Major Southern Baptist Leader Not Offended at Vatican's Latest Statement on the True Church

The RESPONSES TO SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE DOCTRINE ON THE CHURCH came as a suprise to many of us. The contents of it were not shocking. However, many I think were caught off guard that this was about to be published by the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. I became aware of the reports of it just before the issuance of the MP dealing with the liturgy.

As always the media gets its wrong. Sadly, many Church leaders both Catholic and non Catholic got it wrong too. Even in the age of the internet it appears that some people don't actually read the documents themselves.

As a former Southern Baptist, I thought the reaction of the leaders of the SBC would be sane and insightful. We are starting to see they are not offended and in fact welcome the doctrinal Clarity.

Albert Mohler as can seen from his bio, is a major leader in the Southern Baptist Church. He wrote an excellent piece called No, I'm Not Offended. It appears he actually read the document. It is a great piece and I encourage all to read it.

He said in part:
I also appreciate the spiritual concern reflected in this document. The artificial and deadly dangerous game of ecumenical confusion has obscured issues of grave concern for our souls. I truly believe that Pope Benedict and the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith are concerned for our evangelical souls and our evangelical congregations. Pope Benedict is not playing a game. He is not asserting a claim to primacy on the playground. He, along with the Magisterium of his church, believes that Protestant churches are gravely defective and that our souls are in danger. His sacramental theology plays a large role in this concern, for he believes and teaches that a church without submission to the papacy has no guaranteed efficacy for its sacraments. (This point, by the way, explains why the Protestant churches that claim a sacramental theology are more concerned about this Vatican statement -- it denies the basic validity of their sacraments.)

AMEN. Thank you Dr Mohler.

What is ironic is that the Church's efforts at true productive ecumenical dialogue go largely unnoticed. We have a whole Pontifical Council at the Vatican devoted to it.

In fact in 1999, The Catholic Church and Major Lutheran bodies came to a historic agreement on Justification. Go read the JOINT DECLARATION
ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION at the Vatican Web site. This was later adopted by the major Worldwide Methodist body in 2006!!!!

So a issue that was a part of the cause of the reformation was dealt with in a honest and productive manner. This is a example of true cooperation that saves souls and promotes Christian unity. Cardinal Ratiznger was very involved in this by the way.

Kudos to Dr Mohler.