How Do Catholics and Protestants Disagree over Salvation & Justification?
On October 31, 1517, an unsuspecting monk ventured to challenge the prevailing ecclesial authorities of his day by posting his “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
Underlying his disputes with the Indulgence Industrial Complex was a theme that would become one of the single most important rallying points in the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin pointedly named this theme:
The only point in dispute is how we are deemed righteous in the sight of God. (Acts of the Council of Trent)
This point of dispute still sits at the heart of what divides Catholics and Protestants five hundred years later. But how exactly do they differ? And is there no point of agreement when it comes to salvation and justification? Gregg…
How Do Catholics and Protestants Disagree over Scripture & Tradition?
In 1994, leading Catholic and Evangelical leaders signed the document “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” affirming their common faith and common mission on the eve of the third millennium.
Five years later, mainline Lutherans and the Catholic Church similarly came together to bury the hatchet, as it were, in their “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.”
While such ecumenical endeavors are encouraging, do they belie the real differences that exist between Protestants and Catholics? If so, what are they, and why are they significant?
The Unfinished Reformation brings clarity to these questions by examining what unites and divides these two dominant Christian groups. Theologian Gregg Allison and pastor Chris Castaldo take a nuanced and thoughtful look at the doctrines and practices of Protestants and Catholics so both groups can have…
5 Reasons to Ask “Is the Reformation Finished?”
Reformation: From the latin reformatio; “the enterprise of repairing an inadequate state of affairs by returning to an earlier expression of faith.” (18)
Next year, on October 31, 2017, many will celebrate the monumental five-hundred-year anniversary of when an unsuspecting monk posted a list of grievances on the door of a nondescript church in Germany—launching what would become known as the Protestant Reformation.
But is such a repairing enterprise finished; is the Reformation over?
Theologian Gregg Allison and pastor Chris Castaldo have set out to answer that question in their new book The Unfinished Reformation. It is a brief, clear guide to the key points of unity and divergence between Protestants and Catholics today. They write to encourage fruitful conversation about the key theological and sociological differences between the two…
New Releases Today: NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance, Talking with Catholics About the Gospel, & The Pastor’s Ministry
Today we are pleased to release several new resources that will inform and enhance your teaching or pastoral ministry. Here is a quick overview:
The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance, Third Edition
Only one concordance provides an exhaustive indexing of every appearance of every word in the NIV Bible: The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance, Third Edition. For those who don’t read biblical Greek or Hebrew, this tool unlocks the meaning of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words from which the NIV was translated. This feature-rich NIV concordance offers: a complete alphabetical listings for every word in the NIV; thorough dictionary-indexes that define every Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek word in the Bible; a frequency count for each original-language word and each of its English translations as they appear in the NIV Bible; a special index of articles, conjunctions, particles, prepositions, and pronouns; and the…
How Can We Share the Gospel with Catholics and Not Sound Irritating? — An Excerpt from “Talking with Catholics About the Gospel”
Many of us have been there.
We have the best of intentions when sharing the good news of Jesus with someone, yet the result is a sour mixture of offense, anger, and hurt.
In Talking with Catholics about the Gospel, author Chris Castaldo shares an evangelism experience he had where he realized “I still hadn’t learned that there is a quality of communication that goes deeper than mere information — a way of speaking that conveys gentleness, even in the face of disagreement.”
Castaldo is deeply burdened to equip Evangelicals for more fruitful spiritual conversations with Catholics. His story below gets at one of the book’s central questions:
How can we preach the realities of life and death with passion and urgency, and yet not sound irritating?
How Do You Share the Gospel with Catholics?— An Excerpt from “Talking with Catholics About the Gospel”
Chris Castaldo is often asked whether Catholics “are going to heaven.” He typically responds that only God knows anyone’s soul, before saying that a number of Catholics are genuinely born again, while others have not personally appropriated the gospel.
It’s among these people Castaldo is compelled to share the good news. He’s also compelled to help Evangelicals talk with them about the gospel.
In his new book Talking with Catholics about the Gospel Castaldo provides an easy-to-follow introduction to basic Catholic belief and practice, equipping Evangelicals for more fruitful spiritual conversations.
Castaldo says John 1:14 should be at the forefront of our reflection: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…full of grace and truth..”
How do you share the gospel with Catholics? Two…