Westminster Conference 2010 02

I chaired the second session - Guy Davies on Puritan attitudes to Rome. I think it went well. Guy focussed on John Owen and gave us the background to his writings, spoke of his his reformed Catholic approach and focussed on Scripture, justification, the Pope and worship. He spoke too of the modern compromise with Rome.

He concluded with a section on engaging with Roman Catholicism today



1) We should not think that the controversy between Evangelicals and Rome has ceased to be a live issue
i. The attraction of Rome for Evangelicals

In 2007 Francis Beckwith caused something of a stir when he resigned his post as President of the Evangelical Theological Society to return to the Roman Catholic Church. In his book Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic, Beckwith gives his reasons for his return to the Church of his youth. A key factor was his growing sense of unease with sola scriptura. He became convinced this Protestant distinctive as set out in The Westminster Confession involved a disregard for the theological heritage of the Church. But this is not the case. As we have seen, for all its Puritan distinctives, at heart the confession is a work of Catholic theology.

Once Beckwith had jettisoned the principle of sola scriptura (at least as he understood it), he then felt free to accept Roman Catholic practices such as penance and confession, prayers for the dead and purgatory. No doubt Beckwith was misguided in his rejection of sola scriptura, but what he says should give us pause for thought. Worship in some Evangelical congregations seems to consist mainly of songs and choruses composed in the last decade. Often scant regard is paid for the theological heritage of the church. You can understand why some Evangelicals begin to look longingly at Rome with its claims of centuries old unchanging continuity.

The Puritans, with their self-consciously Catholic outlook provide a welcome corrective to the collective amnesia of contemporary Evangelicals. We need to emphasise afresh that the ecumenical creeds and the teachings of the doctors of the church like Athanasius, Augustine and Aquinas are not the sole possession of the Roman Catholic Church. They belong to the whole people of God. The Reformed churches, of whatever ecclesiological stamp are fully paid up members of the Catholic Church - the true people of God of all nations and times. We hold to the historic Christian faith without the divisive accretions of the Rome. The Roman Church and its distinctive dogmas didn’t even begin exist until the middle ages.

Ironically, in returning to Rome, Beckwith and his fellow travellers became less rather than more Catholic.

ii. Rome and the Ecumenical Movement

The Roman Catholic Church is a founding member of the UK’s leading ecumenical body, Churches Together. Involvement in Churches Together activities implies that the differences between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics are relatively unimportant and that we share a common understanding of the truth. We must be prepared to separate from false expressions of ecumenism for the sake of the integrity of our witness to the gospel. But that does not mean we should adopt an isolationist mentality. The gospel that calls us apart from error also unites us in fellowship. Over and against false ecumenism, we must stand alone, together.

2) We must be clear on where we stand

The Puritans were clear on where they stood in relation to Roman Catholic teaching. They knew what was at stake – nothing less than the gospel as revealed in Holy Scripture and understood by the church in all ages.

3) We should engage in theological dialogue with Roman Catholics

While we might deprecate the Evangelicals and Catholics Together initiative, we should not in principle be against dialogue with Roman Catholics. Proper dialogue demands both personal graciousness and honesty on the issues that still divide Evangelicals and Roman Catholics. John Owen ably demonstrated that it was possible to dialogue with a representative of Rome without losing his theological integrity. He was Catholic and critical in his stance towards Roman teachings and yet commendably charitable in his attitude towards Roman Catholic people, whom he wished to see come to a knowledge of salvation. Owen was also willing to learn from Roman Catholic theologians and use their insights in his own work. How might we benefit from critically engaging with contemporary Roman scholarship?

4) We may make common cause with Rome on moral issues, but not co-operate in mission and evangelism

Unlike our Protestant forefathers, few contemporary Evangelicals seem to regard Rome as a threat to our national identity. If anything we tend to see the Roman Catholic Church as an ally in the fight against moral relativism and the culture of death. I believe in what Francis Schaeffer called co-belligerency. But we must be clear that while we might share common ground with Rome with regard to abortion and euthanasia, and heterosexual marriage, we do not share a common understanding of the gospel of salvation. However, co-belligerency with Rome is complicated by the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is a political as well as a religious institution. Rome has not abandoned its claim that the pope as “Vicar of Christ” is ruler of the nations as well as head of the church.
5) A never ending battle against error for the sake of the truth

The Puritans fought on two main fronts. They battled against Socinian rationalism and Roman Catholicism. We also need to fight on more than one front. Yes, we must do battle against modern and postmodern attacks on the gospel. But we must never forget that Rome remains a powerful enemy of genuine Christianity. As long as we value the truth as it is in Jesus we cannot afford to give up the fight against the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. In this conflict we do not take to the field in a position of weakness as if Rome has church history on her side and we Evangelical Protestants are the “Johnny-come-latelys”. We enter the fray not as sectarians, but Reformed Catholics, contending for the faith once delivered to the saints.