Review of "That They May Have Life"

That They May Have Life

A review of an ‘Evangelical and Catholics Together’ document

PART 1: BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW

BACKGROUND:

Beginning in 1994 a group of Protestant and Catholic leaders assembled together for a series of discussions on issues that both divided and potentially united the two groups. Over the course of the years, they have produced several joint statements (full documents) regarding the conclusions reached in those discussions. The first statement, The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, was a pledge to solidarity in the common task of evangelization. Next came the document titled The Gift of Salvation which affirmed the way each group understood that salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone, and because of Christ alone. The third treatise (Your Word is Truth) offered a statement of common understanding on the nature of scripture and the role of the church in the task of interpretation. In 2003 the group took of the subject of The Communion of the Saints and affirmed that, by virtue of our common union in Christ, we are in a real (though imperfect) communion with one anther in Christ’s body, the Church. Two years later, the group produced a document titled A Call to Holiness. In this statement, the participants affirmed that holiness is the mark of a true believer and offered ways in which our communities of faith can foster and embody holiness. In the fall of 2006 the group produced statement outlining their common understanding of the sanctity of human life and the Christian community’s role in presenting this view to the public square.

The group has not been without its critics. The two groups have been charged with theological compromise from constituents on both sides. While there can be little doubt that the group has made massive strides in fostering Evangelical-Catholic dialogue, some wonder if such dialogue has been made possible only through an intentional minimizing of the theological issues which have historically been cause for division. Instead of overcoming the chasm of separation between the two parties, the participants have been charged with donning blindfolds as they approach the precipice. Rightly or wrongly, the dialogue is both historic and influential. In the discussion that follows we will discuss their latest joint-statement titled That They May Have Life.

OVERVIEW

That They May Have Life is broken into two rather large sections. In the first section, the authors note the fact that the West is a culture currently marked by different worldviews in conflict for domination. Rather than “joining in the despair” of believing no solution is possible, the document affirms that through the use of reason, deliberation, and persuasion the American culture can find a common way to rightly order its life together. Thought both groups recognize the effects of sin upon human reason (though they differ as to the extent), they jointing “affirm together that human reason…has a capacity for discerning, deliberating, and deciding questions pertinent to the civil order.”

Furthermore, the statement declares that it is not the intention of the authors to “impose but to propose, educate, and persuade, in the hope that, through free deliberation and decision, our society will be turned toward a more consistent respect for the inestimable gift that is human life.”

Section one also defines the precise nature of the debate regarding human life. Noting that there is no medical dispute as to when life begins (which is at conception), they rightly conclude that the true debate is “over which human beings, at whatever state of development or decline, possess rights that we are bound to respect.”

Finally, the authors propose that “humanism” properly understood is essentially Christian. They note that the Christian religion is best posed to offer a “deeper and richer humanism” as it affirms the “dignity of the human person who is the object of God’s infinite love and care”. They end this section with the statement that “there is in world history no teaching more radically humanistic than the claim that God became a human being in order that human beings might participate in the life of God.”

In section two the document outlines the Bible’s teaching regarding the sanctity of human life. It affirms that “human life is sacred because it is the creation of God, the Lord of life.” Understanding that non-theists will not accept such lines of argument, the authors plead with such persons to consider the ramifications of a culture that practices wanton killing of the unborn or any other person considered too handicapped and too burdensome. They rightly note that once this logic is applied, its logical conclusion would mean that we could take life whenever we subjectively feel it is ‘unwanted’.

The statement indicates that the current abortion policy is irrational and incoherent—namely, the view that once a child is born it is afforded full protection by law, but while in the womb is susceptible to termination. It goes on to note the continued presence of evil—an evil which is currently manifesting itself in the healing professions as they embrace the practice of death-dealing.

Several paragraphs are devoted to highlighting the tragic consequences of abortion—including intense guilt and anxiety on the mother, destabilization of marriages, low value of children who are now seen as burdens (giving rise to child abuse), and even the sexual exploitation of women. Throughout this section, the authors extensively quote Scripture and ground their view of ‘Christian’ humanism in the Christian scriptures. Despite this, they authors also call for non-theists to join them in the process of deliberation and decision as we corporately attempt to create a social order that upholds human dignity. The authors then end the document with a declaration that “we cannot and would not impose this vision of a culture of life upon others”.

In part two, I will offer an analysis of “That They May Have Life”.