Dialogue Press Release
USCC News Release: Catholic, Lutheran Scholars Issue Study on Justification By Faith (1983)
USCC News Release: Catholic, Lutheran Scholars Issue Study on Justification By Faith by William Ryan, September 28, 1983
WASHINGTON--Lutheran and Roman Catholic theologians have published the results of a five-year study on the question of "justification by faith" which finds common ground, though not total agreement, on a matter which has divided the churches since the 16th century Reformation.
At issue is the question of how sinful men and women attain salvation. Though the differences between the Lutheran and Catholic traditions on this thorny question were at times thought to be irreconcilable, they need not, in fact, be divisive, according to the joint declaration.
''We emphatically agree that the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ is the source and center of all Christian life and of the existence and work of the church," the theologians said. "In brief, hope and trust for salvation are gifts of the Holy Spirit and finally rest solely on God in Christ.