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...
Observations from a baptized sinner