Baptismal Waters

In 1999, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Federation issued th e Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification ,  which claimed to represent a resolution of the central issue of the Reformation, namely the question of whether we are saved by grace by faith alone, as Luther insisted, or by a combination of faith and works, as Roman Catholicism insisted. It did no such thing. But now, it seems, the World Communion of Reformed Churches has signed on to the JDDJ. On the basis of that "agreement," the Roman church declared that the condemnations of the Council of Trent sort do not apply to Lutheranism, at least as represented by the churches of the LWF. Here is what Trent, in fact, condemned: Canon IX: If anyone says that the ungodly is justified by faith alone in such a way that he understands that nothing else is required which cooperates toward obtaining the grace of justification . . . let him be condemned. Ca...

October 31 will mark the 500th anniversary of the day Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany, touching off the Protestant Reformation. A great many people will be celebrating the anniversary who have no business doing so. The fact is that justification by grace alone, through faith alone- the central tenet of the Reformation, and the teaching Luther regarded as "the doctrine whereby the Church stands or falls-" is by no means held, as a practical matter, by all "Protestants." John Wesley chose to unbiblically define "sin" as an "intentional" violation of God's law despite the fact that the Bible abides no such qualification, even providing in the Mosaic Law for sacrifices to atone for unintentional sins! By lowering the bar on the law, Wesley set the stage for his bizarre doctrine of "Christian perfection," a teaching which he spent the rest of his life backing off from bu...