Dialogue Document
To Understand Each Other (1989)
To Understand Each Other,1989: Agreed Statement of Southern Baptist-Roman Catholic Scholars
"In our discussions over the past decade, we have come to realize that despite the different vocabularies we use in presenting and explaining our beliefs and despite very real differences which remain, we do share a basic understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ by the grace of God. We do not claim to speak either for all Southern Baptists or for all Roman Catholics nor do we attempt to cover all aspects of our respective beliefs. We recognize that considerable diversity of thought exists within both communions.
We reflect the discussions held over the past decade on issues which we felt are important for Christian witness today. We have seen how the gift of faith and the experience of God's grace have shaped our personal lives and the lives of people in our churches. Though we list below primarily doctrinal points of agreement and divergence, the most profound experience of unity occurred in those times when we told the stories of our journeys in faith and when we gathered to hear the word proclaimed and to offer our prayers to a loving God. We not only confessed but experienced "one Lord, one faith and one baptism" (Eph. 4:5). Our hopes and prayers are that the gifts of mutual understanding and respect, along with love and friendship, which we received in a decade of dialogue may be shared by other Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics."