Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism.

WRITTEN BY Mark A. Noll & Carolyn Nystrom PUBLISHED BY Baker Academic, 2005, ISBN: 0801027977, Hardcover, pp. 272, $33.99 CAD

Shortly alter the end of the Second Vatican Council, I was asked to take part in an ecumenical round table discussion at the cathedral in Vancouver. I was a priest, teaching history in the University of British Columbia. There were [bur of us involved in the discussion: a Unitarian minister, a Greek Orthodox priest, a United Church minister and I, and we were asked to begin by each giving a brief statement on an essential element of our faith and its practice. I was first and spoke of the Mass as what Vatican II had called "the source and summit" of all Catholic life. Each of the others then spoke and the floor was opened for questions. The first questioner noted that the speakers seemed to fall clearly into two groups: the Catholic and Orthodox were very similar, while the others took a quite different approach; he asked whether we thought discussions might lead to a reunion of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Any hopes of a joyful unanimity collapsed at once, however, when the Orthodox speaker immediately launched into an impassioned account of the sack of Constantinople by the members of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The audience was stunned.

I went away from that experience with a new awareness of how difficult the whole ecumenical effort was likely to be and with a sense that we would probably find a good many surprises along the way. Forty years later this book clearly shows the difficulty and the surprises.

Noll and Nystrom begin with the clear fact of the historic standoff between the Catholic Church and Protestantism. In the 1950s this was very obvious indeed. At that time the likelihood of change seemed practically nonexistent. In the next decade, however, with Vatican II, a dramatic change came. The authors outline the ecumenical dialogues on various official and unofficial levels carried on over many years among Catholics and Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Reformed, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, Evangelicals and Baptists. Most of the dialogues were exploratory; the only one which explicitly aimed at full union was that between Anglicans and Catholics, and that one finally had to admit failure. In every case, however, the participants were surprised by the level of agreement and Christian friendship they found from the action of the Holy Spirit.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) has had a special role to play. It has made it possible for those in dialogue to have a clear authoritative statement of Catholic doctrine and practice. It was not written in order to facilitate ecumenism, but has certainly done this.

By the early Nineties it seemed that the impetus given to ecumenical efforts alter Vatican II was pretty well over. Then, however, came perhaps the most surprising development of all. Among all Protestants, Evangelicals had been the least touched by official dialogue with Catholics, so that their old antagonism was largely unchanged. Enough had happened, however, that there were a good many individuals looking for something more. In 1992 the Catholic Father Richard John Neuhaus and the Evangelical Charles Colson decided to take steps and the movement of Evangelicals and Catholics Together started. The results of the first organized sessions (ECT I) were published in Fr. Neuhaus' publication First Things, in May 1994 as "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: seem less defensible, as with his acting solo as chairman of the Metropolitan Separate School Board rather than waiting for the available support of his Advisory Committee. Indeed, the reactions to such episodes render puzzling Fr. Matthews' subsequent action as an otherwise excellent publisher/editor of the Catholic Register. His last minute decision, without consultation, to promote the Charlottetown Accord was used as the justification for his controversial firing from that newspaper. It would be good to know directly from Fr. Matthews, and not just from his excerpted resignation letter, how he now assesses his place on the learning curve.

One would also welcome the inclusion of Ft. Matthews' opinions on the epilogue to his story. Ft. Matthews never wanted funding parity and completion to come at the price of Catholic identity in the schools. At the high point of his success, he was somewhat betrayed by the sudden addition of nasty amendments to Bill 30 (which granted completion). The most troubling amendment was Section 136, which briefly ended the hiring preference for Catholic teachers. A subsequent court ruling found the amendment unconstitutional, so the justifiable discrimination continues to be allowed. (Power does not make this clear.) However, Catholic identity has indeed been weakened in the system, largely by internal dissent from Catholics. Sadly, the problem is so great that Fr. Matthews' decades-long struggles have now been eclipsed by a new Catholic education goal: a tax credit for parents who send their children to independent schools. In many communities, independent schools represent the preferred choice for a truly Catholic education. The Constitutional rights gallantly defended by Ft. Matthews remain available at least in Ontario, but their exercise has been tarnished.

Power wants Fr. Matthews' biography to "give a measure of the man, so that his many and various good works will be remembered and be a positive lessons for generations yet to come (p. viii)." While he has fulfilled the basic requirements of this goal, one hopes that Power proceeds to a more polished second edition. Fr. Matthews has long been eager to talk, and both he and the readers deserve a fuller account of his marvelous deeds. Still, out of gratitude to its subject, I am pleased to have read this book and to recommend it.

The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." This led to a "Firestorm" of criticism, more from Evangelicals than Catholics. I remember James I. Packer--to whom as "discerning pioneer" Noll and Nystrom dedicate their book--speaking rather ruefully at Regent College in Vancouver of criticism directed at him for his having signed this report. The ECT process continued with "The Gilt of Salvation" in 1997, "Your Word is Truth" in 2002, and "The Communion of Saints" in 2003.

Noll and Nystrom obviously consider this exploration of one another by Evangelicals and Catholics as significant. They examine Evangelical reactions, ranging from outright rejection to conversion, with admirable objectivity. They close by musing on an analogy of the relations among the principal varieties of Christian faith--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal--and comparable relations among language families. Finally they add a considerable and considerably valuable section on further reading.

A Catholic, looking at this book, will probably first wonder just what the title means. By what standard is the question, "Is the Reformation over?" to be answered? Can it mean that an affirmative reply would imply that either because the Catholic Church has greatly changed or that Protestant understanding of the Church has changed, what used to divide us should no longer do so? If that is the meaning, then merely by glancing at the world round us, or for that matter at the book, one has to answer negatively; although in the chapter on the Catechism of the Catholic Church the authors come pretty close to an affirmative. But if the question relates not so much to doctrine or practice as to the old mutual antagonisms--can they be seen now, however virulent they may still be for some, as open to being overcome?--then to Noll and Nystrom a joyful "Yes" seems appropriate. No doubt it will take a long time, much work and much prayer before this difficult undertaking will be worked out on practice, but the present surprise is a hopeful one.

The book is available from Fr. Carl Matthews, S.J., P.O. Box 238, Waubaushene, ON L0K 2C0, for $12.00 CAD incl. postage.