As a member of WRF and indeed of the Church of Christ  I would like to make a few comments in response to the statement by Dr. Tunnicliffe during his visit to the Vatican regarding what he terms as New Era in Evangelical and Roman Catholic Relations.

First I would like to commend Dr. Tunnicliffe   for his boldness and openness in speaking out his thoughts and probably those of World Evangelical Alliance on the matter. Whether he speaks for the entire Evangelical family is another matter. 

However, Dr. Tunnicliffe’s address and appeal to evangelicals to embrace working relationship with the Roman Catholic Church raises serious questions regarding its goal and foundation.

Goal: Advocacy for Social Improvement

If I understand the address well, the call for evangelicals to collaborate with the Roman Catholic Church is for offering a strong voice against socio-political injustices in the world today. Dr. Tunnicliffe says:

Let us now develop these wonderful initiatives into something larger, increasing both the range of social problems to which we respond, and our level of joint global response. For example, we are terribly worried (and know we must take further action) about the many refugees from fighting in Iraq and Syria, ….We have to be giving hands together. At the same time Christians have to work on the frightening issue of nuclear weapons before another cold war brings humanity to the brink of disaster.

True the church and sure the world should be concerned about these socio-political threats. They are palpably real. But this is not goal enough for church relations. If we are to go by biblical priorities for the church: we will definitely start with the Great Commission of our Lord (Mt. 28:16-20). The world is where it is today because of its rejection of the Gospel and that Gospel is the Person and Work of Christ proclaimed. If true peace and justice are to be found they must be the fruit of the Gospel and not humanistic human rights advocacy. I strongly believe, and my conscience bears me witness, the Gospel should be the goal of ecclesiastical relations.

Foundation: Questionable

Dr. Tunnicliffe tries to give us the foundation of Evangelical-RC collaboration which he confesses to be problematic, he says:

A new era of Evangelical/Roman Catholic cooperation responding to people in need should raise questions about what we believe in the manner described….we propose it be accompanied by a new level of public discussion of our core beliefs, on matters where Evangelicals and Catholics agree and where we differ.

I find the first line of the statement very disturbing. It suggests the need for trying to iron out our doctrinal statement is to enable us to meet the social needs around the world. I personally believe doctrinal reformation should be to the glory of God and for the good of His Church. Social concerns are never a catalyst for doctrinal purity but desire to hear and know God correctly as we engage His word through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Equally confusing is lack of clarity regarding the steps to be followed toward collaboration. Is Dr. Tunnicliffe calling Evangelicals to jump on the bandwagon now or after “discussion on our core beliefs?”

I seem to sense urgency in his call. I am fully persuaded by scripture that any true collaboration of the church of Christ should have doctrinal consonance as its point of departure. To do it otherwise would be putting the cart before the horse. The word of God has a resounding counsel: ‘Do two walk together unless they agree?’ (Amos 3:3).

I really appreciate Dr. Tunnicliffe’s sensitivity to social injustices in the world. This should speak to the diaconal concerns of the world. However for Evangelicals to enter working relationship Four solas, yes,  even four must be addressed in DEPTH.

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The New Era in Evangelical/Catholic Relations Permalink Submitted by Thomas K. Johnson on Wed, 2014-11-19 14:08

As an example of how this cooperation can work, this week our seminary, an institutional member of WRF, published a book on our website by a Roman Catholic, Heiner Bielefeldt, who is the UN Special Rappourteur for Freedom of Religion and Belief. http://www.bucer.org/resources/details/freedom-of-religion-or-belief.html

This book is arises from Catholic/Evangelical cooperation within the Unitied Nations to protect persecuted believers, whether Christian or of other religions. I was one of the staff members of Martin Bucer Seminary who helped prepare the book for publication. I have not yet learned what Prof. Bielefeldt thinks about the four solas, though that would be a valuable discussion, and cooperation on such a project provides valuable context for serious theological discussion. This type of particular cooperation that can occur simultaneously with serious theological discussion. The urgency for this cooperation arises from the severity of persecution.

Some have called this "cobelligerency," but I do not like that term simply because it sounds belligerent. We are called to love our neighbors, not to fight against our neighbors.