LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 416

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416 ADDITIONAL THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS—OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

of justification is the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in
which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of
the Father. . . .” If only this sentiment had set the tone for a docu-
ment that clearly spelled out this wonderful truth!

15. Despite its teaching on justification, the Roman Catholic
Church has many noteworthy blessings that were also recognized
by Martin Luther and C.F.W. Walther, including: Baptism; the
public reading of the Scriptures in the vernacular; Absolution in
private and public confession; the Sacrament of the Altar, now fre-
quently administered under both kinds; the call or ordination to the
pastoral office; prayer. the Psalms, the Creed, the Ten Command-
ments, and many fine hymns. Beginning the discussion of justifi-
cation with Scripture, as JDDJ did. is a good starting point. Further
progress in ongoing dialogs can be made only through discussions
normed strictly by Holy Scripture.

Study Questions

(Paragraph numbers refer to the summary).

Paragraphs 2-3

Evaluate JDDJ’s basic approach in light of John 8:31-32 and
1 Jn. 2:20-21.

What does | Cor. 1:10 say about differences of language and
theological elaboration? See Phil. 2:14.

Was Aaron trying to set up a different worship that was “open” to
the worship of the true God when he built an altar to the Lord in front
of the golden calf (Ex. 32:1-6)? What lesson should we learn here?

Paragraph 4

What is the essential nature of justification? See Rom, 3:19-28,
4:4-8, 25; 5:6-19; 8:33; Deut. 25:1; 1 Kings 8:32; Ps. 143:2;
Proverbs 17:15; Isa. 5:23. See also Zech. 3:1-5, which does not use
the word “justify” but captures the idea.

Justification, in which God does not count sin against a person,
is essentially the same as forgiveness (Ps. 32:1-2; Rom. 4:1-13)
and reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14—21). How does this help you to un-
derstand justification better?

Paragraph 5

What is saving grace? See Rom. 3:24; 4:4; 11:6; 2 Cor. 8:9;
2 Tim. 1:9: Heb. 2:9; Titus 2:11. Compare John 3:16.

Paragraph 6

What is faith’s role in justification? See Gen. 15:6, Hab. 2:4;
Jn. 1:12; Rom. 3:28; 4:16; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:8-10.

Paragraph 7

Describe original sin according to Ps. 51:5; John 3:6; Rom.
5:12-21; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 8:7: Gen. 8:21.

What does Scripture say about the sin that remains in Chris-
tians? See Rom. 7:14—25; Gal. 5:16-21; Col. 3:5—I1.

Paragraphs 8-10

How do these passages express the central message of Scrip-
ture? Gen. 3:15; Is. 53; John 1:29; 3:16; Acts 4:12; Rom. 1:16-17;
1 Cor. 2:1-5; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Pet. 1:18-21.

In November 1998, Pope John Paul IJ issued a papal encyclical
announcing a Jubilee Indulgence for the year 2000 that is very sim-
ilar to indulgences at Luther’s time. How can this development help
us evaluate JDDJ?

Paragraph 12

How can a Christian be certain of his or her own salvation? See
2 Cor. 1:19-20; 1 Pet. 1:3-5, 23; | John 5:4—13; Rom. 8:28-39.

2001 Convention Workbook

A Response to the Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification

Prepared by the Department of Systematic Theology
Concordia Theological Seminary. Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Historical Introduction

The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was pre-
pared between 1995 and 1997 by Roman Catholic and Lutheran
theologians under the auspices of the Vatican and the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). In 1995, the first version was sent to the
participating churches. The Institute for Ecumenical Research in
Strasbourg, France, prepared a Lutheran response, while the Pon-
tifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity under Cardinal Cas-
sidy acted for the Vatican. A revised text was ready by the sum-
mer of 1996 and further changes were suggested by the LWF
Council in September. A final version was authorized for distribu-
tion by the LWF Executive Committee in February 1997.! This text
was adopted with near unanimity (958-25) by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at its August 1997 assembly
in Philadelphia.?

The Joint Declaration is not a new, independent effort, but con-
cludes and summarizes various national and international
Lutheran/Roman Catholic dialogues. The 1980 papal visit to Ger-
many on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Augsburg
Confession provided the original stimulus. This led to the forma-
tion of the Ecumenical Working Group of Evangelical and Catholic
Theologians in Germany, who by 1986, produced The Condemna-
tions of the Reformation Era—Do They Still Divide ?* This evoked
a negative response by the Evangelical [Protestant] theological fac-
ulty of Georgia Augusta University, Gottingen, Germany: Out-
moded Condemnations? Antitheses between the Council of Trent
and the Reformation on Justification, the Sacrament, and the Min-
istry—Then and Now. A formal lifting of mutual condemnations
on justification was planned for 1997 to coincide with the 450th
anniversary of the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification and
the fiftieth anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation in 1997.
The issue proved too intractable for this timetable.*

Unlike the ELCA-Reformed Agreement. the Joint Declaration
does not call for full communion, although the doctrine of justifi-
cation is no longer considered an obstacle to bringing it about: “the
mutual ‘anathemas’ (condemnations) drawn up in the sixteenth
century on the teaching of justification no longer apply to these
churches.” The Declaration has a core resemblance to Lutheran ac-
cords with the Reformed. As in the Agreement and Marburg Re-
visited, past differences are seen as “complementary.” Like A Com-
mon Calling, which speaks of the “diverse witnesses to the one
Gospel that we confess in common,” the Joint Declaration holds
that with this current agreement on the “basic truths of the doctrine
of justification,” the characteristic “concerns” of each communion
with their “remaining differences” are now mutually acceptable.
Without disowning its past, each church holds that “the under-
standing of justification set forth in this Declaration shows that a
consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists be-
tween Lutherans and Catholics.” Positions of each are tolerable
within the doctrinal dimensions of the other. “Therefore the
Lutheran and the Catholic explications of justification are in their
differences open to one another and do not destroy the consensus
regarding basic truths” (Declaration 5.40). Many prominent
Lutheran theologians of course approve of the Joint Declaration.
Harding Meyer invokes the LWF’s ecumenical slogan of “Recon-
ciled Diversity,” and Carl Braaten calls it “a step in the right direc-
tion.’”® Others are more reserved, as will be shown.