Justification and the Future of the Ecumenical Movement: The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification(Unitas)

On October 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, officials of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church signed two documents, an Official Common Statement with its Annex and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The Lutheran Churches belonging to the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church were declaring publicly and in a binding manner that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics. Within four months of the Augsburg signing, the Yale University Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale sponsored a theological conference "Justification and the Future of the Ecumenical Movement." The goal of the conference was to begin testing the wider import of the Joint Declaration. The essays in Justification and the Future of the Ecumenical Movement explore the larger implications of the Joint Declaration. The majority of the chapters are the presentations made at Yale in 2000. Three of the chapters were written later and are included in this collection to expand the range of the discussion and to add new insights.

Table of Contents:
Contents Contributors   vii Introduction   ix    William G. Rusch Chapter 1  The University and Ecumenism   1    George Lindbeck Chapter 2  The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: A Roman Catholic Perspective   14    Walter Cardinal Kasper Chapter 3  An Anglican Reaction: Across the Reformation Divide   23    Henry Chadwick Chapter 4  A Model for a New Joint Declaration: An Episcopalian Reaction to the Joint Declaration on Justification   35    R. William Franklin Chapter 5  The Implications of the Joint Declaration on Justification and Its Wider Impact for Lutheran Participation in the Ecumenical Movement   47    Michael Root Chapter 6  The Joint Declaration and the Reformed Tradition   61    Gabriel Fackre Chapter 7  The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: A Significant Ecumenical Achievement   86    Edward Idris Cassidy  Chapter 8  Beyond Justification: An Orthodox Perspective   99    Valerie A. Karras Chapter 9  Justification and the Spirit of Life: A Penetecostal Response to the Joint Declaration   133    Frank D. Macchia

About the Author :
William G. Rusch, D.Phil., executive director of the Foundation for a Conference on Faith and Order in North America, is active in national and global ecumenical affairs. Since 2001 Walter Cardinal Kasper has served as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican. Formerly a professor of theology and diocesan bishop in Germany, he has written in the fields of systematic and ecumenical theology. Cardinal Kasper is a former member of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. Professor Gabriel Fackre is an emeritus faculty member of Andover Newton Theological School. He was a member of the Lutheran-Reformed dialogue in the United States. He has written extensively in the areas of systematic and ecumenical theology.

Review :
Anyone interested in this critical ecumenical development will consider this volume a vital addition to the library.Religious Studies Review The volume is quite general and accessible, and provides a valuable overview to ecumenism that often branches into areas well beyond that of the doctrine of justification. As such, it is a valuable companion piece to ecumenical research, and an informative analysis of the original documents.Catholic Books Review Of special interest is the essay on the Eastern Orthodox perspective on justification, which views 'being saved' as an ongoing growth in the spirit rather than a once-for-all personal experience.Christian History Institute "I hope that throughout this year members of all traditions within the Christian family will study the results of the decades of dialogue between the churches of the Western tradition and a good place to begin is with this book."John E. Hugus, APC, Journal of the Academy of Parish Liturgy