul II even visited personally with Ağca’s mother and brother and in 2005 when the pope was on his deathbed, his would-be assassin sent him a letter of well being.  It would seem that relationship with “the other” carries glorious power to overcome any and every divide.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons [and daughters] of God”(Mt 5:9).  The beautiful scandal of Jesus’ message was to call us beyond our “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” mentalities and to embrace the perfection of our heavenly Father who “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good” alike (Mt 5:45b).  In language plain and simple, Jesus exhorts his followers to do the unimaginable: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”(Mt 5:44).  Such are the unmistakable marks of a Christian. 

---

[1]             Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops to Their German Brothers, 1965.

On Justification

Jesus’ prayer “that all may be one” can hardly be realized without a serious discussion of the doctrine of justification, the “first and chief article”[1] of the Protestant Reformation.  After all, dichotomous interpretations of the diverse biblical treatment of justification constitute the principal cause of the historical and theological divisions between Catholics and Protestants.  Most Christians know that there was a consequential fissure in the church in the sixteenth century and that this split had something to do with how men and women, stained and wounded by sin, were brought to wholeness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.  But very few could tell you what has happened in the last 500 years, if anything, to move toward reconciliation and reintegration in the one Body of Christ.

The vast majority of Christians today continue to think about the doctrine of justification according to the age-old caricature: Catholics believe in justification by works while Protestants believe in justification by faith.  It seems fairly straightforward.  But have you ever stopped and wondered if this is what Catholic and Protestant churches actually teach and believe?  Do the anathemas and doctrinal condemnations hurled back and forth between Protestants and Catholics in centuries past still apply?  Have you ever wondered if we might be continually drumming up old arguments which have long since been settled? 

In October of 1999, an ecumenical event of colossal significance took place in Augsburg, Germany.[2]  482 years after Luther famously nailed the 95 theses to the doors of castle church, the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church solemnly confessed a fundamental consensus on the doctrine of justification.  In the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, the vast majority of Lutheran churches worldwide and the Roman Catholic Church announced that they “have together listened to the good news proclaimed in Holy Scripture” and that “this common listening . . . has led to a shared understanding of justification.”[3] 

This shared understanding represents one of the most important and groundbreaking developments in the history of the Western Church, one that no pastoral minister or youth worker can afford to ignore.  It changes the way we unpack the Scriptures and handle the delicate conversations that inevitably arise in Bible studies and backyard debates everywhere.  It transforms the way we minister to kids in Young Life, answering the touchy questions that bubble to the surface of Campaigner discussions and cabin times at camp properties around the world.  This official statement of the Joint Declaration finally grants us the freedom to stand united on a rift that has divided us for nearly half a millennium.  

So what does the declaration say and how can we explain our shared understanding on the doctrine of justification today?  In pastoral settings and casual conversations, how are we to explain this articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae, “the article by which the church stands or falls”?

First and foremost, we can stack hands on the conviction that we are justified by grace alone.  Both Protestants and Catholics agree that the foundation of justification is God’s grace and not our own works or abilities.  The Joint Declaration states clearly, “We confess together that all persons depend completely on the saving grace of God for their salvation”(JD, 19).  No “earning our way to heaven” or justifying ourselves by stringent moral adherence.  Even when Catholics talk about “cooperating with God’s grace” this is understood as an act of personal consent which is itself a gift of God’s grace.  From beginning to end, it is all grace.

Second, we are justified by Christ alone.  We receive the gift of salvation which issues from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Heaven forbid we posit ourselves as judges and arbiters of salvation, deciding who is “in” and who is “out.”  Yet when salvation occurs both Catholics and Protestants can agree that it is Christ who saves.  All people are called to eternal life in Christ Jesus and God’s grace is made available through His Passion, Resurrection and continued presence in our lives.

Third, we are justified by faith.  Without faith, there is no salvation.  By placing their trust completely in their Creator and Redeemer, Christians find communion with God and live as they were intended as partners in the kingdom.  The Joint Declaration is careful to note that faith, understood by both Lutherans and Catholics, “is active in love, and thus cannot and should not remain without works”(JD, 25).  Drawing from the passage typically quoted to highlight faith, Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians both that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” and “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works”(Eph 2:8a,10a).  What both Catholic and Reformed traditions understand as justification by faith alone (sola fide) is not merely intellectual assent to prescribed doctrines but a complete change of life involving mind, will and affections.

Fourth, even for those justified by God’s grace by faith, sin still exists.  “Sin still lives in them,” the Joint Declaration says referencing 1 Jn 1:8 and Romans 7:17 and 20.  It does not take much personal reflection to realize that those who have given their lives to Christ are still sinners.  Yet both Lutherans and Catholics confess that this sin, and the enduring inclination we all have toward sin (Catholics call this concupiscence), does NOT, however, separate us from the love and mercy of God.  Through Christ the “enslaving power of sin is broken” (JD, 29) and the justified are not separated from God.

In summary, the Joint Declaration states “Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works” (JD, 15).  This is truly Good News!  This is something to be shared!  While there are still points of disagreement between Protestants and Catholics, we must resist the temptation to fall into old caricatures and arguments.  The doctrinal condemnations of the Reformation and the Council of Trent no longer apply.   Fundamentally, on this primary issue of justification at least, we are no longer divided. 

Yet the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church challenge us to “become who we are.”  This historical consensus on the basic truths of justification must not collect dust in some document.  It must be lived and embodied in our churches and in our relationships today.  “Here,” the declaration exhorts, “it must prove itself”(JD, 43).  In the next leadership meeting or small group gathering, in the next religious discussion around the coffee pot, proclaim and live into the unity that already exists.  While grace is always received as gift from the salvific work of God, it is always and forever our responsibility not to “waste this grace but to live in it”(Annex, 2D).

---

[1]             Martin Luther, The Smalcald Articles, II, 1: Book of Concord, 292.

[2]             A location rich in religious symbolism, Augsburg was the place where the Augsburg Confession was presented to Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire by (among others) one Martin Luther in 1530. The Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles of faith which stand as the primary tenants of the Lutheran movement of the sixteenth century.  Even today, the “Augustana” (drawn from its etymological roots in the Latin, Confessio Augustana) represents one of the most critical documents of the Lutheran church.

[3]             Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, 14.